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I'm planning on proposing
to my boyfriend, uh, shortly.
2
00:00:09,969 --> 00:00:13,765
The weeks leading up to that
are, like, the most stressful,
3
00:00:13,848 --> 00:00:14,891
nerve-wracking.
4
00:00:14,974 --> 00:00:17,560
You know when you get to the point
that you, like--
5
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all you can hear is, like,
badum, badum, badum.
6
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He got down on one knee,
and pulled this box out of his pocket,
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-which I had no idea was there.
-[both laugh]
8
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And he's like,
"Well, I wanna be with you forever."
9
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And everything went black and disappeared,
10
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and I was in this space with him,
and my knees were weak.
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[Cleo Abram] You probably know
what they bought.
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00:00:41,667 --> 00:00:44,962
Diamonds are the world's
most popular gemstone.
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But if you compare them to other jewels,
it's not obvious why.
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These are just as sparkly as a diamond.
15
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These look indistinguishable
from diamonds.
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One of these is a man-made diamond.
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00:00:57,892 --> 00:01:00,812
Scientists can now
create diamonds in a lab
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that are structurally identical
to diamonds mined from the earth.
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And yet, every year,
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people spend their savings
to buy the real thing.
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It is the single most expensive thing
that either one of us has purchased.
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It was the most beautiful
and most significant thing ever to me.
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Somebody that can afford to give you
nice diamond, no? It's nice.
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So what exactly
makes these rocks so special?
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What is the value of a diamond?
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[woman] Diamonds, forged by nature
and crafted by man.
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[man] It may be a cliché
to say that this is "rich soil,"
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but this time, it's literally true.
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It's beautiful. And he designed it.
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Make sure it stays on that finger.
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Of course.
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[man] It's not a purchase that's logical.
It's supposed to be illogical.
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It's not rational.
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[woman] They just seem representative
of these terrible things.
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It's like this waste of money,
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and we're only doing it
to show other people.
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[man] What do people want?
How much do they want it?
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What are they willing to pay for it?
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[Abram] We all live on a thin, solid crust
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above hot molten metal soup.
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That crust is typically less than
40 kilometers deep,
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just twice the length of Manhattan.
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Rubies, sapphires, emeralds--
these all form there.
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00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,935
But a diamond's home is deeper.
45
00:02:23,019 --> 00:02:25,688
Scientists measure pressure in pascals,
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and where diamonds form,
pressures are five to six gigapascals.
47
00:02:30,318 --> 00:02:34,405
If you think of 80 elephants
standing on your big toe,
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that is the pressure that is equivalent
to five to six gigapascals.
49
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Every other precious gem
is made up of combinations of elements.
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A diamond? Only one. Carbon.
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From a scientific perspective,
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the most important part
of a diamond is this.
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[Smit] These are small pieces
of the mantle
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that's been trapped during diamond growth,
55
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and so these inclusions
are actually the only direct samples
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00:02:57,303 --> 00:02:59,764
that scientists have
to study the deep earth.
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[Abram] And those inclusions
can be dated.
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00:03:02,892 --> 00:03:07,897
If this is all of human history,
and this is the time of the dinosaurs,
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this is the period when all the diamonds
we see today were born.
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The oldest diamonds that have been dated
actually predate life on Earth.
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Over 25 million years ago,
62
00:03:18,950 --> 00:03:23,329
diamonds blasted to the surface
in rare and violent explosions.
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In the most seismically active regions,
they just evaporated.
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In the more stable areas, they survived.
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00:03:30,586 --> 00:03:32,922
This is a map of seismic waves
through the Earth.
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The most stable areas are the pink ones.
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00:03:35,341 --> 00:03:38,678
And that's where diamonds lay unnoticed
for millions of years.
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The earliest piece
of surviving diamond jewelry
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00:03:41,973 --> 00:03:44,475
is this ring made around 300 B.C.
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00:03:44,558 --> 00:03:46,394
Over the next 2,000 years,
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00:03:46,477 --> 00:03:49,438
diamonds popped up
in crowns, rings, and pins
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00:03:49,522 --> 00:03:51,190
alongside other precious gems.
73
00:03:51,274 --> 00:03:52,984
And sometimes they were wedding gifts,
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like the diamond ring
exchanged in the betrothal
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00:03:55,486 --> 00:03:58,906
of Archduke Maximilian of Austria
and Mary of Burgundy.
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00:03:58,990 --> 00:04:02,201
But diamonds wouldn't become
the unrivaled gemstone of love
77
00:04:02,285 --> 00:04:05,705
until these diamond deposits
were discovered in South Africa
78
00:04:05,788 --> 00:04:07,123
400 years later.
79
00:04:07,707 --> 00:04:11,627
Enter Cecil Rhodes, a British 17-year-old
sent to South Africa,
80
00:04:11,711 --> 00:04:13,004
then Cape Colony.
81
00:04:13,087 --> 00:04:16,382
He would one day be remembered
as a colonizer of Rhodesia,
82
00:04:16,465 --> 00:04:19,969
now Zimbabwe and Zambia,
the namesake of Rhodes University,
83
00:04:20,052 --> 00:04:22,179
the creator of the Rhodes Scholarship,
84
00:04:22,263 --> 00:04:24,098
a zealous imperialist,
85
00:04:24,181 --> 00:04:27,768
and the founder of the company
that would dominate the diamond industry
86
00:04:27,852 --> 00:04:30,521
for more than a century--De Beers.
87
00:04:30,604 --> 00:04:34,567
Under its watch, diamonds transformed
from a gem like any other
88
00:04:34,650 --> 00:04:36,360
into a cultural touchstone.
89
00:04:41,824 --> 00:04:46,203
To understand how they pulled that off,
you have to learn the De Beers' playbook.
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00:04:46,287 --> 00:04:48,539
The first play--control supply.
91
00:04:48,622 --> 00:04:52,001
In the 1870s, Rhodes
started buying up his competitors.
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00:04:52,084 --> 00:04:53,919
I think it's important to understand
93
00:04:54,003 --> 00:04:56,630
De Beers didn't necessarily produce
all of the diamonds in the world.
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They produced a lot of the diamonds.
They bought supply from other producers,
95
00:05:01,010 --> 00:05:03,804
and this allowed them
to basically control supply.
96
00:05:03,888 --> 00:05:07,641
Around 90% of the world's supply
within two decades.
97
00:05:08,392 --> 00:05:09,727
Then came the second play.
98
00:05:10,853 --> 00:05:13,606
Rhodes made a deal
to sell his entire supply of diamonds
99
00:05:13,689 --> 00:05:16,108
to an exclusive diamond syndicate
in London.
100
00:05:16,609 --> 00:05:19,695
When De Beers had control of
global supply under the monopoly,
101
00:05:19,779 --> 00:05:21,614
they had a strategic stockpile.
102
00:05:21,697 --> 00:05:24,992
And in situations where,
um, you know, demand would decline,
103
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they would hold back supply to market
as they saw fit.
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00:05:28,662 --> 00:05:31,540
De Beers never released information
about its stockpile
105
00:05:31,624 --> 00:05:33,250
and claims they no longer have one.
106
00:05:33,334 --> 00:05:37,421
But in 1999, The New York Times
pegged it at 5.2 billion.
107
00:05:39,298 --> 00:05:43,677
In the 1940s, the U.S. government
tried to build its own diamond stockpile,
108
00:05:43,761 --> 00:05:45,638
because diamonds aren't just for jewelry.
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They're also the hardest-known
natural material on Earth,
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which makes them crucial
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00:05:50,768 --> 00:05:52,978
for manufacturing weapons,
tanks, and airplanes.
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00:05:53,854 --> 00:05:55,940
And while ultimately,
the War Production Board
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00:05:56,023 --> 00:05:58,109
said no piece of equipment was delayed,
114
00:05:58,192 --> 00:06:00,903
a government official
claimed the De Beers-led syndicate
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00:06:00,986 --> 00:06:03,572
was making getting diamonds so difficult
116
00:06:03,656 --> 00:06:06,575
that the U.S. had to threaten
to "not give planes to England
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00:06:06,659 --> 00:06:09,954
if the syndicate did not sell us
the diamonds to make them."
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The reason? "The diamond syndicate
will not sell us a stockpile
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because it will not tolerate large stocks
outside its monopoly control."
120
00:06:18,087 --> 00:06:21,465
But maintaining the price of something
isn't just about supply.
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It's also about demand.
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00:06:24,176 --> 00:06:26,971
The decade before World War II,
De Beers was in crisis.
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It was the Great Depression,
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and there weren't many people
shopping for diamonds.
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Worse, people might sell
the diamonds they had bought,
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00:06:34,311 --> 00:06:37,523
increasing the supply
and further driving down the price.
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So De Beers has hired an advertising firm
which came up with a brilliant idea.
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What if people kept diamonds... forever?
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00:06:43,988 --> 00:06:47,199
Certainly the famous slogan
"A diamond is forever."
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It's probably one of the most successful
advertising campaigns
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00:06:50,494 --> 00:06:52,079
in advertising history.
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Rings had been a common engagement gift
since the early Middle Ages,
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00:06:55,624 --> 00:06:58,502
but the idea that a diamond
should be on that ring? That was new.
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00:06:59,170 --> 00:07:00,880
The first campaign ran in the U.S.
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00:07:00,963 --> 00:07:03,757
with paintings
by some of the world's biggest artists.
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00:07:03,841 --> 00:07:06,343
On the right, that's by Salvador Dali.
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00:07:06,427 --> 00:07:08,721
On the left, Pablo Picasso.
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The message was,
"Diamonds are works of art."
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Many campaigns followed,
all with that same slogan.
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00:07:17,605 --> 00:07:19,523
[man] A diamond anniversary band.
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00:07:19,607 --> 00:07:22,860
On your tenth,
show her you'd marry her all over again.
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[Abram] It worked.
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00:07:25,613 --> 00:07:28,657
In the 1939 classic, Gone With The Wind,
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00:07:28,741 --> 00:07:31,118
Scarlett O'Hara
pleads for this precious gem.
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00:07:31,202 --> 00:07:33,162
What kind of ring
would you like, my darling?
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00:07:33,245 --> 00:07:36,540
Oh, a diamond ring.
And do buy a great big one, Rhett.
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00:07:36,624 --> 00:07:39,126
But she'd have been one of only
10% of American brides
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00:07:39,210 --> 00:07:41,420
who received a diamond ring that year.
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00:07:41,504 --> 00:07:42,838
By the 1950s...
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♪ But square-cut or pear-shaped ♪
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00:07:45,925 --> 00:07:48,093
♪ These rocks don't lose their shape ♪
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00:07:49,136 --> 00:07:51,222
...diamonds were a girl's best friend.
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00:07:51,305 --> 00:07:55,184
And by 1990,
80% of American brides got one.
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00:07:55,267 --> 00:07:58,521
And if a diamond is forever,
most people don't want a used one.
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00:07:58,604 --> 00:08:01,357
There's no official price scale
for second-hand diamonds, but...
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00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,777
I think you would be stunned
157
00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:06,904
by how little you would get
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00:08:06,987 --> 00:08:09,490
as-as a percent of what you paid.
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00:08:09,573 --> 00:08:14,620
You might get 25%
of your purchase price, 30%.
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00:08:15,871 --> 00:08:19,333
The campaign was such a hit,
De Beers ran it again.
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00:08:19,416 --> 00:08:20,626
This time in Japan.
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-[man speaks Japanese]
-[speaks Japanese]
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[man speaks Japanese]
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00:08:27,633 --> 00:08:29,843
In 1967, when that campaign began,
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00:08:29,927 --> 00:08:32,346
almost no Japanese brides
received a diamond.
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00:08:32,429 --> 00:08:35,099
Twenty years later, over 70% of them did.
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00:08:36,976 --> 00:08:40,437
In the 1990s, De Beers turned to China.
Same slogan...
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[man speaking Chinese]
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-[Abram] Same result.
-[man] De Beers.
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00:08:45,568 --> 00:08:49,738
These ads are trying to create demand,
and that's not some dirty trick.
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That's capitalism.
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I can convince you
that you actually want to buy a pet rock,
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which, to me, was, like,
the dumbest idea in the world,
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00:08:57,454 --> 00:09:01,792
but people were able to be convinced
you should value this pet rock.
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00:09:01,875 --> 00:09:05,170
That's why ad companies
get paid what they get paid.
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De Beers was just remarkably good at this.
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00:09:07,965 --> 00:09:10,759
But not all De Beers' efforts
have been successful.
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00:09:10,843 --> 00:09:14,221
In the 1980s, De Beers tried to get women
to buy diamonds for men.
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00:09:14,305 --> 00:09:17,683
That one didn't stick. De Beers
tried again to get women to buy diamonds
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00:09:17,766 --> 00:09:21,270
in a 2003 campaign called,
"Raise Your Right Hand,"
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00:09:21,353 --> 00:09:23,480
with the idea being
that an empowered woman
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00:09:23,564 --> 00:09:25,733
would have an engagement ring
on her left hand
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00:09:25,816 --> 00:09:28,777
and a diamond ring she bought herself
on her right.
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00:09:28,861 --> 00:09:30,529
That one didn't take off, either.
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00:09:30,613 --> 00:09:32,156
Diamonds may be worn by women,
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00:09:32,239 --> 00:09:35,367
but the primary consumers of diamonds
are men.
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00:09:35,451 --> 00:09:38,287
For a few years,
De Beers commissioned surveys.
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00:09:38,370 --> 00:09:40,664
One question asked
if you'd want a diamond ring
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00:09:40,748 --> 00:09:42,916
if it meant forgoing other things.
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00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,670
In 1990, only 22% of women said yes,
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00:09:46,754 --> 00:09:49,381
but for men, it was 59%.
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00:09:49,465 --> 00:09:52,009
Many men reported that
buying a diamond engagement ring
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00:09:52,092 --> 00:09:53,677
was a mark of adulthood.
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00:09:53,761 --> 00:09:57,890
I think it is, in some ways,
a symbol that I've arrived,
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00:09:57,973 --> 00:10:01,226
and I'm able to make
such a significant purchase
196
00:10:01,310 --> 00:10:03,312
and kind of take this step.
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00:10:03,896 --> 00:10:06,190
This set the stage
for De Beers' next play--
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00:10:06,273 --> 00:10:08,525
linking the amount
a man spent on a diamond
199
00:10:08,609 --> 00:10:10,819
to his professional success.
200
00:10:10,903 --> 00:10:13,364
It's become a cultural norm
in the United States.
201
00:10:13,447 --> 00:10:15,908
The rule of thumb--diamonds
should be about two months' salary.
202
00:10:16,033 --> 00:10:18,077
-Two months' salary.
-Two months' salary.
203
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:22,498
De Beers came up with that.
In Japan, they came up with three months.
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00:10:22,581 --> 00:10:25,709
That link between diamonds
and a man's professional success
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00:10:25,793 --> 00:10:28,545
grew in a way that De Beers
may not have anticipated.
206
00:10:29,588 --> 00:10:32,174
And rappers started name-dropping
their favorite jeweler.
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00:10:32,257 --> 00:10:33,217
♪ You are the Jacob ♪
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00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:34,176
-♪ Jacob ♪
-♪ Jacob ♪
209
00:10:34,259 --> 00:10:35,636
♪ Jacob the Jeweler ♪
210
00:10:35,719 --> 00:10:37,680
My nickname is Jacob the Jeweler.
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00:10:37,763 --> 00:10:40,182
♪ All these diamonds on my wrists ♪
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00:10:41,725 --> 00:10:43,310
♪ All these diamonds on my wrists ♪
213
00:10:43,394 --> 00:10:46,438
How much value we have here?
I would say, um...
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00:10:47,481 --> 00:10:48,732
about 35 million.
215
00:10:50,776 --> 00:10:53,946
I have put diamonds on almost everything.
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00:10:54,029 --> 00:10:56,907
I think I once made a toothbrush
in diamonds and gold.
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00:10:56,990 --> 00:11:01,704
It's a sign of success.
Like you would say, "Honey, I love you.
218
00:11:01,787 --> 00:11:05,290
And this is how much I love you.
This is how big I love you."
219
00:11:05,958 --> 00:11:09,712
This is a 75-carat, uh... vivid yellow.
220
00:11:10,421 --> 00:11:14,550
Carat, color.
What he's talking about was another play.
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00:11:14,633 --> 00:11:17,136
Number five--define value.
222
00:11:18,178 --> 00:11:22,808
If you walk into any diamond store today,
they'll probably tell you about the 4Cs.
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00:11:22,891 --> 00:11:26,520
The 4Cs are the four most important
characteristics of a diamond.
224
00:11:26,603 --> 00:11:29,940
They represent
cut, color, clarity and carat weight,
225
00:11:30,023 --> 00:11:32,067
which is the size of your diamond.
226
00:11:32,151 --> 00:11:34,903
A diamond should be cut
not too flat, not too deep.
227
00:11:34,987 --> 00:11:38,532
It should be either colorless
or a bright color, but not in between.
228
00:11:38,615 --> 00:11:42,119
It should be clear, free of the inclusions
that scientists love.
229
00:11:42,202 --> 00:11:43,370
And it should be big.
230
00:11:44,288 --> 00:11:46,999
That system for grading diamonds
was invented in the 1940s
231
00:11:47,082 --> 00:11:48,709
by a gem research institute.
232
00:11:48,792 --> 00:11:50,544
They started selling certificates.
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00:11:50,627 --> 00:11:55,674
I think that everybody feels very assured
when they get some kind of certificate
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00:11:55,758 --> 00:12:01,096
and some kind of, um, understanding
of-of where their diamond lands,
235
00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:02,765
in terms of the grading system.
236
00:12:02,848 --> 00:12:06,185
De Beers promoted the 4C system,
helping it take off.
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00:12:06,268 --> 00:12:09,313
Conveniently, a lot of their diamonds
were big and clear.
238
00:12:09,938 --> 00:12:12,024
And demand for them kept going up.
239
00:12:12,107 --> 00:12:14,526
But in countries where diamonds are mined,
240
00:12:14,610 --> 00:12:17,571
that demand sometimes meant
funding for conflict.
241
00:12:22,409 --> 00:12:25,245
Between 1992 and 1998,
242
00:12:25,329 --> 00:12:26,872
a rebel group in Angola
243
00:12:26,955 --> 00:12:30,959
raised more than $3.7 billion
from diamond sales,
244
00:12:31,043 --> 00:12:34,213
fueling a war that killed
at least half a million Angolans.
245
00:12:35,464 --> 00:12:39,593
Diamond sales also helped fund conflicts
in Sierra Leone,
246
00:12:39,676 --> 00:12:42,930
the Ivory Coast, and Liberia.
247
00:12:43,013 --> 00:12:46,809
Eventually, this drew
international attention and backlash.
248
00:12:46,892 --> 00:12:48,268
-Blood diamonds.
-Blood diamonds.
249
00:12:48,352 --> 00:12:51,146
-Blood diamonds.
-So-called "blood diamonds."
250
00:12:51,230 --> 00:12:55,776
But in the U.S., the demand for diamonds
remained pretty much the same.
251
00:12:56,568 --> 00:12:58,737
And while there is now
a certification system
252
00:12:58,821 --> 00:13:02,241
to try to stop the sale of diamonds
smuggled from conflict zones,
253
00:13:02,324 --> 00:13:04,868
no one knows for sure
how well it's worked,
254
00:13:04,952 --> 00:13:08,163
because the diamond supply chain
is incredibly opaque.
255
00:13:08,247 --> 00:13:12,209
I think it's difficult if you don't have
any paperwork with the diamond
256
00:13:12,292 --> 00:13:15,170
to really fully understand
where it came from.
257
00:13:15,254 --> 00:13:18,465
But around the same time
that blood diamonds were making headlines,
258
00:13:18,549 --> 00:13:22,302
De Beers and its playbook faced
its biggest threat yet--real competition.
259
00:13:23,136 --> 00:13:25,973
I think most people think
that all diamonds come from Africa,
260
00:13:26,056 --> 00:13:27,724
but it's actually important to understand
261
00:13:27,808 --> 00:13:30,102
Russia's the largest supplier
of diamonds in the world.
262
00:13:30,185 --> 00:13:32,563
For decades,
De Beers had an exclusive deal
263
00:13:32,646 --> 00:13:35,107
to buy most of
the Soviet Union's diamonds.
264
00:13:35,190 --> 00:13:38,652
But when the Soviet Union collapsed,
so did the deal.
265
00:13:38,735 --> 00:13:41,405
Then, in 2005,
De Beers settled an antitrust lawsuit
266
00:13:41,488 --> 00:13:44,533
that had accused them of a conspiracy
to fix the price of diamonds.
267
00:13:44,616 --> 00:13:49,162
De Beers agreed to pay $295 million
back to American consumers.
268
00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:51,999
And in a separate case
with the U.S. government,
269
00:13:52,082 --> 00:13:54,543
De Beers plead guilty to price-fixing.
270
00:13:55,252 --> 00:13:57,087
De Beers' market share began to go down.
271
00:13:57,713 --> 00:14:01,258
But something strange happened.
The price of diamonds didn't.
272
00:14:03,176 --> 00:14:05,262
De Beers is no longer the biggest player,
273
00:14:05,345 --> 00:14:07,890
but diamond companies
still look to their playbook.
274
00:14:07,973 --> 00:14:12,936
Alrosa is, uh, the largest producer
of diamonds worldwide.
275
00:14:13,020 --> 00:14:15,647
We have about a 27% market share,
276
00:14:15,731 --> 00:14:18,609
which means that
one out of every four diamonds
277
00:14:18,692 --> 00:14:20,235
is an Alrosa diamond.
278
00:14:20,319 --> 00:14:24,948
The top three producers--De Beers,
um, Russia's Alrosa, and Rio Tinto--
279
00:14:25,032 --> 00:14:27,451
none of them actually manage
a strategic stockpile
280
00:14:27,534 --> 00:14:29,828
the way that De Beers did
during the monopoly era,
281
00:14:29,912 --> 00:14:32,581
um, but they will, you know,
withhold goods, uh, from the market
282
00:14:32,664 --> 00:14:34,666
if they feel
there isn't substantial demand.
283
00:14:34,750 --> 00:14:37,294
[woman] How do you think
about stockpiling diamonds,
284
00:14:37,377 --> 00:14:40,297
and how does the industry make sure
285
00:14:40,380 --> 00:14:42,799
that there aren't too many diamonds
on the market
286
00:14:42,883 --> 00:14:46,261
in such a way
that would cause the price to go down?
287
00:14:46,345 --> 00:14:48,472
Yeah. There's a-there's a party line
288
00:14:48,555 --> 00:14:50,974
that I'm supposed to say about that,
which, uh...
289
00:14:51,058 --> 00:14:53,060
[both laugh]
290
00:14:53,143 --> 00:14:56,563
Sometimes, of course,
there's more supply than demand,
291
00:14:56,647 --> 00:14:59,733
um, and, uh, certainly when that happens,
292
00:14:59,816 --> 00:15:01,652
we don't look to reduce pricing
293
00:15:01,735 --> 00:15:06,657
because we don't want to jeopardize
the inherent value of the diamond
294
00:15:06,740 --> 00:15:09,618
or what ultimately the consumer
is going to be purchasing.
295
00:15:10,410 --> 00:15:13,413
At this point, I can't really imagine
296
00:15:13,497 --> 00:15:16,041
who is incentivized
to have the price fall.
297
00:15:16,792 --> 00:15:18,585
And that even includes consumers.
298
00:15:18,669 --> 00:15:21,964
[Spriggs] If I offer you
a bottle of red wine,
299
00:15:22,047 --> 00:15:27,511
and I say one of them cost $75
and one of them cost $20,
300
00:15:27,594 --> 00:15:29,054
if you know a lot about wine,
301
00:15:29,137 --> 00:15:31,598
you may look at the labels,
you may taste them,
302
00:15:31,682 --> 00:15:34,267
and if you're really good,
you may be able to tell me
303
00:15:34,351 --> 00:15:37,604
this $25 bottle of wine
is really the better wine.
304
00:15:37,688 --> 00:15:41,525
Most people don't have that ability.
They're gonna give me the $75.
305
00:15:42,150 --> 00:15:46,571
That creates this perverse setting
306
00:15:46,655 --> 00:15:51,910
in which if I raise the price,
instead of the quantity demand falling,
307
00:15:51,994 --> 00:15:54,788
I can actually see the quantity go up.
308
00:15:54,871 --> 00:15:56,832
They're called Veblen goods,
309
00:15:56,915 --> 00:15:58,500
and they're a unique good
310
00:15:58,583 --> 00:16:04,798
in which the price itself
is interpreted by people as a signal.
311
00:16:04,881 --> 00:16:07,884
Other famous Veblen goods
include Birkin bags,
312
00:16:07,968 --> 00:16:10,178
Cristal champagne and lawyers.
313
00:16:11,972 --> 00:16:15,559
I do think that there is
an aspirational quality to diamonds,
314
00:16:15,642 --> 00:16:19,771
where the price, the fact that
it is expensive, adds desire.
315
00:16:19,855 --> 00:16:23,942
Because it's-it's a sense of arriving,
it's a sense of aspiration.
316
00:16:24,026 --> 00:16:26,695
And it means that people
will pay top dollar for them,
317
00:16:26,778 --> 00:16:30,365
even if an option exists
that's structurally identical.
318
00:16:30,449 --> 00:16:32,325
The structure of a diamond is simple.
319
00:16:32,409 --> 00:16:36,121
All carbon atoms, each one
forming four bonds with its neighbors.
320
00:16:36,204 --> 00:16:39,916
In graphite, also all carbon,
atoms form three bonds.
321
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,837
And that tiny difference is why graphite
is soft enough to be a pencil,
322
00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,382
and why diamonds are so hard,
they can only be cut by another diamond.
323
00:16:48,717 --> 00:16:52,721
We actually first figured out how to
make diamonds in a lab back in the 1950s.
324
00:16:52,804 --> 00:16:56,683
I twiddled around a little bit
and saw the sparkles.
325
00:16:57,642 --> 00:17:01,104
My knees weakened. I had to sit down.
326
00:17:01,188 --> 00:17:04,357
That's scientist Tracy Hall
in an interview with the BBC
327
00:17:04,441 --> 00:17:06,193
describing the moment he and his team
328
00:17:06,276 --> 00:17:11,073
became the first to consistently
and publicly create a diamond in 1954.
329
00:17:11,156 --> 00:17:14,743
And at that instant, I knew that man
330
00:17:14,826 --> 00:17:18,288
had finally turned graphite into diamond.
331
00:17:19,498 --> 00:17:23,293
And today, we can pump
gem-quality stones out of machines.
332
00:17:23,376 --> 00:17:26,296
There are two completely separate ways
to grow a diamond.
333
00:17:26,379 --> 00:17:29,299
High-pressure, high-temperature
diamond growth
334
00:17:29,382 --> 00:17:32,344
is recreating the conditions in nature
335
00:17:32,427 --> 00:17:36,181
with which carbon
crystallizes into diamond.
336
00:17:36,264 --> 00:17:40,352
Chemical vapor deposition
is a methodology to grow diamonds
337
00:17:40,435 --> 00:17:44,981
where hydrocarbon gases
are injected into a growth chamber,
338
00:17:45,065 --> 00:17:47,442
and microwave plasma energy
339
00:17:47,526 --> 00:17:52,197
is used to break apart the bonds
of that hydrocarbon,
340
00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:57,160
allowing free carbon atoms
to rain down on a plate of diamond,
341
00:17:57,244 --> 00:18:01,039
and atom by atom,
grow that diamond vertically,
342
00:18:01,123 --> 00:18:05,669
resulting in extraordinarily high-purity,
high-quality diamonds.
343
00:18:05,752 --> 00:18:08,255
A diamond is a diamond, regardless
of whether it's made in a lab
344
00:18:08,338 --> 00:18:09,965
or whether it comes from the earth.
345
00:18:10,882 --> 00:18:13,385
Take a guess.
Which of these is lab-grown?
346
00:18:13,969 --> 00:18:15,595
You definitely couldn't tell.
347
00:18:16,304 --> 00:18:20,100
It takes very specialized
laboratory equipment
348
00:18:20,183 --> 00:18:24,729
to detect the minute differences,
uh, between the two products.
349
00:18:24,855 --> 00:18:27,190
And as lab-grown diamonds
have gotten better,
350
00:18:27,274 --> 00:18:28,608
they've also gotten cheaper,
351
00:18:28,692 --> 00:18:31,361
which brings us to number seven
in the playbook--
352
00:18:31,444 --> 00:18:33,446
if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
353
00:18:34,156 --> 00:18:37,951
In 2016, De Beers and its peers
in the natural-diamond industries
354
00:18:38,034 --> 00:18:40,078
slapped back against lab-grown diamonds
355
00:18:40,162 --> 00:18:42,706
with an ad campaign called "Real Is Rare."
356
00:18:42,789 --> 00:18:45,876
[woman] It will be kind,
and it will be real.
357
00:18:47,878 --> 00:18:49,629
[Abram] But then in 2018,
358
00:18:49,713 --> 00:18:52,841
De Beers actually launched their own
lab-grown diamond line
359
00:18:52,924 --> 00:18:54,926
at the lowest prices on the market.
360
00:18:55,552 --> 00:18:58,597
They claim that's how much they're worth
since they're mass-produced.
361
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,559
But some say this is a strategy
to make lab-grown diamonds seem worse.
362
00:19:02,642 --> 00:19:04,060
The efforts of De Beers
363
00:19:04,144 --> 00:19:07,689
to price light-box diamonds
at such a low price point
364
00:19:07,772 --> 00:19:10,984
are a very clear effort
to denigrate the product.
365
00:19:11,067 --> 00:19:15,322
Laboratory-grown diamonds
are superior to dirt diamonds
366
00:19:15,405 --> 00:19:18,116
or mined diamonds
that have come out of the earth.
367
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,453
But lab-grown diamond companies
are capitalizing on the lasting connection
368
00:19:21,536 --> 00:19:23,079
between diamonds and love.
369
00:19:23,163 --> 00:19:25,165
As someone who's in the business
of selling diamonds,
370
00:19:25,248 --> 00:19:26,166
I like the connection.
371
00:19:26,249 --> 00:19:28,752
A connection they owe to De Beers.
372
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,421
The lab-created producers
want to market their product
373
00:19:31,504 --> 00:19:32,839
as a more innovative
374
00:19:32,923 --> 00:19:35,800
and environmentally friendly,
um, you know, product
375
00:19:35,884 --> 00:19:38,303
that's superior to natural diamonds
in those ways.
376
00:19:38,386 --> 00:19:41,765
But at the same time, they still want
the value associated with diamonds
377
00:19:41,848 --> 00:19:44,601
that, you know, that
De Beers created over a hundred years.
378
00:19:44,684 --> 00:19:48,230
The narrative is what a lot of purchasers
379
00:19:48,313 --> 00:19:51,066
might feel on some level
is like the bullshit, right?
380
00:19:51,149 --> 00:19:55,362
Like, "They-They told us this story
that, you know, you got to do this,
381
00:19:55,445 --> 00:19:57,864
and this is, like, how you prove love."
382
00:19:57,948 --> 00:19:59,824
I think the thing is, though,
383
00:19:59,908 --> 00:20:05,580
that, uh, there's something
really, really deeply touching
384
00:20:05,664 --> 00:20:07,874
about doing this for somebody,
385
00:20:07,958 --> 00:20:13,213
about wanting to be very public
about how you feel about somebody.
386
00:20:13,296 --> 00:20:16,925
And in a way, uh, burning a pile of money
387
00:20:17,008 --> 00:20:20,303
is a pretty compelling argument
388
00:20:20,387 --> 00:20:23,556
that you feel what you say you feel.
389
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:25,850
Just because the connection
between diamonds and love
390
00:20:25,934 --> 00:20:29,896
was manufactured by marketing,
that doesn't make it less real.
391
00:20:29,980 --> 00:20:34,276
It was the most beautiful
and most significant thing ever to me,
392
00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:38,863
not because it's a diamond,
but because he's my best friend.
393
00:20:38,947 --> 00:20:41,533
He was like, "This was my mom's diamond."
394
00:20:41,616 --> 00:20:43,535
That's when I really started crying.
395
00:20:43,618 --> 00:20:47,038
When you put it into perspective
that an ad campaign drove,
396
00:20:47,122 --> 00:20:49,791
you know, what we now consider,
like, the step to getting married,
397
00:20:49,874 --> 00:20:53,920
you have to buy a diamond,
it's kind of infuriating to think about,
398
00:20:54,004 --> 00:20:56,089
but at the same time,
it makes-it makes sense.
399
00:20:56,172 --> 00:20:59,551
Like, I didn't come up with this.
This is just the-the world's standard.
400
00:21:00,593 --> 00:21:02,721
A diamond is a product of heat,
401
00:21:02,804 --> 00:21:06,099
time, capitalism, and us.
402
00:21:07,017 --> 00:21:08,768
It isn't bullshit,
403
00:21:08,852 --> 00:21:11,688
because the volume of people
404
00:21:11,771 --> 00:21:15,150
who kind of are convinced by it
405
00:21:15,233 --> 00:21:17,319
tells us that their story
406
00:21:17,402 --> 00:21:22,866
is tapping into this complexity
of who we are.
407
00:21:23,742 --> 00:21:26,870
And when you think about it,
so much of what we do,
408
00:21:26,953 --> 00:21:29,456
so much of what we wear,
you know, what we carry.
409
00:21:29,539 --> 00:21:33,835
So-So much of it
is about communicating who we are.
410
00:21:35,170 --> 00:21:39,382
Here's my diamond.
It's absolutely stunning, in my opinion.
411
00:21:40,050 --> 00:21:41,509
What do people want?
412
00:21:42,218 --> 00:21:43,970
Uh, how much do they want it?
413
00:21:44,721 --> 00:21:46,556
What are they willing to pay for it?
414
00:21:46,639 --> 00:21:50,226
The question becomes more,
"How do you value different things?"
415
00:21:50,310 --> 00:21:55,065
And I think diamonds are a little bit of,
uh--they're kind of like an ink-blot test,
416
00:21:55,148 --> 00:21:58,902
and you can kind of see what you want
and make your own criteria
417
00:21:58,985 --> 00:22:01,821
in terms of what's
the most important to you.
418
00:22:01,905 --> 00:22:03,865
He's my everything, and...
419
00:22:05,075 --> 00:22:06,242
through thick and thin,
420
00:22:06,326 --> 00:22:10,038
and that just meant the world to me
when he gave me this ring.
421
00:22:11,581 --> 00:22:15,085
-I love seeing it on your hand.
-I know. I love seeing it on my hand, too.
422
00:22:15,168 --> 00:22:16,002
[laughs]
423
00:22:18,004 --> 00:22:19,005
Thank you.
424
00:22:20,090 --> 00:22:24,427
I think the value of a diamond is zero.
425
00:22:24,511 --> 00:22:27,889
It's entirely the value you have,
426
00:22:27,972 --> 00:22:30,975
uh, in regards to the person
who gave it to you.
427
00:22:33,395 --> 00:22:35,397
[closing music playing]