“A diamond is forever.” The legendary quote that made De Beers’ rocks desirable to every single bachelorette in the western world. As much as some could argue against it, diamonds are part of the evolution of the meaning of marriage and love in our society. Really, a diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress amazingly well; but culturally, three months’ pay buys you a symbol of status and a display of love that no other material object can bring. During the 20th century, those new social rules were not only used to help De Beers dominate and manipulate the international diamond industry but also made the Oppenheimer’s one of the richest families in the world. The Rothschilds, who control an estimated $2US trillion in assets, were obviously early investors in the expansion and still sit today on the board of directors of the holding company.
This $82US billion industry was shaken by numerous scandals and supply-chain transparency issues, which shaped the Academy Winner “Blood Diamond” that features the *cough* beautiful *cough* Leonardo DiCaprio. We all know and have heard about the alarming and horrifying conditions of the industry’s workers in Africa; so do we really want the symbol of your union to be associated with struggle and misery? Millennials have seemed to catch to this lucidity as, according to industry analysts at Merrill Lynch and RBC capital markets, demand appears to be declining at an exponential rate for this category of buyers. Our generation is clearly concerned with ethics and sustainability, but likewise we are often looking for distinct and personalized objects rather than off-the-peg ones. Although, in our capitalist mindset, most feel the need to materialize insubstantial positions: therefore, it’s an odd question to ask ourselves what we are going to replace the infamous diamond ring with. Will we be more gender equal and leave male-courtship behind? Corporations evidently understood that perpetual evolution and innovation is necessary for survival. De Beer’s groups website quotes: “We’re fascinated by the new challenges facing our industry. How can we engage with the Millennial generation that is so crucial to the future of the diamond dream? […] At De Beers, innovation is our lifeblood, and the key to our glittering future.”
This year was a surprisingly important one for diamonds as supply has never been so high, mainly driven by discoveries in northern Canada. However, production is most likely peaking as industry giants significantly reduced exploration budgets and are expecting a slowdown. In the luxury goods industry, higher prices typically upkeep demand. Although, if the difference between supply and demand is meaningfully large, the entire industry could suffer and even collapse. Previously, De Beer’s was able to effectively control supply to limit market forces. Today’s reality is that they are only responsible for a third of global sales and numerous international regulations and legislation came into the equation. South Africa, Russia and Canada are all part of the 22 diamond-producing countries who signed the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a United Nations initiative to create an international certification for the production and trade of this gem. Most critics will argue that the KPCS failed and that the audit trail that it obligated to create for every single diamond exported is not efficient, as government control is close to nil in several signatory African countries. We will just question ourselves on if, how and why the diamond dream will persist and live through our generation, and who will suffer and who will profit from it.
Julien David Mousseau
