A Diamond Is For(n)ever
"Today, more than 200,000 diamond engagement rings are placed on ring fingers every year." (A Timeline of Diamonds, from www.debeers.com )
However, according to the National Center for Health Statistics the number of couples who got married in the US in 2001 was 2,327,000.
Granted, De Beers does say "more that 200,000" and not just 200,000, but would you have guessed that fewer that 1 out of 10 marriages start with a proposal of a diamond ring? (Although I have tacitly assumed that (a) the giving of an engagment ring eventually results in a marriage, which is of course not always true, and (b) no one gets married outside the US.) I have no idea how many of those who propose with a diamond actually follow the "recommended" guideline of spending 17% of your annual salary on the ring.
I can't decide if I believe this statistic. De Beers's share has fallen to a mere two-thirds world's wholesale diamond market over the last decade or so, but still they should know how many engagement rings are sold. Also they have built their success in part due their perpetuating the myth that diamonds are actually rare, and so maybe they need to underreport the sales of diamonds.
But it wouldn't be the most successful ad campaign of the 20th Century if it didn't have an effect on me, and so it does feel weird to me the rate is this low. Is it really true that 9 out of 10 couples don't go with a diamond engagement ring? I already knew there was no shame in not having one; in fact, I think it is laudible and preferable, but I also thought it was somewhat uncommon. Is the diamond engagement ring a myth that needs to change?
But how? I suppose one avenue is guilt. Would you want to start your marriage by killing or maiming African children? Or something like how diamonds are a poor investment because they don't increase in value all that much? These are negative campaigns. Nobody likes these. It is difficult to win over an audience by tearing down your opponent.
Thus, I submit what is needed is a positive campaign. That it is, in fact, more romantic without the diamond. Any idiot with two months salary can go out an get a diamond ring. It's not like they're uncommon--you can get one at most any mall, which I suppose makes them as rare as cell phones or sweaters from The Gap. Men often jump through elaborate hoops to find a creative way of giving a ring. This is what is lauded. This is what people think of as romantic, and even when they go comicly awry, it makes for a great story. Never does the cut, color, carat, or clarity come up when telling these stories. Romance is borne out of creativity. It does not come from the bottom of pit in Pretoria, South Africa. It is made by couples. It is homegrown. It is not the province of the greeting card industry, florists, chocoletiers, and jewelers, and I think most everyone knows this. But how do we sell this nonproduct?
However, according to the National Center for Health Statistics the number of couples who got married in the US in 2001 was 2,327,000.
Granted, De Beers does say "more that 200,000" and not just 200,000, but would you have guessed that fewer that 1 out of 10 marriages start with a proposal of a diamond ring? (Although I have tacitly assumed that (a) the giving of an engagment ring eventually results in a marriage, which is of course not always true, and (b) no one gets married outside the US.) I have no idea how many of those who propose with a diamond actually follow the "recommended" guideline of spending 17% of your annual salary on the ring.
I can't decide if I believe this statistic. De Beers's share has fallen to a mere two-thirds world's wholesale diamond market over the last decade or so, but still they should know how many engagement rings are sold. Also they have built their success in part due their perpetuating the myth that diamonds are actually rare, and so maybe they need to underreport the sales of diamonds.
But it wouldn't be the most successful ad campaign of the 20th Century if it didn't have an effect on me, and so it does feel weird to me the rate is this low. Is it really true that 9 out of 10 couples don't go with a diamond engagement ring? I already knew there was no shame in not having one; in fact, I think it is laudible and preferable, but I also thought it was somewhat uncommon. Is the diamond engagement ring a myth that needs to change?
But how? I suppose one avenue is guilt. Would you want to start your marriage by killing or maiming African children? Or something like how diamonds are a poor investment because they don't increase in value all that much? These are negative campaigns. Nobody likes these. It is difficult to win over an audience by tearing down your opponent.
Thus, I submit what is needed is a positive campaign. That it is, in fact, more romantic without the diamond. Any idiot with two months salary can go out an get a diamond ring. It's not like they're uncommon--you can get one at most any mall, which I suppose makes them as rare as cell phones or sweaters from The Gap. Men often jump through elaborate hoops to find a creative way of giving a ring. This is what is lauded. This is what people think of as romantic, and even when they go comicly awry, it makes for a great story. Never does the cut, color, carat, or clarity come up when telling these stories. Romance is borne out of creativity. It does not come from the bottom of pit in Pretoria, South Africa. It is made by couples. It is homegrown. It is not the province of the greeting card industry, florists, chocoletiers, and jewelers, and I think most everyone knows this. But how do we sell this nonproduct?
1 Comments:
Why buy diamonds when you can get really classy cubic zirconia for a fraction of the price?
Though, it looks like gem quality cultured diamonds are getting set to take off in a big way and really start to hurt the De Beers monopoly.
Also, I wonder how much of a person is needed to make a LifeGem. For example, if I had to have a leg amputated (below the knee, say) would my cremated lower leg be enough for a finished 1/2 carat gem? If so, I would totally wear a ring with that set in it.
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