Here's the Biggest Loss for Scotland Since Independence Fail

"In Aberdeen, a city built out of granite on Scotland’s North Sea coast, a diamond merchant checks the price of oil every day" 

Until recently, the dealer, Oscar Ozdaslar, had been accustomed to North Sea oil workers stopping in to buy 3,500-pound ($5,260) diamond rings and earrings in his store on Union Street.

“This Christmas was very quiet compared to the Christmas before,” said Ozdaslar, 50. “The oil guys didn’t come in.

”Just six months ago, Aberdeen was the economic linchpin of Scotland’s campaign to split from the U.K. as oil traded above $100 a barrel.

In the wake of the independence referendum’s failure, it serves as a microcosm of how crude’s slump to nearer $50 is hurting cities from Calgary to Kuala Lumpur.

Read more: “Aberdeen has been the focus of a classic oil boom, there’s no doubt that the city will go through a bad period now that it’s over.”