The intrinsic value of diamonds results only from their physical properties, which
make them suitable for industrial applications, though this value has been capped by the
development of synthetic diamonds that can act as substitutes. In the absence of scarcity,
natural diamonds would become no more than another semiprecious gem. Realizing the
need to control supply, early investors in the industry, led by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer,
formed De Beers Consolidated Mines to control supply. By the 1990s, the supply chain had
evolved into four stages, two of which are dominated by De Beers as a monopsony
controlling the buying of raw diamonds, while the final stages are also strongly influenced
by De Beers as the dominant seller: