Why the next Engagement Ring you buy should not be of Diamond’s!
Life is unpredictable. From mind baffling dreams conceived in our childhood to a boring desk job in adulthood. While growing up every one of us aspires to be something out of the ordinary, some wanted to become pirate when some — at least I did — wanted to become a pilot and a doctor so he could put a red cross on his bomb raider. But as time goes by those childish dreams are replaced by more realistic, pragmatic, and dull expectations of society. To navigate through this boring and harsh life we turn to love and try to find solace in someone else. Then to commemorate that relationship we get married. According to tradition, in marriage, we exchange diamond rings but do you know why we do that..??
You may think of a diamond engagement ring a timeless symbol of love but as it turned out this so-called ancient tradition was invented less than a century ago by the De Beers diamond corporation. Before the 1930s it was not rare to announce the engagement without the ring. But, it wasn’t until the diamond cartel decided to funnel millions into marketing and advertising campaigns that the diamond ring became deeply embedded into the culture.
Before world war 2 only 10% of engagement rings contained diamonds. De Beers created De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. which helped them taking full ownership and control over world diamond trade.De Beers was successful in making diamonds appear rarer than they are, by aggressively restricting the supply of diamonds on the market. The cartel was largely successful thanks to the south African government who long ago decided to nationality all diamond mines. Anyone in South Africa who finds a diamond mine on his property will discover how quickly it becomes property of the government. The government then decides who will receive licenses to operate the mines and in this case its De Beers.
Now controlling the supply of diamonds cartel needed a market that could spend money to satiate the growing demand of diamonds. Because of Europe’s preoccupation with the oncoming war, the U.S. was chosen even though the total number of diamonds in the U.S had declined nearly 50% since the end of World War I. De Beers hired Philadelphia ad agency N.W. Ayer in 1938.
“A Diamond Is Forever” and “Isn’t two months’ salary a small price to pay for something that lasts forever?” sounds familiar, right? Owing to these types of commercial campaigns by N.W. Ayer many people were bought into the idea that this expensive chunk of crystallized carbon is needed to show the real love which in turn boosted its demand. The cartel was so successful by their campaigns that, at one point in 20th century De Beers used to control the rough diamond market around 90%.
“Diamonds never leave you… Men do!” — Sherley Bassey.
Whilst the latter part is as true as the moon landing, the facts about diamonds have nothing to show for their selves either. They are not rare they have just controlled supply. Diamonds are not an eternal symbol of love its just a marketing ploy. The moment you left with the ring out of the shop its value decreases by 50%. “ The bigger the better” may be true elsewhere but when it comes to the diamonds it’s not true. There are many alternatives to a diamond ring so invest in something which appreciates over time.
