The DeBeers Diamond settlement could mean money in your pocket. In the past few years, several class action law suits have been filed claiming that DeBeers S.A. violated antitrust, unfair competition and consumer protection laws by doing such things as monopolizing the supplies of diamonds and by conspiring to fix and artificially raise prices.

These actions have kept DeBeers and its officers out of the United States for decades and they have finally decided that it would be worth their while to settle up with the government of this country so that they can enter into the United States directly in order to do business here rather than depending on a network of diamond dealers, cutters, and retailers to bring you your diamonds.

The DeBeers lawsuit settlement has been offered before going to trial and must go before a fairness hearing to determine if the settlement is fair to all parties concerned, but if accepted, the DeBeers settlement could mean money in your pocket.

If you were located in the United States and purchased a diamond or diamond jewelry during the period of January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006 you may have a diamond rebate coming. How much will depend on how much you spent and how many people claim their share of the rebate.

DeBeers has agreed to rebate or pay a total of $295 million dollars. Of that $22.5 million will go to "direct" buyers who bought directly from DeBeers. $272.5 million will go to "indirect" buyers. That class has been broken down further into two parts, diamond resellers such as wholesalers and retail jewelers and consumers. Diamond resellers will receive $137,067,500 and consumers will receive $135,432,500.

The amount received in the DeBeers settlement will depend on how many qualified claimants there are and how much each spent, as the amounts will be shared on a pro rata basis. If your pro rata share is to be less than $10, then you will not receive a payment due to the administrative costs. The lawyers of course will receive a huge portion of this money before you ever see a dime, so hope that your fellow buyers do not read this article or hear any of the many newscasts about it as your share gets smaller for every one that does.