Diamonds are Forever

Only thirty years after the launch of the ‘diamond is forever’ campaign, a diamond ring was considered not simply a luxury but a necessity in the modern engagement ritual. By 1960s, 80 percent of American brides-to-be were demanding, and getting, a diamond; today that number remains the similar, with the average engagement ring costing $3,200 (De Beers’s original marketing suggested that a man should spend the equivalent of one month’s income on an engagement ring, but it later readjusted the monetary value of a woman’s love, increasing the price to two months’ income). De Beers did not limit its appetite for profit to America. Countries like Japan, which never had a tradition of romantic marriage, made diamonds a tough sell for brides. But De Beers persuaded even Japanese mate-acquisition subselves to part with their money for some shiny coal. Whereas in 1967 only 5 percent of the brides in Japan wore a diamond, this percentage had increased to 77 percent by 1990 ~ Page 197