About this episode
It’s 1914 and De Beers’s monopoly is under threat. Diamonds have been discovered on the desolate coast of the German colony of South West Africa. So it hired an ambitious diamond expert named Ernest Oppenheimer and gave him his orders: head to the beach and assess the threat. But then World War One disrupts De Beers chance to do a deal with the German diamond miners. Now, Oppenheimer sees his chance to scramble to the very top of the diamond industry. Listen ad-free on Wondery+ here Support us by supporting our sponsors! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .