In some instances, stones are traded not on the floor of the DDC but in private offices. In this case, a standard bill of sale is drawn up when the deal is concluded and before the buyer leaves with the stones. Frequently, however, it is sent by the seller after the buyer has left with the stone but before he has paid in full. Dealers explain that when they really trust the person they are trading with they do not, at the time of "contracting," attach any real importance to this writing. Traditionally, the bill of sale has been viewed as a mere formality used primarily for accounting purposes.

XREF: Connects to sociological work on relational trust vs. formal contracts in trade communities, such as Granovetter's embeddedness theory or the De Beers diamond cartel literature.

Lisa Bernestein, Opting out of the Legal Sys…, loc. 66