When De Beers first started actively mining in the late 1800′s, they had heavy competition. By forming the De Beers cartel, they were able to control the release of diamonds into circulation. De Beers began to use the controlled scarcity of its diamonds as the center of its advertising campaigns.

At one point in history, it is stated that De Beers had control over 80% of the diamond market, today’s estimates are far lower at 40% to 50%, however it is still enough to have strict control over prices and supply. De Beers has control of the mines and sells their gem grade diamonds to its subsidiary the DTC (Diamond Trading Company) for cutting and polishing.

De Beers has been extremely successful in its marketing strategies. The center of their marketing strategy is linking diamonds with long term romantic love. Engagement rings have been present in many cultures since the 1400′s, but they typically did not contain diamonds. De Beers is considered to be responsible for making the diamond engagement ring the standard in the United States and elsewhere. They also have used their own marketing skills to establish a standard amount that future grooms should spend on a diamond ring. It is typically considered socially correct for a man to spend the equivalent of one to two months salary on the diamond ring he purchases. De Beers even includes this spending guideline on their website.

The De Beers slogan, “A diamond is forever” has continued to be one of the most successful catch phrases in advertising history. De Beers worked diligently to connect their diamond rings with the idea of everlasting love. The slogan is also intended to establish the idea that a diamond is something that should be kept by the recipient and not resold. De Beers hopes this will encourage the purchase of new diamonds rather than purchases through the secondary market.

Because of De Beers, the diamond has continued to increase in value as people around the world make a connection between purchasing a diamond and their long term love relationships.

The British shopper is a strange beast. It seems that our love affair with high street shopping may have peaked this year yet our trends to shopping on the web look to be increasing even further. Recent statistics released suggest we are far more likely to buy on the internet than our European or even American cousins. The irony though is that although the UK is benefiting from an internet sales boom our UK manufacturers continue to struggle.

Many industries in the UK have suffered as a result of cheap imported foreign goods and as a result of the strength of the pound against other currencies.

Whilst there are undoubtedly some excellent quality imported goods there are equally as many poor quality, poor value goods. A good example in this area is in the manufacture of jewellery and our UK market has been flooded with cheap foreign rubbish, much of which comes from the far east and is probably produced in less than desirable working conditions. The jewellery is usually of the costume variety, the quality is not great so it won’t last and the materials used are cheap and can produce allergic reactions.

Why not support some of our local home grown talent? Here in the UK we have many talented, skilled independent jewellery designers who struggle to make a living. These people handcraft all types of jewellery from all types of materials including precious metals and gemstones and many pieces will be unique. Most designers are happy to produce one off commissions at very reasonable prices enabling you to own a beautiful piece of UK made designer jewellery.

For your handcrafted jewellery made here in the UK, why not consider using the internet to make your purchase from a secure e commerce shop.

It is predicted that this year there will be bumper on line sales in the UK of over £4 billion pounds which is in stark contrast to high street retail sales which have a taken a bit of a knock. On line shopping is growing some 26 times faster than the High Street with half the UK, some 21 million people choosing to shop for Xmas presents on the internet with an average spend of £220.

By shopping on the internet customers avoid the hassle of busy shops, parking problems, out of stock situations and trawling from shop to shop trying to find what they are looking for.

You can browse the internet from the comfort of your home, compare prices you have more choices and all at the click of a mouse but try to remember to support the British manufacturing industry.