diamond rant
this is a post that i wrote the day after we went ring shopping. scott didn't want me to post about it until he gave it to me, so i saved it until now. enjoy!
ps. the ring in the previous post is NOT a diamond. it is an aquamarine, which is my birthstone.
so, the boyfriend and i went shopping for a little something-something yesterday. how about a hint?
ok, it's not a diamond, but that doesn't matter because i didn't want a diamond. it's because i didn't want to give DeBeers anymore money and i know that the whole "diamonds are forever" bullshit is just that: bullshit. i found this excerpt from a diamond wholesale website, which is ironic, considering they're admitting that the idea is made up by DeBeers, but they're selling them anyway because they know people are sheep. read on:
The 20th Century
From 1880 De Beers were able to control the supply (and price) of diamonds but how were they going to control demand during a period when sales began dropping dramatically (up to 50%) in the 20s and 30s onwards through the great depression? Just as platinum started to become popular in diamond engagement rings, diamonds were becoming less valued. Platinum was banned for all but war use during WWII and so the platinum diamond engagement rings as we know them today almost died out.
The answer to the problem was a new marketing campaign commissioned by De Beers that began in 1947. Perhaps you've heard the slogan "A Diamond is forever"? This was to mark the beginning of a change in the history of the engagement ring.
Subsequent campaigns would convince families to hold on to their diamonds as family heirlooms... and it worked! Used diamonds were not being released back into the industry which in turn created the demand that De Beers were seeking.
Jewelers were unofficially educated by De Beers to instruct men that two to three months personal wages were an ideal price to pay for the diamond engagement ring that their prospective fiancée's would gladly accept.
In 1953 the world's two most glamorous women of the time Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell were the stars of the hit film musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The plot involves Monroe and Russell chasing potential husbands on a cruise to France. The movie also features a very famous song sung by the blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe, Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend.
This film would have undoubtedly influenced public opinion at the time and will have advanced the popularity of diamonds for years afterwards through Hollywood glamour.
The film is now 50 years old but it's still a firm favorite of all who love Hollywood and the legend of Monroe. (Of course there are others: High Society, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Diamonds Are Forever among them)
This is where the tradition of the diamond engagement ring really started, all from an advertising campaign. So you see buying a diamond engagement ring isn't really a popular ancient tradition.
It's more a combination of "dreaming of being a princess", a clever marketing campaign and compelling Hollywood glamour that ultimately promotes diamonds as the only jewels with which to furnish your loved one as a sign of engagement.
The 21st Century
The history of the engagement ring has moved on and demand for diamonds and platinum diamond engagement rings is still rising. The tradition is here to stay. Estimated 78% of all engagement rings sold every year are diamond.
It would seem that no matter what you personally decide, she'll be expecting a diamond!
so, everytime you see someone with a diamond ring on their finger, think of this yeah, 99% of diamonds no longer have blood on them like most major corporations don't use sweat shops to manufacture their goods. if you have good importers, they can hide anything bad for a buck.
if you think i'm just finding fluff to support my soapbox, National Geographic wrote a story about diamonds a few years ago. it's long (and if you already have a diamond, you'll probably ignore it), but it's a good read.
ps. the ring in the previous post is NOT a diamond. it is an aquamarine, which is my birthstone.
so, the boyfriend and i went shopping for a little something-something yesterday. how about a hint?
ok, it's not a diamond, but that doesn't matter because i didn't want a diamond. it's because i didn't want to give DeBeers anymore money and i know that the whole "diamonds are forever" bullshit is just that: bullshit. i found this excerpt from a diamond wholesale website, which is ironic, considering they're admitting that the idea is made up by DeBeers, but they're selling them anyway because they know people are sheep. read on:
The 20th Century
From 1880 De Beers were able to control the supply (and price) of diamonds but how were they going to control demand during a period when sales began dropping dramatically (up to 50%) in the 20s and 30s onwards through the great depression? Just as platinum started to become popular in diamond engagement rings, diamonds were becoming less valued. Platinum was banned for all but war use during WWII and so the platinum diamond engagement rings as we know them today almost died out.
The answer to the problem was a new marketing campaign commissioned by De Beers that began in 1947. Perhaps you've heard the slogan "A Diamond is forever"? This was to mark the beginning of a change in the history of the engagement ring.
Subsequent campaigns would convince families to hold on to their diamonds as family heirlooms... and it worked! Used diamonds were not being released back into the industry which in turn created the demand that De Beers were seeking.
Jewelers were unofficially educated by De Beers to instruct men that two to three months personal wages were an ideal price to pay for the diamond engagement ring that their prospective fiancée's would gladly accept.
In 1953 the world's two most glamorous women of the time Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell were the stars of the hit film musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
The plot involves Monroe and Russell chasing potential husbands on a cruise to France. The movie also features a very famous song sung by the blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe, Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend.
This film would have undoubtedly influenced public opinion at the time and will have advanced the popularity of diamonds for years afterwards through Hollywood glamour.
The film is now 50 years old but it's still a firm favorite of all who love Hollywood and the legend of Monroe. (Of course there are others: High Society, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Diamonds Are Forever among them)
This is where the tradition of the diamond engagement ring really started, all from an advertising campaign. So you see buying a diamond engagement ring isn't really a popular ancient tradition.
It's more a combination of "dreaming of being a princess", a clever marketing campaign and compelling Hollywood glamour that ultimately promotes diamonds as the only jewels with which to furnish your loved one as a sign of engagement.
The 21st Century
The history of the engagement ring has moved on and demand for diamonds and platinum diamond engagement rings is still rising. The tradition is here to stay. Estimated 78% of all engagement rings sold every year are diamond.
It would seem that no matter what you personally decide, she'll be expecting a diamond!
so, everytime you see someone with a diamond ring on their finger, think of this yeah, 99% of diamonds no longer have blood on them like most major corporations don't use sweat shops to manufacture their goods. if you have good importers, they can hide anything bad for a buck.
if you think i'm just finding fluff to support my soapbox, National Geographic wrote a story about diamonds a few years ago. it's long (and if you already have a diamond, you'll probably ignore it), but it's a good read.
posted by mikraas at 10:46 PM
1 Comments:
a quote from one of your earlier posts:
"is there a pill that will prevent people from getting boring when they 1) get married, 2) have kids? i think i have this ache to be anything but *gulp* ordinary. everyone gets married. everyone has kids. it's so damn boring. it's like that great big eye in the sky said, "here's this path that you should walk. everybody does it. c'mon. it's not that bad!" of course, here i am, thinking, "if that person told you to jump off a cliff, would you do that?"
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