Okay, I’ll play. The old diamond merchant is teaching his son the
family business. The boy, who has a fresh MBA from Harvard and has
completed his GIA work, is eager to learn. The father spreads the
contents of a large diamond parcel out on a counter.
“First I want you to grade this batch of 300 diamonds by color.”
“Yes Papa,” says the son, getting to work. Many hours later he
proudly announces he’s finished.
“Good job,” the father says. To the boy’s dismay he casually mixes
all the stones up again and tells the boy to sort them all by clarity
grades. With a groan the kid goes to work again and much later,
looking tired and bedraggled, he tells his Dad he’s done. Again the
father compliments him on a good job, then mixes the stones up.
“Now, I want you to turn all these stones table-down, points up, and
line them up girdle to girdle in one place here,” says the father.
Incredulous, the boy obeys and when he’s finished he summons his Dad.
“Good work,” says the father. “Now, take off your pants and
underwear and sit down on those stones.” The boy is near rebellion
but he finally does as his father asks, staring fearfully at the
sharp points of the massed diamonds. He settles his weight on the
stones then leaps up in pain shouting “Papa, Papa it hurts!”
“Now you know the most important lesson of all, my son. Don’t EVER
sit on the merchandise!”
Rick Martin
MARTIN DESIGNS