Tis the season for jewelers to tug at men\’s wallet strings. According to the shopping industry, men need to present his woman he still adores her by shopping for expensive diamonds this Christmas or Valentine\’s Day. Diamond shops really put on a great campaigngiven that they\’re marketing love, and who can put a price tag on that?
De Beers seriously did a number on us, simply because we don\’t question this notion that a diamond is a image of love. We don\’t question that an engagement ring has to be a diamond, and demands to be as big as the guy can probably afford. And we don\’t question that the best stone to buy is usually a diamond because all, they\’re a lady\’s best friend, right? Wrong.
In reality, the fantasy that revolves around a diamond conflict-free is a scam, an strategy concocted by a promoting agency. And that in by itself isn\’t so bad. But what tends to make the diamond marketing campaign so horrible is the harm they\’ve done, and proceed to do, to make a ton of cash in the name of love.
The truth about diamonds. The explanation why diamonds cost so much (in terms of dollars to the consumer), when they aren\’t really unusual (the value of a gem is meant to be based on its rarity), is simply because De Beers is a monopoly. They buy up and close down any diamond mines found by competitors. The laws of supply and demand figure out the selling price of any item. De Beers controls the supply (by limiting the amount of diamonds in the marketplace) and demand (by selling diamonds as a image of love). Good, who cares if people wish to toss away 1000’s, or tens of thousands of dollars, on a diamond engagement ring, or a unique gift, even if the diamond isn\’t \”priceless\” in the true perception of the word. There are a lot of things people overpay for that\’s not actually worth anything. There is this kind of a thing as perceived worth. It tends to make people happy. It tends to make the event unique and memorable. It conforms to the social normal, and what\’s genuinely improper with that?
The real cost of mining diamonds. Blood Diamond is a film that came out starring Leonardo DiCaprio depicting the blood and war that has spanned the complete historical past of the De Beers\’ diamond cartel. The story of Sierra Leone isn\’t an isolated occasion, and the conflict is far from over. Unrest and civil war in Angola, the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast funded by diamonds (paid to terrorists) have resulted in more than 4 million deaths and millions additional displaced. There is blood from lost limbs and lives splashed throughout just about every diamond, and we are purchasing them so we can have something glistening to present our friends. There is truly no such thing as really a conflict-free diamond.
Why purchasing conflict-free diamonds doesn’t help. You may have heard that you can ask for some certificate verifying a diamond as conflict free. The Kimberley Process is an agreement that is supposed to prevent blood diamonds from getting into the market but is pretty useless since it’s based on a system of self-policing. You read this right: self-policing! The UN reported in October that due to poor enforcement of the Kimberley Process, $23 million of conflict diamonds from Cote d’lvoire alone entered the legitimate market. In April an internal review showed that a quarter of all Kimberley Process certificates were fraudulent. Moreover these fraudulent certificates, genuine certificates could nevertheless be issued if conflict diamonds had been smuggled and mixed with legally traded ones prior to becoming certified. True conflict-free diamonds? Don’t bet on it.
Can we do better? We are consumers. Our financial system functions and is taken care of only by our power to buy. Are there any diamonds at all we can buy that are seriously, certainly conflict-free diamonds? Sure. The only way to acquire non-conflict diamonds is to buy man-made, lab-created stones (synthetic diamonds, diamond simulants, Swarovski). We can only do what we can, and it turns out, we can do a lot. Don\’t buy a diamond. The future of diamond costs is very dim. 100% conflict-free diamonds are man-made and are superior high quality than mined expensive diamonds, at spectacularly lower costs. As word gets out, De Beers will fade away. Four cheers when it happens.
Leonardo DiCaprio on Blood Diamonds: