Viewpoint.

Dear reader,

As we report on page 36, members of the diamond community gathered in Ramat Gan in July for a rough diamond seminar, which was organized by the Israel Diamond Institute. In certain respects, the event was a sequel to a similar rough diamond seminar that took place in Ramat Gan about six years earlier. But appearances can be deceiving.

While for the most part English was the lingua franca at this latest seminar, it was in many ways an event designed specifically for the Israeli--and predominantly Hebrew speaking--industry. The lecturers, most of