How many times have we seen a man slip on an exquisite diamond on the hand of a lady, vowing his undying love and affection till “death does them apart”? This ritual that seems as old as time, in reality, is not a tradition. It is the a master stroke by a company intent on selling a product that we don’t really need, thus exploiting a weakness that we all share – CONSUMERISM!

 

The engagement ring tradition is behind the success of De Beers, which at one time (1902) controlled 90%  of the world’s diamond population. In fact, they did not just control the supply but affected the whole demand! A rising supply of Diamonds means that people will buy and soon realise that its resale value is laughable (less than half its original cost). So how do you make such a gem seem valuable to its consumer?

 

It became extremely important to strategically place diamond as something personal and eternal, which people would not want to replace or resell.

Thus came the slogan that will sell a million diamonds!

 

 

 

Through a strategic ad campaign by the New York ad agency, N.W. Ayer, De Beers poured the foundation on which this diamond empire was built. Diamond ring was made the epitome of commitment and love! The agency pulled out all stops, offering star-studded engagement stories and society photographs to magazines and newspapers which would reinforce the link between diamonds and romance. Stories expounding upon the size and cut and quality of the diamonds that celebrities presented to their loved ones, and photographs of well-known women flashing their rings. In 1946, a weekly service called “Hollywood Personalities” began that provided 125 leading newspapers with descriptions of the diamonds worn by movie stars. All to install the desire to obtain one for yourself!

 

 

The advertising agency explained, in its 1948 strategy paper, “We spread the word of diamonds worn by stars of screen and stage, by wives and daughters of political leaders, by any woman who can make the grocer’s wife and the mechanic’s sweetheart say ‘I wish I had what she has.'”

 

 

In the United States itself, between 1939 and 1979, De Beers’s wholesale diamond sales increased from $23 million to $2.1 billion.

 

Soon, it became of the most coveted gemstones! Its a preferred choice in marriage vows, a symbol of love, a promise in marriage. Not due to a traditional ritual, but a carefully staged strategy.

 

 

Diamond is not just a fool’s bargain made possible through emotional manipulation. It is rooted in a very bloody history of Blood Diamonds, civil wars, looting, coerced labour and sexual exploitation. Perhaps the worst hit was Africa, especially Sierra Leone.

 

are also known as war or conflict diamonds, referring to the fact that the diamond was mined from a war zone and used to finance insurgency or warlord activity. Areas such as Angola, Liberia, Congo and Sierra Leone, were fraught with illegal trade, exploitation and looting wars, on top of the civil wars, all of which were financed by the diamonds! The history of diamond is steeped in blood, violence, smuggling, worker exploitation and environmental degradation.

 

The First Liberian Civil War claimed 50,000 lives and expelled 80,000 people to take refuge at the Sierra Leone – Liberian border. The displaced population comprised of children majorly, thus falling prey to invading rebel armies. By promising food, shelter, medical care, and looting and mining profits in return for their support, the armies tried to recruit the kids. When this failed, youths were often forced to join at the barrel of a gun. Many child soldiers learned that the civil war that uprooted them has left no space for law and order and thus violence and coercion became chosen tools for self-empowerment.

 

 

The rampant and reckless diamond mining, over time took a heavy toll in South Africa. Each year claims hundreds of lives in tunnel collapses that are seldom reported because they happen so often. Teachers at government schools demand payment from students to supplement their meagre salaries. Many parents choose to send their teenagers to the mines instead.

 

The IMPACT OF DIAMOND MINING is equally bad, both on the people AND the environment. Due to widespread mining, the top soil has eroded, thus badly affecting the ecosystem, wildlife and the fresh water sources. The increase in mining activity has lead to widespread deforestation, soil erosion and degraded soil quality. According to a report, around 1750 tons of soil needs to be dug up and sifted through for every 1.0 ct. diamond. Can you imagine the gallons and gallons of fresh water that is wasted in treating all this soil!

 

Not only that, the industrial drainage and leftover rocks leaking acids has led to extreme water pollution. Add to that the huge mine pits that eventually fill with stagnant water, which in turn, becomes a breeding ground for diseases such as malaria and dengue! On average the pollution in rivers due to acid drainage by diamond mines has increased by 36% between 1956 and 2003. Angola’s diamond industry has been particularly careless in protecting rivers and streams from exploitation. Diamond miners have re-routed rivers and constructed dams to expose riverbeds for mining, with disastrous effects on fish and wildlife.

 

 

One would think that companies earning huge profits from the diamond business, (which ironically is not even an Africa-based company), would leave their golden goose in such a horrible and unsustainable condition. Approximately, destructed land the size of 2,000 football fields have not been rehabilitated. Despite the fact that South African law states that companies are obliged to provide financial and other resources to ensure that disturbed areas are returned to a state that is equivalent to or better than it was before the mining started.”

 

 

Although there have been some improvements due to the establishment of Kimberly Process Certification Scheme that has been bringing large volumes of diamonds onto the legal market. This, in turn, results in generating revenue to address a country’s development challenges. For instance, in 1990s, almost all of the diamonds were exported illegally out of Sierra Leone, which changed dramatically to around $125 million worth of diamonds being legally exported in 2006.

 

 

Yet, the battle is far from over. The country is besieged with lack of funds, education and employment opportunities. The only available job for the youth is diamond mining, which is not a very suitable survival option. The people have a hand-to-mouth existence.