Diamonds and the Plague.

[toonfandangl]

I recently watched a film about the Black Death or the plague and interestingly it mentioned diamonds as being a talisman to the wearer....... The diamond was worn on the the forth finger of the left hand, and that's were the engagement ring stem from a throw back to them days. Another useless piece of information...............................



Diamonds were worn by aristocratic families to ward off the plague during the Middle Ages. The poorest people always died first, since they lived closer to the docks, where the ships often brought the plague from other countries. The rich had an idea that since the poor went first, that displaying their wealth (diamonds) would keep them from infection. This just goes to show how naive people were about what really caused the plague.

In 1477, Maximilian, Archduke of Austria gave Mary of Burgundy the first known diamond engagement ring.

Diamond polishing was invented in India.

The idea that diamonds should be given as an engagement ring is a modern development. Until the 19th century, diamonds were rare, only found in India. But then in 1870 massive new diamond mines were found in South Africa. In order to ensure the price didn't drop with the surge in supply, the De Beers company, formed a cartel to control the diamond trading industry worldwide, and thus controlled the supply of the stone on the market, which they limited. They also embarked on a massive advertising campaign to ensure that diamonds were associated with love and courtship. The campaign was aimed at women, to condition them to believe that unless they got a diamond, they weren't loved. The rest is history

Surprisingly, diamonds are not rare, whatsoever! This might come as a shock to a person who has just paid 1,000 dollars for a one-carat stone, but there are enough diamonds in the world to give every man, woman, and child in America a cupful. Although they have the best reputation, diamonds are not the most expensive gemstone, either. A top-quality ruby would be double the expense of a diamond of the same carat.  A diamond's expense comes from a human-imposed drought rather than a true drought. The whole theory of supply and demand plays very nicely here into the hands of the diamond-governing corporations!