Brief Introduction
If you've ever read Have you ever tried
to sell a Diamond?, or heard about the scam of the diamond industry, you should
know the basics of this: Diamonds and its added value are bullshit.
Basically, the DeBeers company made US
citizens believe that buying a diamond was a symbol of eternity and endless
love, their slogan, 'Diamonds are Forever' was incredibly successful and led
sales to increase greatly. In the article, How an Ad Campaign Invented the
Diamond Engagement Ring its stated that "between 1939 and 1979, DeBeers'
wholesale diamond sales in the United States increased from $23 million to $2.1
billion. Over those four decades, the company's ad budget soared from $200,000
to $10 million a year".
And every time diamonds seem to loss
interest in the public, the DeBeers company would come out with another clever
lie about the greatness of these rocks, boosting their sales and earnings.
Among my favorites slogans there are:
- "I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back."
- "She already knows you love her, now everyone else will too."
- "Give her what she is waiting for… A symbol of forever."
Even one aimed for women investment
instead of men:
- "She has a mind of her own. She gave me a diamond".
But, has something occurred to the
diamond industry since Edward Epstein wrote about it in 1982? After all, he
exposed the business strategy and showed everyone why getting a diamond is just
a waste of money. Apparently, no.
Stats
Actually, statistics (see the following
chart) don't seem to even suggest a possible ending of the industry, with
constant growth on demand and world popularity (the plunge at 2009 was a result
of the recession of those years). By the year 2017, it is expected for the
rough demand to reach it's highest peak since 2007, and from there on, to
continue growing.
And it's not only the constant growth of
the diamond demand what should concern us. Cultural processes as the ones that
took place in Japan between 1967 and 1981 seem to be repeating in China, the
second largest consumer market in the world.
Just as it happened in Japan, the
practice of using diamonds as a way of expressing deep and eternal love, and
also proposing marriage to the woman, was practically non-existent by the year
1994, but by year 2010, more than 30 percent of Chinese couples were using it.
Thousands of years of traditional marriage are being suddenly crushed by the
concept that diamonds are equal to happiness, wealth, eternity.
Along with China, India is also becoming
every year a stronger market for diamond consumers, and once the bigger
economies agree unanimously that diamonds are indeed the greatest and best rock
for a man to buy for a woman, is just a matter of time before it's spread to
other minor countries. In a globalized world, the first world trends can be
adapted or taken by third world countries.
It seems that the "diamond
culture" is already way developed and there isn't much to do, and in fact
that's the reality. Not many people is informed in the topic and they will
continue buying diamonds to their couples, thinking they are getting a rare and
unique piece of rock with great monetary value (when the reality is that
there's still a fuckton of diamonds held by
the DeBeers), and the one who knows, won't take the risk of getting
their girlfriends pissed (see second definition) at them. In fact, is really
hard to not perceive diamonds as a symbol of luxury.
Conflict diamonds
"... diamonds illegally traded to
fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly in central and western
Africa." (taken from Diamondfacts on Conflict Diamonds)
Also known as blood diamonds, had become
a major problem for the countries involved in it (Angola, Ivory Coast,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe),
as its consequences go from ecological impact to civil wars, worker
exploitation, violence and so.
The US, being the biggest consumer of
diamonds in the world, has strong policies against the importation of such.
In 2003, the UN approved the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme, which aims to reduce the illegal diamond traffic
as well as imposing criminal charges to anyone trafficking with them. It forces
the governments to "... keep records of of the diamonds they are exporting
and importing and how much they are worth." (taken from Wikipedia on Blood
diamond)
Final note
As responsible consumers, we should be
concerned (or at least amused) on the power of advertisement, if they could
give a really big economic value to a rock, maybe, who knows, in the future
something similar could happen with grass or air.
Also, it's important to know and reflect
how nowadays a product may have really big implications. Diamonds, as it was
mentioned, ended up impulsing the civil war in Africa, and essentially they are
just a worthless piece of rock.
Finally, here's a funny review of the topic made by College Humor in their series Adam Ruins Everything.
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