De Beers’ marketing campaign single-handedly made diamond rings the measure of one’s success in America. Despite its complete lack of inherent value, the company manufactured an image of diamonds as a status symbol. And to keep the price of diamonds high, despite the abundance of new diamond finds, De Beers executed the most effective monopoly of the 20th century. Okay, we get it De Beers, you guys are really good at business! Diamonds are not actually scarce, make a terrible investment, and are purely valuable as a status symbol. Diamonds, to put it delicately, are bullshit. https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/on-the-economics-of-diamonds-the-biggest-marketing-scam-in-history-orchestrated-by-the-most-successful-cartel-ever/ The name comes from two Dutch brothers, Diederik Arnoldus De Beer and Johannes Nicolaas De Beer, farm owners and settlers. Who were forced to sell by the British government when a large diamond deposit was found on their farm. https://www.suttonsandrobertsons.com/articles/the-early-history-of-de-beers/ https://www.diamondportfolio.com.au/investor-centre/market-information/de-beers-monopoly-broken/