Diamonds: A Symbol of Marriage and Commitment

RAPAPORT... Marriage is important. Commitment is important. Love isimportant. Engagement and wedding rings are important.These things are not just a fad. They are meant to last foreverand establish the foundation of personal identity. Of course, everyone is an individual with an individualidentity. But your identity is also shared by the people connected toyou. No connection is more important or more powerful than marriage.Sure, we might try to liberate ourselves and our society from theconstraints of commitment with a hedonistic "carpe diem - live fortoday" lifestyle. But for those who live on a higher level, we yearn forsomething more than the physical. Marriage is more than a series ofone-night stands.Demographics play an important role in defining social values andconsumer behavior. Who can blame millennials for fearing marriageand commitment when about 50% of their parents are divorced? TheTinder sexual evolution liberated sex from commitment. Just becauseyou slept with someone did not mean you owed them anything. Notrelationship exclusivity, and certainly not an engagement ring.But now, "the times, they are a-changing." The demographics andassociated values are shifting. Millennials, now in their 30s, are gettingolder every day. Many are thinking beyond themselves. Being alone inthe post-Covid world is not ideal. Some want children. As people getolder, many millennials realize they do not want to die alone.Nothing is sure and nothing is perfect. But dare I say that marriage,commitment and love are becoming the new "new." It's not thatsociety is becoming more conservative; it's that values are becomingmore real. Concern about the future, whether it's global warming orsustainable personal relations, is more evident. The current surge indemand for bridal jewelry is not a short-term trend. It's a reflection of ademographic shift in values.For the past few decades, the jewelry trade has placed marketingemphasis on fashion jewelry and short-term, feel-good, impulsivepurchases. This was done to increase profit margins. While there isnothing wrong with fashion jewelry and short-term profits, it's hightime the jewelry trade focused on the most basic need for diamonds: theneed to communicate the commitment of love and marriage.This Note from the Publisher first appeared in the September 2022 issue of Rapaport Magazine.Image: Martin Rapaport speaking at the 2022 JCK Las Vegas show.