“The diamond invention… is a mechanism for converting tiny crystals of carbon into universally recognized tokens of wealth, power, and romance…. To stabilize the market, De Beers had to endow these stones with a sentiment that would inhibit the public from ever reselling them.” The illusion had to be created that diamonds were forever — ‘forever’ in the sense that they should never be resold.” Edward Jay Epstein —Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?The Atlantic)

Fascinating deconstruction of a marketing myth that benefits the diamond monopoly.