Can synthetic stones solve the jewelry industry’s problems?
Every morning for decades, the scene on 47th Street between between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan has pretty much looked the same. At around 9 a.m., clusters of Hasidic Jews with their long black coats and white beards walk briskly towards their offices, black leather suitcases in hand, past jewelry storefronts that are slowly starting to open for business.
Seen through store windows, employees take out diamond rings, bracelets, earrings, and pendants from the plastic boxes they’ve been safely stored in for the night. Armed policemen patrol around and some stores have security teams of their own — big muscle in dark suits guarding doors and checking the IDs of diamond cutters, polishers, gemologists, and salesmen before anyone enters a building. There are also inconspicuously-dressed bystanders pacing the area, giving the impression that the whole area is being carefully surveilled by undercover cops.