The Loupe — YF Diamonds Corp.

A father comforts his crying children on a Swiss train while the passengers around them glare and shush

Markets October 22, 2026

Follow the Weddings

Birth rates are falling, China's marriage numbers have collapsed, and the trade is still asking the wrong questions. The answer is where it has always been.

6 min read

A dealer waits at his desk beneath a cash-only sign, the customer’s chair across from him empty

Markets October 14, 2026

The Customer Who Paid Cash

China wasn't just another diamond market. It was the market. Understanding why it left — and why it might return — changes everything about how you read the current slump.

7 min read

A diamond dealer examines a government bond through his loupe, his diamonds pushed aside

Markets October 7, 2026

What Rising Bond Yields Actually Mean for the Diamond Trade

The 10-year Treasury just hit 5.2% — its highest since 2007. Most jewelers aren't paying attention. They should be.

5 min read

Why The Loupe

A loupe is how our trade looks closely at a stone. This is where I look closely at everything else.

I started The Loupe because the ideas that shape our business rarely start inside it. Something I read, a conversation, a shift in the world, an old question nobody has answered: sooner or later, each of them leads me back to diamonds. This is where I follow that thread and write down where it goes.

There is no fixed subject and no sales pitch. There is one opinion at a time, argued honestly. Disagree with me; that is the point.

About the cartoons

Every post here opens with a cartoon, and there is a reason for that. My eighth grade mathematics teacher drew a cartoon by hand on every test he gave us. However hard the paper, it made the exam feel lighter.

He was something of a father figure to me at that age, and he pointed me in the right direction. He was also the one who introduced me to the stock market, which is where my interest in financial markets, bond markets and world news first began. Many years later we are still in touch, and a message from him still puts a smile on my face.

I can't draw the way he did, so these cartoons are made with AI. The idea is his: whatever the subject, it should feel a little lighter to read.

Falak Shah, President, YF Diamonds