DeBeers’ Heavy Right Hand
Long-time readers know a recurring topic here is shedding light on the marketing of diamonds and the manipulations of DeBeers. An ad campaign recently began pushing the diamond “right-hand ring”. Launched over the summer by the Diamond Trading Co., the message is aimed squarely at women and entices them to buy their own diamond rings as a symbol of their independence (the DTC is “the rough diamond-trading arm of De Beers,” essentially their marketing arm, so you can substitute “DeBeers” when you read DTC).
An article in Professional Jeweler clearly spells out the DTC’s campaign goals and design directives. The target woman is 35-64, has “been married at some point, received diamond jewelry before and needs only her own permission to treat herself.” The campaign seeks to promote right hand rings for women to express their “independent, worldly, assertive sides,” distinct from the left hand ring, which is of course reserved for DeBeers’ big moneymaker: diamonds emotionally connnected to your family commitments. The strict design edicts state that “Ring designs should be oriented in a north-south direction and use a lot of open, or negative, space; should fit in one of four categories: modern vintage, contemporary, floral and romantic; rings can contain a mix of round or fancy shapes and should include at least one diamond of 20 points or more”.
Perhaps realizing that the diamond “cocktail ring” had aged beyond chance for a retro-style comeback, DeBeers started promoting right-hand rings in 1999 with a design competition. Since then, they’ve savvily crafted the distinct design guidance, and honed the emotional message of independence for women. Jewelry designers and the fashion industry are jumping on board.
Despite losing some of their monopolistic market share, bad publicity over conflict diamonds, and the trend towards “branded diamonds” DeBeers continues to act as the dominating marketing power. From the very beginning of the “a diamond is forever” engagement ring to their “three stone diamond jewelry” campaign (one stone each to represent past, present and future), and now this “right hand” ring concept, they have been the sheperds of the public mindset towards diamonds, creating opportunities to sell even more while retaining remarkable cachet. Will their generic advertising fall by the wayside as other suppliers gain market share?