Although it seems like they have been around forever, the De Beers company only start mining diamonds actively in the late 1800s. At first they had some heavy duty competition but gradually, they bought up or merged with their competitors to form a diamond cartel. De Beers is all about diamonds and it seems that they will be so until time immemorial.
Through its African mines, it was once estimated that De Beers controlled somewhere over eighty percent of the diamond industry. Today, it is estimated at between forty and fifty percent, due in part because of diamond mining in places such as Northern Canada.
While not as high a percentage as previous, it is still significant enough to maintain strict control of supply and pricing. De Beers mines the diamonds plus has its own distributing subsidiary know as DTC or Diamond Trading Company. This company deals almost exclusively in gem diamonds.
Perhaps the biggest success that De Beers has had is its marketing of diamonds. They have linked diamonds inexorably with romantic love and long term at that – think “Diamonds Are Forever.” This implies that a diamond is to be kept in the family for generations and not resold.
Their marketing has been credited, for good or for bad, as making the diamond the gemstone to have for any engagement or wedding ring. And they have set the standard for how much needs to be spent for than diamond ring. That is considered to at least two months salary which today is about four thousand dollars. And even at that, it will not be the best diamond you can buy.
It seems that De Beers, regardless of their competition, will continue to dominate the diamond trade around the world. In fact, their competitors all benefit from the superior position that De Beers has in marketing and selling diamonds.
Even more so, mens diamond engagement rings are starting to become popular just as mens wedding rings became popular after the Second World War.