Editor’s Note
This article announces the official release of ‘The Beauty of Diamond: Hardness 10’ at a major industry conference in 2019. It highlights the publication’s authoritative backing from key national institutions in China’s gem and jewelry sector.
On November 13, 2019, ‘The Beauty of Diamond: Hardness 10’ (abbreviated as ‘The Beauty of Diamond’) was officially released at the 2019 China International Jewelry Summit Academic Exchange Conference. The conference was jointly hosted by the Natural Resources Department’s Jewelry and Jade Management Center, the National Gemstone Testing Center (NGTC), and the China Jewelry and Jade Industry Association (GAC). Hundreds of diamond industry experts, scholars, and practitioners from home and abroad attended the exchange meeting. At the book donation ceremony, Professor Wu Yabin and Mr. Jin Yan, Assistant General Manager of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, jointly presented sample books to representatives of NGTC and GAC.
‘The Beauty of Diamond’ is translated from the English work ‘Hardness 10’. The author, Eddy Vleeschdrager, is a senior member of the Belgian High Diamond Council’s Gemstone Grading Committee, Chairman of the Diamond and Gemstone Cutting Association, and an expert in diamond and gemstone cutting, polishing, and setting. The book has been the top-selling book in Europe’s diamond trade and processing category for many years. The ‘Encyclopædia Britannica’ has a dedicated entry introducing it under the diamond category. Before its Chinese edition was unveiled, the book already had Dutch, French, and English versions. The Chinese edition of ‘The Beauty of Diamond’ contains over 1.3 million words and more than 2,200 exquisite pictures, with detailed and rich content, presenting the original flavor and essence of the original work to Chinese readers.
This book was jointly translated by Professor Wu Yabin, Executive Dean of the University of International Business and Economics’ Global Value Chain Research Institute and Standing Director of the China International Trade Society; Mr. Jin Yan, Assistant General Manager of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange; Mr. Lin Qiang, Vice President of the China Jewelry and Jade Industry Association; Mr. Liu Li, Vice Chairman of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses; and Mr. Wang Qiang, a recipient of the Belgian Royal Order of Leopold II. After a year and a half of translation and proofreading, the book maximally retains the professionalism and accuracy of the original work. At the same time, attention was paid to adding artistic elements in design, typesetting, printing, and binding, making the book itself a rare and collectible masterpiece with both appreciation and collection value.
‘The Beauty of Diamond’ was printed by Yunyao Culture Group and will be published and distributed by Culture and Development Publishing House. The book is divided into 11 chapters: Chapters 1 and 2 describe the historical legends of diamonds and evaluate world-famous diamonds from the perspectives of appreciation and history; Chapter 3 introduces the characteristics of diamonds from multiple angles, as well as the development of diamond identification methods, artificial technology, and the application of diamonds in different industries; Chapter 4 details geological conditions, exploration, and mining processes, introducing exploration methods and mining methods in different environments, as well as the extraction and sorting of diamond rough; Chapter 5 introduces diamond-producing countries worldwide, including over 30 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, discussing the mining history, industry status, and main diamond companies of each country; Chapters 6 to 10 focus on describing diamond processing techniques, including sawing, laser cutting, bruting, and polishing, comprehensively explaining different process technologies and introducing equipment used in diamond trading companies; Chapter 11 focuses on analyzing diamond trade, including the evolution of trade history, the rise and fall of diamond centers, diamond markets and evaluation elements, while introducing professional knowledge such as absorption spectroscopy and diamond certificates, and detailing diamond exhibitions from a practical perspective.
