How prevailing vernacular culture impacted the Diamond?
Have you ever thought how a diamond ring became such an eminent and passionate part of relationship culture? Or how diamonds became a…
Ever thought how a diamond ring became such an eminent and passionate part of any relationship? Or how diamonds became a girl’s best friend? These gemstones are the most alluring and organic objects on the planet, and they’re beneficial and desirable for many reasons, but their passage from a symbol of royalty to marriage essentials didn’t occur overnight.
Since inception , around 500 years ago in Europe a diamond ring was used to form a relationship and an engagement. It wasn’t until Ms.Frances stamped “Diamond is Forever” for DeBeers in late 1940s that the diamond engagement ring began to set in motion into the conventional. Eventually those words became a foundation of various marketing communications corporations. But can just one appealing marketing campaign or banner alone persuade every individual in the world that their relationship wasn’t ready for the next level unless an exquisite diamond ring was part of their journey?
There is no contradict that diamonds are beautiful, exquisite and a flawless mark of the eternal bond between two individuals in love. But there is also no gainsay that the expansion of diamonds in pop civilization and lifestyle has played a noteworthy participation in making them such a foundation of relationship.
The last few years of music and television industry have been influential in boosting the craze for diamonds and the romanticism of the diamond jewellery in millennials and Gen Z.
So where do we begin? In 1939, Gone With The Wind made it to the big screen. The movie depicts the storyline of Scarlett and Rhett during the Civil War. As the film comes to an ending, Rhett proposes to Scarlett, she responds with a yes, and then this happens:
The next significant epitome were one of the most phenomenal and iconic women between the duration of 1930s and 1960s : Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. It was Marilyn Monroe, precisely in the 1953 movie Gentleman Prefer Blondes, that had altered the market forces and dynamics of diamond industry. The movie was pretty well known for Monroe’s timeless and epic performance of Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend, considered an all-time significant song by the Los Angeles Film School (the song have been used as cover apparently more than thirty times since). The song was also featured in one of the episodes of The CW Gossip Girl enacted by Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Messter).
Have a look at the song lyrics and you’ll observe how Monroe helped in boosting the lust for diamonds among a generation of women and inspired them to love diamonds more than men.
Here’s one instance from a song:
“Men grow cold as girls grow old
And we all lose our charms in the end
But square-cut or pear-shape
These rocks don’t lose their shape
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”
Moving on to 1955, To Catch A Thief, starring Cary Grant as a jewel thief with a keen eye for diamonds and Grace Kelly as his opposite or who happens to own the huge collection of diamonds in the French Riviera.
In 1961, Audrey Hepburn took on the career-deciding role of Holly Golightly, the character created by Truman Capote in his favorite novel, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
The after effect of the book, film, and Hepburn’s portrayal of its main character stayed valued for a longer period of time. Even famous magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair or Elle wrote an article on the same as well in the lines of “How Audrey Hepburn re-branded the diamond industry” whether you want to see through them or not it is totally up to you, but Audrey Hepburn and Truman Capote played a highly significant role in influencing and glamorizing the already glamorous diamond industry.
However few years later, we observed one of the first illustration of diamonds targeted towards men with the release of The Pink Panther. In the movies, the Pink Panther is a valuable, rare pink diamond based on the real-life, Daria-i-Noor stumble on in the mines of India.
Let us now move towards another remarkable era for diamonds , engagement rings and fling with the most precious stone on the big screen — the 1990s.
In 1990, Julia Roberts featured opposite Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. Who could forget the iconic extract where her character was freshly subjected to a glamorous lifestyle, when she wears a $250,000 ruby and diamond necklace for the very first time.
In 1997, there was My Best Friend’s Wedding, where Roberts attempts to destroy the marriage of her best friend with Cameron Diaz . She didn’t just wanted to win her best friend as her love interest, but also wanted that huge diamond ring which was on Diaz’s finger.
In 1998, Julia was featured with Ed Harris in Stepmom, where Harris proposes with a remarkable diamond ring on a string.
And about a year later, Julia would marry Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and Richard Gere in Runaway Bride. Julia Roberts’ 10 year long run of movies with diamond engagement rings and marriage as the core focus is the sole reason the 90’s were so iconic and significant for the diamonds.
In the duration between , there’s been no scarcity of diamonds engagement rings as a main storyline plots in some of the most beloved movies. In the movie He is Just Not that into You , even Jennifer Aniston, gets the exquisite precious ring , all credits to Ben Affleck.
It is next to impossible to bring up Jennifer Aniston without reminiscing Friends, a TV show that defines an entire generation and still remains to this date as one of the most popular and highly rated or successful sitcoms. In the season six finale called “The One with the Proposal,” Monica Geller (Courteney Cox) and Chandler MURIEL Bing (Matthew Perry) got engaged. I am pretty sure so many people were in love with Monica’s engagement ring. And to this day it is considered as one of the best episodes and most unforgettable, romantic memory in sitcom history.
A diamond is forever, but so are these characters and their stories. Movies, music, television and pop lifestyle and culture continue to change over the years, along with the individuals bringing these amusement to reality, and as time goes by, something else also remains very true.
They’re all having an affair with the epic gemstone i.e. DIAMONDS.