Today I learned that the new Surat Diamond Bourse in India is the biggest office building in the world in terms of square meters of floor space.
Until this was built in 2023, the Pentagon was the worldâs biggest office building. More floor space than any skyscraper. Now this one is bigger.
But my first thought is, âwhy the hell does a diamond exchange have to be so big!?â Like, I canât imagine what they need so much space for.
smells fishy
Maybe place for meetings and negotiation đ¤
Diamond handed bitcoin miners?
This is the outcome when you have the ability to take the 4th most common element in the universe and sell it as though its rare
You need room for all those chai wallahs.
Good question.
Preparation for the improvements in efficiency and production of synthetic diamonds
What are they really exchanging in there?
I feel like we need a different view of this complex. Just looks like a mess from this angle. Is there some grand design that isnât obvious?
They need all that space to hoard diamonds to create artificial scarcity.
This is the international diplomacy equivalent of Mines bigger than yours, simple as that.
Its big because the people who built this are extremely close to the money printer
The offices are mostly empty
The workers commit suicide on a regular basis.
Thatâs the Call Center for the Bourse.
Ever walked through the diamond district in NYC? An entire city avenue block long but it looks like this place dwarfs even it.
The Pentagon is probably appropriately-sized for America's military-industrial complex and associated bureaucracy.
The diamond industry I guess enjoys such huge margins on small stones they don't know what else to do with it.
The book describing the history of DeBeers is pretty fascinating if you haven't already read it. The anecdote that still sticks with me nearly 20 years after reading it is the one about how DeBeers pretty much invented and popularized the engagement ring.
Likely it's a real estate investment and the lease out a lot of that office space.
Because they have a lot of employees. India is one of the most populous regions of the world and the diamond trade probably attracts a lot of professionals. Idk?
The news is that the building is mostly empty.. it is far away from the main city of Surat.. Mumbai is the main Diamond Market. The new airport does not have export clearing facility for which they have to use Mumbai airport. The business who had shifted their offices to Surat diamond bourse have now shifted back to Mumbai.
As someone whoâs been surrounded by dudes in the backroom of a gem shop in Jaipur, wondering if I can get my girlfriend out the door before they take me downâŚ.the world of gems is an un-thought-of anomaly to WesternersâŚbut almost certainly little different (I suspect) than the world of drugs.
Sound to me like you donât know Indians
It looks like an Etherium mining rig. So ugly.
Which suits well. Diamonds are shitcoins.
You probably think that diamonds are rare too. Their value is essentially by fiat, and it takes a big powerful cartel to keep it that way.
Especially when đ's are sooooo scarce. đŤ
Renting? đ
As the saying goes: diamonds are forever, atrocious architecture is just temporary!
Anyway, my guess is they need a lot of sales and marketing folks to keep the prices up?
interesting, thanks
Iâd imagine theyâre going to do all precious and semi-precious stones there. Iâd also imagine itâs just a great way to wash and move huge amounts of cash outside of the established and controlled system. Itâs getting tougher to do that these days. At a cost of $380m, thatâs not inconceivable.
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I'm having trouble imagining an even uglier building than this.
And it's so ugly!
if this were to be europe, reply would replaced by oh kawai, sweet, the artwork, beauty.
They have SWIFT office, fintech offices and the variety of the international exchange offices there. It's not just one building for diamond trade. I mean come on you are a journalist this much you can figure out.
are we sure this isnt a picture of a PCB and some transformers?
