Dutoit also vaguely heard that Huang Xuan had mortgaged off a large number or art works, of course, no one had told him that they were worth $1.2 billion USD. After some quick thinking, he smiled and said, "Mr. Huang, do you want the bank to sell them or take them as collateral for a loan?"
"A loan. I would have gone to Sotheby's if I wanted to sell them. But these are family heirlooms, so there are no certificates."
Dutoit laughed and responded, "There aren't so many rules in Switzerland."
His laughter sounded meaningful. Diamond smuggling had always been a major channel of diamond selling. There was a publicly recognised standard in international diamond trade that as long as the import duty of the diamond surpassed 5% the smuggler would make a profit. Since smuggling diamonds was so easy, many traders in Shanghai had made fortunes overnight, ever since China had set up the import duty standard of 17%.
The diamond association of Switzerland had always attached more importance to the value of the diamond than its source.
Dutoit's laughter startled Huang Xuan. He realised his mistake and patted on his head. He had thought of contacting Pfizer via Citigroup but had forgot the advantage of the United Bank of Switzerland. The American capitalists would have been reluctant to help if Citibank hadn't swallowed so much interest from him.
Many of the diamonds Huang Xuan had bought weighed more than five carats. Some were even over 10 carats. The diamonds on GIA's quotation list were at most 10.99 carats, meaning the diamonds that weighed 11 carats and above were so rare that it was unnecessary to be on the list.
However, it didn't mean that bigger diamonds are better. The 10-carat diamonds with a low 4C grade was worth only $2,000 USDwhile the ones with a higher grade could be worth $178,000 USD. Of course, the diamonds picked by Rolin were all the latter.
Unlike Aubrey, Dutoit was European, who was serious and careful when at work. Having arrived in Nanjing, he invited six experts who were with Sotheby's and Christie's. Plus the interpreters and assisstants, there were more than 20 people altogeter.
Huang Xuan happened to know one of the experts with Sotheby's, Liu Ziqing who was walking behind the foreigners. He smiled at Huang Xuan when he saw him.
Huang Xuan was surprised to see Liu Ziqing though, as his job, in Huang Xuan's mind, was an auctioneer. So he walked toward him and asked, "Mr. Liu, I didn't know you were an expert in gemstones."
"No. No. I am here because I am Daniel's interpreter," he said, pointing to a man with dark skin and thick lips.
"Welcome," Huang Xuan said to Daniel and shook hands with him.
Liu Ziqing talked with Daniel briefly and then said to Huang Xuan, "Before I came, Mr. Derek told me to convince Mr. Huang to auction some diamonds at Sotheby's. I didn't expect to see you here."
After these words, he watched Huang Xuan closely.
"These are all family heirlooms. I have asked you all to come because there are no certificates," Huang Xuan smiled and said.
"That's not a problem," Liu Ziqing said confidently.
Huang Xuan was glad. He patted Liu Ziqing on the shoulder and said, "We will talk about it later."
In the suite of Gloria Hotel, Huang Xuan took out three moon cake boxes. When he uncovered the boxes, the room became totally silent. Before everyone's eyes were hundred of diamonds.
Huang Xuan picked a thumb-sized one, weighed it in his hand and then said, "Thank you all."
The people present made polite remarks one after another. Daniel picked up a 10-time magnifier and started to look at the diamond carefully. It weighed at least 20 carats, worth over 15 million USD. The biggest issue was to judge its 4C grade.
Huang Xuan sat there, drinking coffee. Rolin had given him an estimated price, which was about 380 million USD. Dutoit's estimated price was should be close to that value.
After a while, Dutoit walked to Huang Xuan and said with a smile, "Mr. Huang is the most amazing wealthy oriental I have ever seen."
"That is my grandfather." Huang Xuan didn't look at him directly and asked coldly, "When can the loan be ready?"
"The United Bank of Switzerland is one of the most efficient banks in the world. It takes at most one day once the estimated value is set." Dutoit answered proudly.
At this moment, Huang Xuan was very composed. He looked at the traffic on the road and said, "Please buy 100 million USD of crude oil for me and send it to Port Santos."
Dutoit suspected that Huang Xuan was purchasing oil for the government, but he agreed to do it. The banks disdained the law the most. They would modify the law according to their needs without considering the consequences at all.