Diamonds Are Forever

The Dark Side of the Diamond Trade: Facts, Finance, History, Economics, Marketing (2002)

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• published: 29 Aug 2015
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Marketing has significantly affected the image of diamond as a valuable commodity. N. W. Ayer & Son, the advertising firm retained by De Beers in the mid-20th century, succeeded in reviving the American diamond market. And the firm created new markets in countries where no diamond tradition had existed before. N. W. Ayer's marketing included product placement, advertising focused on the diamond product itself rather than the De Beers brand, and associations with celebrities and royalty. Without advertising the De Beers brand, De Beers was advertising its competitors' diamond products as well.[74] De Beers' market share dipped temporarily to 2nd place in the global market below Alrosa in the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2008, down to less than 29% in terms of carats mined, rather than sold.[75] The campaign lasted for decades but was effectively discontinued by early 2011. De Beers still advertises diamonds, but the advertising now mostly promotes its own brands, or licensed product lines, rather than completely "generic" diamond products.[75] The campaign was perhaps best captured by the slogan "a diamond is forever".[7] This slogan is now being used by De Beers Diamond Jewelers,[76] a jewelry firm which is a 50%/50% joint venture between the De Beers mining company and LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate. Brown-colored diamonds constituted a significant part of the diamond production, and were predominantly used for industrial purposes. They were seen as worthless for jewelry (not even being assessed on the diamond color scale). After the development of Argyle diamond mine in Australia in 1986, and marketing, brown diamonds have become acceptable gems.[77][78] The change was mostly due to the numbers: the Argyle mine, with its 35,000,000 carats (7,000 kg) of diamonds per year, makes about one-third of global production of natural diamonds; 80% of Argyle diamonds are brown. Historically, diamonds were found only in alluvial deposits in Guntur and Krishna district of the Krishna River delta in Southern India.[89] India led the world in diamond production from the time of their discovery in approximately the 9th century BC[4][90] to the mid-18th century AD, but the commercial potential of these sources had been exhausted by the late 18th century and at that time India was eclipsed by Brazil where the first non-Indian diamonds were found in 1725.[4] Currently, one of the most prominent Indian mines is located at Panna.[91] Diamond extraction from primary deposits (kimberlites and lamproites) started in the 1870s after the discovery of the Diamond Fields in South Africa.[92] Production has increased over time and now an accumulated total of 4,500,000,000 carats (900,000 kg) have been mined since that date.[93] Twenty percent of that amount has been mined in the last five years, and during the last 10 years, nine new mines have started production; four more are waiting to be opened soon. Most of these mines are located in Canada, Zimbabwe, Angola, and one in Russia.[93] In the U.S., diamonds have been found in Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.[94][95] In 2004, the discovery of a microscopic diamond in the U.S. led to the January 2008 bulk-sampling of kimberlite pipes in a remote part of Montana.[95] Today, most commercially viable diamond deposits are in Russia (mostly in Sakha Republic, for example Mir pipe and Udachnaya pipe), Botswana, Australia (Northern and Western Australia) and the Democratic Republic of Congo.[96] In 2005, Russia produced almost one-fifth of the global diamond output, reports the British Geological Survey. Australia boasts the richest diamantiferous pipe, with production from the Argyle diamond mine reaching peak levels of 42 metric tons per year in the 1990s.[94][97] There are also commercial deposits being actively mined in the Northwest Territories of Canada and Brazil.[82] Diamond prospectors continue to search the globe for diamond-bearing kimberlite and lamproite pipes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond