Martin Rapaport

Martin Rapaport

Martin Rapaport (* 1952 ) is an American entrepreneur and founder and editor of the Rapaport Diamond Report , the standard work on diamond pricing . Rapaport is a respected specialist in the international diamond trade and an advocate of the Kimberley Process .

Career

Rapaport began his professional career as a stone cleaver and rough diamond sorter in Antwerp and moved to New York City in 1975 to work in the local diamond industry. Rapaport is a member of the World Diamond Council and numerous other organizations involved in the global diamond trade. He was one of the main initiators and supporters of the American Clean Diamond Trade Act , which, in conjunction with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme , is intended to prevent so-called blood diamonds from reaching general trade at official diamond trading venues. He made many enemies and in some cases received death threats when he developed and published the Rapaport Prices List in 1978 . Rapaport is still committed to fair wages for miners in Africa ( Sierra Leone ) and provides information about these grievances in its global presentations to politicians, dealers and customers.

literature

• Tom Zoellner: The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire, St. Martins Press, New York, 2007, p. 253.

Web links

• The Diamond Route information website
• Hope Diamonds , press report, Raraport and his work