Diamonds Are For Never
Reevaluating Our Engagements
“Logan bent down on one knee in front of her with a diamond ring in his hand. “Will you marry me, Jo?” Josephine nodded her head quickly. “Of course I will.” Logan slipped the ring on her finger. It was a brilliant cut stone set in platinum.” From A Match Made in Montana by Joanna Sims.
A Girl’s Best Friend
In How an Ad Campaign Invented the Diamond Engagement Ring writer Uri Friedman tells the story of how in 1938 a marketing campaign by giant south African cartel De Beers created a new standard in the US, whereby a diamond ring became an indispensable part of an engagement proposal. In the late 1940s a copywriter conceived of the slogan that De Beers has used ever since: “A Diamond Is Forever.” Indeed how else could two months’ salary last forever?
Today “three-quarters of American brides wear a diamond engagement ring, which now costs an average of $4,000”. As a result “Between 1939 and 1979, De Beers’s wholesale diamond sales in the United States increased from $23 million to $2.1 billion.” De Beers later pushed similar campaigns in other countries, such as Japan and China, with equally impressive success. However local tradition can influence the adoption of such new social rituals. “In other countries like Brazil, both women and men typically wear a simple band on their right hand while engaged and switch the ring to their left hand once married”.
Percent of First-Time Brides Who Receive Diamond Engagement Rings
“There are moments in life when words are simply not enough to express our true emotions” — Bucherer Jewelry
Blood and Sweat Diamonds
“An estimated US$13 billion worth of rough diamonds are produced per year, of which approximately US$8.5 billion (65% ) are from Africa. The diamond industry employs approximately ten million people around the world, both directly and indirectly, across a wide spectrum of roles from mining to retail.” — The Diamond Industry Fact Sheet.
The human suffering caused by diamond mining is well known. In the gut wrenching The Real Cost of Diamonds Danielle Rousseau estimates that “To date, approximately 3.7 million people have been killed to put that special sparkle in America’s favorite jewelry”. And In Diamonds in the Rough: How do Deeply Corrupt Industries Become Sustainable? David Salisbury writes that ”Diamond mines produce not only stones — but also wars, violence, ecological devastation, economic exploitation, and sublime human suffering.”
Diamond mining also has a huge impact on the environment. On average, a carat of mined diamond causes the following consequences. If you prefer a single memorable fact, the average stone in an engagement ring is the product of the removal and processing of 200 to 400 million times its volume of rock.
Wake Up, Rise and Shine
Let’s do a simple exercise. Can you imagine a world without diamonds?
I can. It isn’t even hard. Simply scratch one thing off the long list of things we don’t need, in fact are harmful to us individually and collectively, and the only reason we ever wanted them in the first place is that someone washed our brain with the idea that this object is desirable. We don’t have to throw away any diamonds we own, only vacate the space they occupy in our heart.
I am only using diamonds as an example. Why stop here? There are so many other redundant and harmful things on this bad list. If we get rid of them, we can instead add things to the good list, such as inclusion, friendship, giving and finding a meaning in life. Not only are these free, they truly shine.
“Every day is a great day to give love, spread joy, and sparkle!” — Sheri Fink
When I asked my wife Yael to marry me I didn’t do it with a diamond. There weren’t any around. We were on a tiny island in the boundary waters, in one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. Just the two of us, with a canoe and a tent. She did say yes. Maybe it’s because she didn’t know how to swim and needed me to get back to safety. We recently celebrated our 26th anniversary. If there is one tip I can give to any newlyweds who happen to be readings this story it is this: never stop polishing your relationship.
