In case there was any doubt that we’re living in the 80s. On steroids.
(Hat tip and explanation, if you’re unsure why this is the tackiest thing ever.)
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Wow. It’s ballsy and tacky all at once!
Never happier about receiving a different stone in my engagement ring!
Wow. Talk about irony. Those DeBeers people have absolutely no shame. I wonder if it would make any difference if the jewelry ad was run on a page with an ad for Blood Diamond on the facing page.
Nah…people who read Glamour and Cosmopolitan don’t really make those kinds of connections, I guess.
Dweeze, yes. I thought of Nazis creating diamonds from their victims too…
The only (?) good side to these pieces is that as we read this, someone(s) in the world is creating fakes to sell on Ebay et al to rip off De Beers.
Wow, that has got the be the most insentive use of diamonds ever.
Fake African designs are so tacky. What a waste of blood, sweat, and tears.
Isn’t that one at the top Spider-Man?
I thought the same thing. And it was before I had read any of the accompanying text so I was trying to make out faces in the other pieces. I was looking for a sapphire encrusted Dr. Manhattan and then read the text and had an “omg….wtf?” moment.
They could have gone with the Monopoly guy sitting on an exploited worker, lighting a cigar with a burning map of Africa. But then we get into likeness rights issues with Parker Brothers. The masks were the right way to go.
This ought to be a nice thing for a rich white woman to wear. Perhaps to a benefit for inner city schools.
‘sokay, Brandy. I thought they were all Cybermen from Doctor Who.
I totally want to believe in hell now…Maybe karmic justice will work instead?
Well, of course we are Out of Africa. Colonial interests and abuse have used it all up!
Isn’t that one at the top Spider-Man?
It’s actually a Power Ranger.
More reason I want a plain engagement ring (or at least some other stone…I don’t mind Zirconium at all). DeBeers can keep their blood diamonds.
I’ve sworn a mighty blood oath before Odin that DeBeers will never get a dime from me, and if I ever have the chance, to crush them under my iron-shod heel.
I really haven’t had cause to regret it so far.
Perhaps a pair of crossed machetes on a brooch, encrusted with diamond pavé, or a small tasteful pair of limbless child earrings?
I’m gonna write DeBeers!
The only thing I can think of that might compare is if American colonialists had enslaved rather than evicted the Native Americans, forced them to work in gold mines, and then forced them to create jewelry in the images of their spirit totems for the rest of the world to wear.
Unfortunately, the world is made of far more people who prefer shiny to irony.
I think my jaw just hit the desk. DE BEERS???? FOR REALS?? After the death and destruction they’ve caused in Africa, they have the nerve to mimic African art in gemstones? Are they TRYING to be gloating, unrepentant assholes, or does that just come effortlessly?
No diamond (from them, anyway, and probably none at all) will ever go on my left hand. Or my right, or my ears, or neck, etc…
Agreed, Dollface- my original engagement ring was an antique diamond bought at auction that later turned into 3 mortgage payments when my husband was disabled with a broken neck. I now have a stunning “3 stone” white gold ring with fakes that I love so much more… and I got to pick THIS one!
Ha ha ha!!!!!!! Oh De Beers is sooooooooooo so vile. OMFG!
How about a diamond encrusted bone to put in the nose? Ohhhh maybe applique blood spatter body jewelry made out of rubies to “get into the spirit” of the bloodshed caused by colonialism and exploitation! Frigging awesome!! Perhaps a pendant depicting Cecil Rhodes beating the shit out of some “inferior” native - all in colorful precious stones!
keeping with the 80’s theme it’s like something Gordon Gecko would have as a tie clip.
Yiicchh…
I’m not sure I get why this is a trip back to the ‘80s…
(Unless you mean the 1880s.)
More reason I want a plain engagement ring (or at least some other stone…I don’t mind Zirconium at all). DeBeers can keep their blood diamonds.
Can I put in a plug for Alexandrite? Many of the stones available are grown in labs rather than mined - so ethically clear, it’s pretty tough, and it changes colour in different light (from purple to green).
When my fiancee and I were shopping for rings, we did see a lot of Canadian diamonds. But the Alexandrite is pretty swishy.
When I finally decided to become a wife and wear a ring, I settled on a thin white-gold $100 band (that looks silver), no gems or stones. There was no engagement ring, either. It was part of my “let’s remove as much gender disparity from this ritual as possible and get hitched at city hall—no reception” concession.
The avoiding of the diamond industry (even as a Canadian) was part of it, but it helps that I actually don’t like flash (on me, anyway—not to say some flash can’t be purdy)—that is, there was no temptation or sacrifice.
I get cross-eyed looks all the time for wearing something so plain—like my husband doesn’t love me enough, or like I don’t love myself enough. We mock them from our awesome screened-in porch that we built using the money we saved from not having a wedding/buying flash (we’re awful that way).
Unfortunately, I know quite a few appleknockers who’ll be all over those nasty little pendants top of the page. Look at it this way—they’ll signify a little something about the people you see wearing them in public. Them’s clues for the taking (I told you—I’m awful).
i too went the non-traditional route with my enagement ring, its from the late 1800s and has opals and garnets set in the pretties daisy design ive ever seen. it looks a bit like this
http://www.finanandco.co.uk/April_2002/016.jpg
but in my opinion much prettier. it also only cost my fiance and i $180 on sale at a local antique shop.
as to the jewelery from debeers, exactly who can even afford that right now except the top 1%, i don’t kno all that much about diamonds or jewelry that isnt made of various plastics for that matter, but just from viewing the photo i imagine each piece pictured has some absurdly high carat count and a matching price tag.
Back in the 80s when my friends and I saw a big fat left-hand rock on a peer’s hand we used to say “You bring De Beers, let’s have apartheid.” Softly though, lest we sound ‘just jealous’.
im so happy i spent the 80s fingerpainting and wearing jelly bracelets and splatter painted t-shirts. im starting to grasp why anyone who wasnt a child then refers to the decade with disgust.
louise, i wish i had a photo of the actual ring, becos its seriously so much prettier than that one. the opals have a blue hue to them and the garnets are an incredibly deep burgandy. the ring caught my eye in the case becos the way the colors played off of eachother, it was like nothing i had ever seen. it also fit perfect and was in such good condition ive had other antique dealers ive shown it to tell me it appears to have never been worn before. it felt like it was waiting for me.
How about a diamond encrusted bone to put in the nose? Ohhhh maybe applique blood spatter body jewelry made out of rubies to “get into the spirit” of the bloodshed caused by colonialism and exploitation!
I got it! A diamond encrusted bauble to decorate your enfibulation!
Eh, DeBeers has probably already realized that they’ve pissed off a sizable percentage of the population anyhow, so they might as well go after the ultra-rich with no taste and no knowledge of history.
Still doesn’t match the cluelessness of the crucified Santa Claus ad, however. (And yes, this is not an urban legend. One of my friends was working in Japan at the time. Parco Department store ad.)
Why can’t we bring back the giant clock necklace instead of this gaudy shit?
How long has DeBeers been the diamond-monopoly? Because I have some very pretty diamond rings that were my great-grandmother’s (her original wedding set) that I’m very attached too, but I hate the idea of wearing blood diamonds… are gems from the 1930s going to be worse or better?
Oh. My. Gawd.
My jaw actually dropped. And stayed dropped for a few seconds before I came to my senses, recalled that I’m at work, and snapped it back shut.
They did WHAT?? And this ISN’T a spoof??
*headdesk*
True story for you, jessicalikewhoa:
24 hrs after I got my original engagement ring, I was driving home from work in the rain. Saw that traffic was slowing down for a red light, but misjudged- and smacked into the back bumper of the car ahead of me, because as I was slowing down, I got mesmerized by my new ring.
And as luck would have it, the other driver was a cop who was out on disability because of his injured back!!
He was okay, I had only scratched the paint and he completely understood my explanation- so he let me get away with paying for the touchup. WHEW!!
Your ring sounds SOOOO pretty…
Wow. The dictionary just got a new illustration for the word “irony.”
I guess I’m lucky in that I don’t like big flash jewelry like this anyway, and am too poor to pay for it even if I did. But good GOD, wtf were they thinking??
Your hat-tip link isn’t there (in IE at least), and I hope that the explaination speaks for itself (although with the collective memory spans of gnats when it comes to human suffering caused by greed I may be hoping in vain)