This is a history of the production and marketing of diamonds from the period of the "rush" to Kimberley and the rise of de Beers until the formation of the central Selling Organization by South African producers and London and South African merchants. Based on a wide variety of original sources from public and mining company archives, it is a study of both the politics and business of a South African monopoly which became an international cartel. "I strongly recommend Colin Newbury's The Diamond Ring , written for a specialist scholarly audience."-- Telegraph "Breaks new ground....Will undoubtedly be regarded as the standard work on the diamond industry; it will be admired by those studying both the economic history of South Africa and the history of imperial and multinational enterprise for its thorough treatment of its subject, its reliability, and its straightforward recounting of events."-- History: Reviews of New Books "A thorough and well-written study....The book will be of substantial value to students of international mineral trade, whether economists, historians, or political scientists."-- CHOICE "Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the development of the southern African economy after the 1880s."-- American Historical Review "The major achievement of Colin Newbury is...that he has gained access to most of the records and united them with archives in London, Paris, Cape Town, Oxford, and various American repositories to write a closer and more informed account than has hitherto been available....Newbury's commentary on the maneurvers of the interwar period provides the first authoritative insight into the period since T.E. Gregory wrote the life of Oppenheimer thirty years ago."-- Business History Review Colin Newbury is University Lecturer in Commonwealth History and Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford.