Diamond In The Rough

November 28, 2004

This is how the internet was supposed to work. Blue Nile, the world's largest online retailer of diamonds, has managed to significantly reduce profit margins in the retail diamond industry, creating a cheaper product for consumers while becoming very profitable at the same time. While I doubt diamonds are going to become commoditized any time soon, (for one thing, the second-hand diamond market is utterly dismal and probably manipulated,) this appears to be the first big step towards opening up a secretive and monopolistic industry.