Editor’s Note
This article explores how marketing transformed a gemstone into a universal symbol of commitment, highlighting the fascinating intersection of commerce, culture, and geology.
This not-so-rare precious stone became the symbol of eternal love thanks to an incredible marketing campaign.
Weighing 599 carats, the Centenary Diamond is one of the largest and purest in the world. It was discovered in 1986 in the South African Premier Mine owned by De Beers.
When Gladys Babson Hannaford visited Florida State University in 1960, her lectures were not officially on the curriculum. The woman nicknamed “the Diamond Lady” was not a typical professor. She, who gave hundreds of lectures a year on gemstones, was actually an employee of an advertising agency with a simple but ambitious goal: to make American women crazy about diamonds.
At the time, the price of these precious stones (which are not rare) was set by the agency’s client, the global diamond conglomerate De Beers. And diamond engagement rings were not yet a tradition. However, this did not stop Gladys Babson Hannaford from declaring that diamonds were precious stones of significant historical and emotional value.
she announced to the students, encouraging the female audience to demand a diamond ring from their future fiancé.
Gladys’s lectures were part of a continuous, decades-long campaign to make diamond engagement rings popular. These now-mandatory gifts were far from traditional when De Beers began promoting them as a rare symbol of love.
Until the 19th century, the Indian subcontinent and South America were the world’s main suppliers of diamonds. Known since antiquity, these precious stones only became fashionable in Western Europe at the beginning of the 13th century. It was not until the Renaissance that the diamond cutting industry was born, when artisans began using new tools to cut facets into rough and uncut stones, a process that enhanced their brilliance and prepared them to be transformed into magnificent jewelry.
These new faceted diamonds were incredibly beautiful. They were also very rare, so they became symbols of wealth and luxury for those who could afford them. One of these jewels entered history by adorning the very first engagement ring, given by Archduke Maximilian, future Holy Roman Emperor, to Mary of Burgundy in 1477. That same year, one of the Archduke’s advisors is said to have told him to have “a ring set with diamonds and also a gold ring” ready for his engagement to his betrothed. According to mineralogist George Frederick Kunz, this gift is proof, centuries later, that diamond engagement rings were already fashionable among the royalty of the time.
Ordinary Europeans remained indifferent to this fashion, exchanging iron rings, clothing, and livestock when they decided to marry. Meanwhile, members of royalty continued to exchange precious jewels for their engagements, like Queen Victoria. In 1839, she received from Prince Albert a gold engagement ring in the shape of a serpent, a popular symbol of eternal love at the time. It was adorned with a large emerald (the queen’s birthstone), as well as two rubies and a diamond, representing the reptile’s eyes and mouth respectively. Queen Victoria originated many jewelry trends and is credited with starting the fashion for white weddings.
It was in the 1860s that diamonds were discovered on the land of a South African farm belonging to Johannes and Diederik de Beer, two Dutch settlers. They subsequently sold the mine operated on their property (which bore their name) to a British company. It was then acquired by Cecil Rhodes, the infamous British entrepreneur and politician, who began buying up new mines, thus consolidating the entire diamond industry in the region. The resulting conglomerate, De Beers, controlled the global diamond market at the beginning of the 20th century.
However, these discoveries posed a problem for the industry. With the South African mines, the global supply of diamonds increased considerably, and De Beers eventually owned 90% of the world’s diamonds. The company then found itself in a delicate position, as it had to maintain the monetary value of the precious stones while preserving their reputation as luxury products despite their abundance. This was particularly the case at the beginning of the 20th century.