The Diamond Myth

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SquidInk
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The Diamond Myth

Post by SquidInk » 03-20-2013 10:55 AM

“From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents, from 18 to 35 she needs good looks, from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality, and from 55 on she needs cash.” --Sophie Tucker

:D

http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/45768 ... e-bull****
Americans exchange diamond rings as part of the engagement process, because in 1938 De Beers decided that they would like us to. Prior to a stunningly successful marketing campaign 1938, Americans occasionally exchanged engagement rings, but wasn’t a pervasive occurrence. Not only is the demand for diamonds a marketing invention, but diamonds aren’t actually that rare. Only by carefully restricting the supply has De Beers kept the price of a diamond high.

[...]

Retail jewelers, especially the prestigious Fifth Avenue stores, prefer not to buy back diamonds from customers, because the offer they would make would most likely be considered ridiculously low. The “keystone,” or markup, on a diamond and its setting may range from 100 to 200 percent, depending on the policy of the store; if it bought diamonds back from customers, it would have to buy them back at wholesale prices.

Most jewelers would prefer not to make a customer an offer that might be deemed insulting and also might undercut the widely held notion that diamonds go up in value. Moreover, since retailers generally receive their diamonds from wholesalers on consignment, and need not pay for them until they are sold, they would not readily risk their own cash to buy diamonds from customers.

[...]

We covet diamonds in America for a simple reason: the company that stands to profit from diamond sales decided that we should. De Beers’ marketing campaign single handedly made diamond rings the measure of one’s success in America. Despite its complete lack of inherent value, the company manufactured an image of diamonds as a status symbol. And to keep the price of diamonds high, despite the abundance of new diamond finds, De Beers executed the most effective monopoly of the 20th century. Okay, we get it De Beers, you guys are really good at business!


The sardonic nature of big business is something I think about often, but I find the diamonds/engagement ring thing particularly revealing. Along with Big Sardonicism & compulsive consumerism, this 'tradition' uncovers a few terrible truths about the way humans choose to communicate at every level.
Last edited by SquidInk on 03-20-2013 12:43 PM, edited 1 time in total.
For if it profit, none dare call it Treason.

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Doka
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Post by Doka » 03-20-2013 11:12 AM

De Beers was and is a company built on the blood of others. For many years they where not even allowed to have an office in the states. It is quite a story. I worked for several years in the jewelry industry, mainly in sales and diamond appraisals. My boss sent me to classes given by the American Gem Society to do so. Loved every minute of it. Any thing to do with rocks, gems or anything that "sparkles" has always called to me. :) De Beers, literally, "invented" the diamond engagement ring.

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