You read that right. That sparkling, special and enchantingly beautiful diamond ring that men have proposed to their special someone with for generations really costs nowhere near as much as you think. But surely, surely that’s preposterous? One single carat diamond of reasonable quality, costs anywhere from £6200 to £7800; for reference, one carat weighs a minuscule 0.2 grams. However, diamonds are the most expensive gemstone but surely, it’s worth it for the love of your life?

The reason why diamonds costs nowhere near as much as you think it does dates to the founding of a company named De Beers which was founded in the late 19th century by Cecil Rhodes. De Beers quickly expanded its control over diamond mining operations in South Africa and other parts of the world and began stockpiling diamonds to control the global supply. Ever heard of “A diamond is Forever”? Well, that was one of their marketing campaigns in 1947, which was highly successful in changing consumer perceptions of diamond rings and diamonds from simply a fancy rock that helps make durable tools, to a symbol of love and commitment. This monopolization of diamonds led to a high demand, a controlled supply of diamonds to the market and therefore an absurd price that was all “worth it”.

Furthermore, the retail price of diamonds is heavily marked up from one hundred to three hundred percent of its original price. And, did you know, that as soon as you buy that diamond ring and walk out of the door, it loses 50% of it’s value! Why on earth would you want to spend so much money only for it to lose so much of its value? This shows that diamond rings and diamonds in general are generally not a good investment. If you want to be kinder to your money, spend it on the knowledge of books, safe investments such as real estate or simply save it in the bank so you can get more money on interest.

To conclude, the reason why diamond rings are so expensive is due to the monopolization of them by De Beers, leading to a hugely inflated and unproportionate price to the diamond’s true value. However, it's important to note that the claim that diamonds would be worthless without De Beers isn’t completely true. The diamond itself is a rare beauty of nature, and they would still have intrinsic value due to their unique physical properties such as their high melting point and versatility. However, there are so many other better ways to spend the money spent on diamonds, in particular diamond rings. Think about how much better investments there are, and if you really did love your partner, wouldn’t you want to perhaps save the money for self-improvement, a better honeymoon, or even your future children?

So next time before you buy that overpriced diamond on a ring, think how that money is better in the bank than on another person’s finger.