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Are Diamonds Really Rare? Diamond Myths and Misconceptions
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/are-diamonds-really-rare/
Although diamond is our most popular gemstone, this hasn't always been the case. Only in the last century did diamonds become readily available. Prior to that, ruby and sapphire were the most popular gems, especially for engagement rings.
Diamonds and the De Beers Corporation
Diamonds ascended in the public imagination primarily due to the De Beers corporation. They set up the first large-scale diamond mines in South Africa. Then, they began one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history, convincing consumers that engagement rings should always have a diamond.
Diamond Advertising Campaigns
With proper encouragement, the movie industry displayed its most glamorous actresses, draped in diamonds. As a result, diamonds soon became a top status symbol for the rich and famous. This peaked perhaps with Marilyn Monroe's performance of the song, Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, in the 1953 film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Even after winning the admiration of consumers, De Beers continued their advertising. With the discovery of diamonds in the (now former) Soviet Union, they created a new campaign to sell anniversary bands. These made good use of the small but nice-quality diamonds this find produced.
Cornering the Market
De Beers did wonderful things for the diamond industry. However, not everything about De Beers is nice. As diamonds were discovered in other parts of Africa and South America, De Beers gained control of the rough diamond supply. Allegedly, the tactics used to gain control included murder and kidnapping.
De Beers maintained a monopolistic hold over the diamond market for several decades, controlling 75-85% of the diamond rough supply. They carefully released only enough rough diamonds to satisfy then-current demand, while continually adjusting the degree of rough diamond availability. Of course, this made prices escalate and reinforced the perception of diamond's rarity. De Beers actually mined considerably more rough diamonds than they sold. They maintained a large warehouse of uncut diamonds in London. As a result, they weren't allowed to do business in the United States and a few other countries.
New Discoveries and Developments
In the last two decades of the 20th century, things began to change.
Satellite technology, originally designed to find likely oil reserves, also showed the geology likely to hold diamonds. As a result, new discoveries began to multiply. For example, Australia became one of the first developed nations to discover major diamond resources. De Beers made a deal with them to distribute all the rough, except for the very rare pink diamonds. In 1996, Australia ended its arrangement with De Beers.
De Beers also made a deal with the Soviet Union to distribute their rough diamonds. However, shortly after the Soviet breakup, the Russians let their contract expire and began to sell the diamonds themselves.
In 1999, the De Beers London stockpile was valued at $5.2 billion, but they agreed to stop stockpiling diamonds in 2000. In 2004, De Beers agreed to plead guilty to criminal price fixing before a U.S. federal court. This allowed them to once again sell diamonds in the U.S. (In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal by De Beers against a class action settlement regarding various unfair business practices).
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Outside the confines of the Earth, diamonds are still common. A recent discovery indicates that some stars collapse on themselves, creating giant diamond crystals. In the constellation Centaurus, there lies a white dwarf that has crystallized into a diamond about 2,500 miles in diameter and weighing 10 billion, trillion, trillion carats.