The Diamond Industry's Dirty Secret: There's No LinkedIn for Diamonds
The Diamond Industry's Dirty Secret: There's No LinkedIn for Diamonds
By Khalid Moumad, Price Per Carat
Let me tell you something that will shock you if you're not in the diamond industry.
And something that won't surprise you at all if you are.
There is no job platform for diamonds and jewelry.
Zero. Nothing. Nada.
One of the oldest, most valuable, most global industries on the planet — an industry worth over $80 billion per year — and if you need to hire a skilled diamond cutter, a gemologist, a rough diamond trader, or a jewelry designer, your best option is... asking around.
Word of mouth. WhatsApp messages. Calling your cousin in Surat.
In 2025. Seriously.
Let's Put This in Context
Think about what other industries have built:
Tech has LinkedIn, Welcome to the Jungle, Stack Overflow Jobs, Hired, AngelList
Healthcare has Health eCareers, PracticeLink, Medzilla
Finance has eFinancialCareers, Wall Street Oasis
Creative industries have Behance, Dribbble, 99designs
General jobs have Monster, Indeed, Glassdoor
Every major industry has its own dedicated hiring ecosystem. Platforms where employers post jobs, workers build profiles, and talent meets opportunity efficiently.
The diamond and jewelry industry? Still running on handshakes and rumors.
The Real Problem: A Massive, Hidden Talent Pool With No Visibility
Here's where it gets really interesting.
Surat, India processes approximately 90% of the world's diamonds. The city employs over 500,000 skilled diamond workers — cutters, polishers, graders, sorters, planners.
These are highly skilled specialists. Some of the best in the world at what they do.
And when they're looking for work? They ask friends. They call family. They walk into factories and hope someone is hiring.
When a factory in Antwerp, Dubai, or Hong Kong needs to hire a skilled Indian diamond cutter or polisher? They call their contacts in Surat. They ask their network. They hope someone knows someone.
This is how a half-trillion dollar industry manages its talent in the 21st century.
It's not just inefficient. It's a massive missed opportunity — for workers, for employers, and for anyone who builds the solution.
It's Not Just India
The problem runs across the entire global diamond supply chain:
Sierra Leone & Africa — Thousands of experienced miners, local dealers, and rough diamond specialists with no way to connect with international employers or buyers outside their immediate circle.
Belgium (Antwerp) — The diamond trading capital of the world, where companies struggle to find qualified staff because there's no central place to look.
Israel — A historic diamond cutting and trading hub where an aging workforce isn't being replaced fast enough partly because young people don't know how to enter the industry.
Hong Kong & China — Massive jewelry manufacturing base where skilled artisans have no visibility beyond their local network.
USA & Europe — Jewelry brands and retailers struggling to find qualified gemologists, designers, and sales specialists because talent is scattered and invisible.
The same problem, everywhere, at every level of the supply chain.
What Would a Diamond Industry Job Platform Look Like?
Imagine something like LinkedIn meets Monster, built specifically for diamonds and jewelry.
For workers and professionals, it would offer:
A profile showcasing your specific skills — diamond cutting, grading, rough trading, jewelry design, gemology certifications
Verified credentials and experience
Direct visibility to employers worldwide, not just in your city
A community to share knowledge and build reputation
For employers and companies, it would offer:
Access to a global pool of verified, skilled diamond and jewelry professionals
Ability to post jobs and search candidates by very specific skills
Tools to verify credentials and experience
Connections to talent in India, Africa, Belgium, Israel, and beyond
For the industry as a whole, it would mean:
Better matching of talent to opportunity
More transparency and fairness in hiring
Less dependence on who you know and more on what you know
A way for the next generation to discover and enter the industry
Why Hasn't Anyone Built This Yet?
Good question. A few reasons:
The industry is traditionally secretive — Diamond people don't like sharing information publicly. Business is done behind closed doors, in private WhatsApp groups, at invitation-only trade shows. This culture has slowed down the adoption of open digital platforms.
It's fragmented geographically — The industry spans Africa, India, Belgium, Israel, USA, UAE, China. Building something that serves all of these communities requires deep knowledge of each market.
Trust is everything — In diamonds, you do business with people you trust. Any platform would need to solve the trust problem first — verification, reputation systems, community endorsements.
Nobody from inside has done it yet — The people who understand the industry deeply enough to build this haven't built it. The people with the technical skills to build it don't understand the industry. That gap is the opportunity.
The Opportunity Is Real and It's Now
The diamond and jewelry industry is changing faster than at any point in the last 50 years.
Lab-grown diamonds are disrupting the market. Younger consumers want transparency and ethical sourcing. The old guard is retiring. New markets are opening in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
This is exactly the moment when an industry modernizes — and the tools it uses to hire, connect, and operate modernize with it.
The job platform that gets built for diamonds in the next few years will become as essential to the industry as the Kimberley Process certification or the Rapaport price list. It will be infrastructure.
And the person or team that builds it will need one thing above everything else: deep knowledge of the industry and trusted relationships across the supply chain.
A Note From Me Personally
I've spent years traveling across diamond markets — from the mines of Sierra Leone to the trading floors of Antwerp, from the cutting factories of Surat to the gem fairs of Hong Kong.
And everywhere I go, I hear the same frustration. Employers can't find the right people. Skilled workers can't find the right opportunities. Knowledge and talent exist in abundance — but connection is missing.
This article is my way of saying publicly: I see this gap. I think it's one of the biggest untapped opportunities in the diamond world. And I'm thinking seriously about what to do about it.
If you work in the diamond or jewelry industry — as an employer, a skilled worker, a trader, a manufacturer, or an investor — and this resonates with you, I want to hear from you.
And if you're new to the industry and want to understand it deeply enough to be part of building its future — that's exactly what Price Per Carat is for.
Khalid Moumad is the founder of Price Per Carat, an online course covering the entire diamond supply chain. He is based in Paris and has worked across diamond markets in Africa, India, and Asia.