I was browsing through dozens of styles of refined diamond jewellery on 77diamonds.com when a famous tune started to echo in my mind.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCn4mTkxx2s[/youtube]
It has been a long time since Marilyn Monroe sang Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend and I don’t quite know if Gentlemen [still] Prefer Blondes. Nevertheless, over the past 60 years, things seem to have changed for diamonds, as the precious stones have passed from acting as indicators of financial status and high class, into the background of “fast fashion” and its vertiginous swings. When was the last time you saw a diamond necklace featured as an “it” item in a fashion editorial?
Some would say that diamonds were never meant for the general public. Nowadays, however, this can hardly be said to apply, as the distribution of wealth in today’s society is completely different than it used to be half a century ago. Most women in western countries spend the equivalent of the price of an average diamond necklace – several times over – on the latest fashion, season after season. So are diamonds still popular and still being bought? Perhaps portrayals such as Marilyn’s famous tune stereotyped diamonds, in a chauvinist manner, and could have influenced the public to discount gems as objects of desire in general.
In 2013, women do not necessarily need “a man who lives and gives expensive jewels” “to pay the rental / on your humble flat / or help you at the automat”, like the lyrics go. “A kiss on the hand” is no longer “continental” and the sincerity of emotion is now rarer to a woman than a diamond. Moreover, girls need not spend fortunes on their wardrobe to shine their way into the elite. They proudly buy vintage and they can perfectly match high street with couture in head-turning outfits that make them truly unique.
However, even as a result of this (r)evolution, it is surprising to see how this absolute disconnection of gems from their previous stereotypes for financial validation and high society snobbism, has become the key to appreciating the magnificence of diamonds even better than ever before.
The girls in this current date and age – dynamic, stylish and financially independent – can at last value diamonds for their pure beauty and originality as tiny miracles of nature, encompassing strength and splendor, stripped of material expediencies and trends of the season. They love their gems for the right reasons. They know everything about diamond certifications and do care that their diamonds are conflict free. They accept them as gifts symbolic of true love and eternal devotion, rather than rewards for good times spent with a material girl. They invest in diamonds, or they choose to buy them in timeless passe-partout jewellery for a bedazzling touch to their eclectic outfits.
So maybe diamonds are no longer a girl’s best friend; but they are certainly among their most everlasting.
