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ERNEST OPPENHEIMER by Jeffrey Blancq
April 19th, 2006
The power of the vision (page 1 of 3)
Some people might say that life is not what you know, but who you know. I would agree with this to a point.
The first might give you satisfaction in life with some advancement, while the other might give you advancement
in life without true satisfaction, however it is the ability to know and how to use what you know that defines
your life. When I think of Ernest Oppenheimer this is what I think of. Oppenheimer, who far surpassed the
riches of Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato, began working in the diamond trade as a junior clerk for
Dunkelsbuhler and Company at the age of 17. Dunkelsbuhler was a member of the London Diamond Syndicate,
the syndicate that controlled the supply of diamonds in South Africa. Oppenheimer got the job thanks to
his older brother Louis. So even working as a junior clerk Oppenheimer at the tender age of 16 was already
well connected in the diamond world. It is what he did with those connections, and what he sought to learn
about the trade and how to manipulate it to his advantage that took this man to the economic fortune that
both Rhodes and Barnato could have only dreamed about. It is true that in the beginning of his working
life Ernest Oppenheimer did not have aspirations of great wealth. By his own ideas he wanted to earn £50,000,
invest it wisely, and live on the interest. The rest of his life he would spend as an Edwardian gentlemen.
Life does not always work out the way we think however, especially when we are young. We may think we know
our path, but the powers that be often throw curves our way and in young Ernest Oppenheimer's path this is
exactly what happened. What would have happened in 1902 if the new Chairman of the Board of De Beers,
Francis Oates had taken more time to invest the claims that a new mine had been discovered on the farm
of Joachim Prinsloo? If Cecil Rhodes had been alive surely De Beers would have been on the spot, but
as it was he was not there, nor was De Beers. You never know where or when an opportunity is going to
come up, and in the case of Ernest Oppenheimer it was just such an opportunity that would eventually make
him the most dominant name in the history of the diamond industry.
Ernest Oppenheimer was born on May 22nd, 1880 in Friedberg, Germany, but with the encouragement of his father he eventually left school and went to London to work in the diamond industry. Ernest's older brother Louis, who managed a company called Dunkelsbuhler and Co. in London, brought young Ernest on as a rough diamond sorter. Ernest learned fast and began to show his gift. He knew which rough stones would eventually become jewels. While at Dunkelsbuhler Ernest also began studying South Africa. Dunkelsbuhler was a part of the powerful London Diamond Syndicate and has an office in South Africa. Ernest studied profits, mining records, futures, etc. Anything he could get his hands on regarding the diamond industry in South Africa he read. At first Ernest did not have aspirations of wealth, instead he wanted to earn £50,000 pounds, invest it, and live off the interest. After having worked at Dunkelsbuhler for about four year an important step took place in young Ernest's life. In November of 1901 Ernest Oppenheimer became a naturalized British subject. Six months later after having impressed his boss Anton Dunkelsbuhler for work well done over the years Ernest boarded a boat for South Africa. Not long after arriving in Kimberley Ernest was invited into the boardroom of De Beers. That particular day Solly Joel, a relative of Barney Barnato, was in attendance. During a lull in a meeting Solly Joel pulled out a diamond and asked others in attendance how much they thought it was worth. The stone was passed from hand to hand and the estimated rose with each hand it touched. In the end the stone was passed into the hands of Oppenheimer.
"Well, Oppenheimer?" Solly asked. "What's its value?"
"Nothing. It's not a diamond."
Joel looked sharply at him. "What do you mean?" he demanded.
"It's glass."
"You prepared to put £50 on that?"
Ernest then took a deep breath and nodded. After a diamond evaluator was brought in and judged the rock to be nothing more than broken bottle glass Joel handed over the £50 and gave young Oppenheimer a conciliatory look.
During this same time a man by the name of Thomas Cullinan discovered some diamonds on a patch of farmland. The owner of this farm was a man by the name of Joachim Prinsloo, who at the time had no interest of selling his property to a "diamond prospector". Prinsloo was a religious man and had no time for diamonds. However when destiny is what it is things just have a way of working out and in this case it would eventually work for the benefit of Ernest Oppenheimer. Joachim Prinsloo died shortly thereafter and his children eventually sold the farm for £52,000 cash. When Cecil Rhodes was alive he had always said that "whenever you hear that a new mine has been discovered, if De Beers are not there, they are near the spot." Well Rhodes was not there this time and neither was De Beers. Francis Oats, the new Chairman of the Board looked over the prospectus that Cullinan had brought him and decided that the whole thing was a fake. He was convinced someone had salted the mine and decided not to invest. That would turn out to be the biggest mistake De Beers would ever make. The new mine, now called the Premier went on without him, and De Beers.
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