Diamonds
By Andrew Cockburn
National Geographic Magazine
“Diamonds are not really a commodity like gold or silver,” a leading New
York dealer explained to me one day. “You won’t buy a stone from a jeweler and
then sell it back to him for the same price—he’s not going to give up his profit.
But they are definitely the easiest way to move value around. I know a guy who
had to leave Iran at a moment’s notice during the revolution there. No time to sell
his house or get to the bank, but he had time to pick up 30 million dollars’ worth
of diamonds and walk away.”
“They are a form of currency,” remarked Mark van Bockstael of the
Diamond High Council in Antwerp. “They back international loans, pay debts,
pay bribes, buy arms. In many cases they are better than money.”
Eighty percent of the world’s rough gem-quality diamonds are traded every
year along three short streets next to the Antwerp railroad station. The Antwerp
district has extensions in many cities: West 47th Street in New York, London’s
Hatton Garden, the high-rise offices of Ramat Gan in Tel Aviv, not to mention the
Opera House district in Mumbai (Bombay) and the other “diamond cities” of India,
where, in a union of modern technology and cheap labor, 800,000 workers craft
stones weighing a fraction of a carat into polished gems. Each of these business
centers revolves around personal contact and connections, thrives on rumor and
gossip, and cherishes secrecy. Multimillion-dollar deals are clinched with a
handshake and the word mazal, Hebrew for “good luck.”
****
Associating diamonds with love and emotion has long been the key
marketing strategy for De Beers. Fundamental to the campaign is the famous
slogan “A Diamond Is Forever”—embracing the twin notions of eternal devotion
and eternal value. Sometimes De Beers advertisements are more explicit about the
role of its product in the mating game: “Of course there’s a return on your
investment,” ran one full-page offering just before Christmas 2000. “We just can’t
print it here.”
De Beers may be single-handedly responsible for prompting, in less than a
century, American, European, Japanese, and, increasingly, Chinese women to
expect the “traditional” gift of a diamond engagement ring as a matter of right.
But myths that associate diamonds with love and devotion go back long before De
Beers’s marketing campaign.
Word
diamond
commodity
leading
dealer
Definition
a clear, very hard valuable stone, used in jewellery and in industry
a product that is bought and sold
best, most important, or most successful
someone who buys and sells a particular product, especially an
expensive one
a jewel
stone
jeweller (BrE) - someone who buys, sells, makes, or repairs
jeweler
jewellery
to lose; to give something that is yours to someone else
give up
money that you gain by selling things or doing business, after your
profit
costs have been paid
without any doubt
definitely
the amount of money that something is worth
value
information or a warning about something that is going to happen
notice
at a moment’s very quickly
notice
to get something
pick up
how much money something is worth
worth
the system or type of money that a country uses
currency
to say something, especially about something you have just noticed
remark
a group of people that are chosen to make rules, laws, or decisions,
council
or to give advice
to support someone or something, especially by giving them money
back
or using your influence
an amount of money that you borrow from a bank etc
loan
a sum of money that a person or organization owes
debt
money or a gift that you illegally give someone to persuade them to
bribe
do something for you
the weapons and military equipment used by an army
arms
not in a final form
rough
a beautiful stone that has been cut into a special shape
gem
to buy and sell goods, services etc as your job or business
trade
an area of a town or the countryside, especially one with particular
district
features
the development of something in order to make it affect more
extension
people, situations, areas than before
high-rise buildings are tall buildings with many levels
high-rise
to talk or write about something or someone, usually quickly and
mention
without saying very much or giving details
Word
union
labor
craft
fraction
carat
polished
revolve
connection
thrive on
rumor
gossip
cherish
secrecy
clinch
hadshake
associate
emotion
key
marketing
strategy
fundamental
slogan
embrace
notion
eternal
devotion
Definition
joining two or more things together, or the state of being joined
together
labour (BrE) - all the people who work for a company or in a
country
to make something using a special skill, especially with your hands
a very small amount of something
a unit for measuring the weight of jewels, equal to 200 milligrams
done with great skill and style
to have something as a main subject or purpose
people who you know who can help you, especially because they
are in positions of power
to enjoy or be successful in a particular situation, especially one
that other people find difficult or unpleasant
rumour (BrE) - information or a story that is passed from one
person to another and which may or may not be true
information that is passed from one person to another about other
people's behaviour and private lives, often including unkind or
untrue remarks
if you cherish something, it is very important to you
the process of keeping something secret, or when something is kept
a secret
to finally agree on something or get something after trying very
hard
the act of taking someone's right hand and shaking it, which people
do when they meet or leave each other or when they have made an
agreement
to make a connection in your mind between one thing or person and
another
a strong human feeling such as love, hate, or anger
very important or necessary
the activity of deciding how to advertise a product, what price to
charge for it etc, or the type of job in which you do this
very necessary and important
a short phrase that is easy to remember and is used in
advertisements, or by politicians, organizations etc
to include something as part of a subject, discussion etc
an idea, belief, or opinion
continuing for ever and having no end
the strong love that you show
Word
Definition
advertisement a picture, set of words, or a short film, which is intended to
persuade people to buy a product or use a service, or that gives
information about a job that is available, an event that is going to
happen etc
expressed in a way that is very clear and direct
explicit
sex
mating
the amount of profit that you get from something
return
the use of money to get a profit or to make a business activity
investment
successful, or the money that is used
something that is offered (given as a present to please someone)
offering
if one person does something single-handedly, they do it without
singlehelp from anyone else
handedly
to make people say or do something as a reaction
prompt
increasingly more and more all the time
something that you give someone, for example to thank them or
gift
because you like them, especially on a special occasion
engagement an agreement between two people to marry, or the period of time
they are engaged
an idea or story that many people believe, but which is not true
myth
a series of actions intended to achieve a particular result relating to
campaign
politics or business, or a social improvement