Clarity, Cut, and Culture: The Many Meanings of Diamonds

Conclusion: The Fullness of Diamonds

— 179 CONCLUSION: THE FULLNESS OF DIAMONDS— When I started doing research for this project, I was surprised by the variety of ideas, images, and metaphors in consumers’ stories that diverged from the ad-based associations with class and romance that I had expected. Going far beyond those symbolic associations, people treat diamonds as if they have personalities, give them sacred histories, see them in terms that are primarily metaphorical or poetic, or deploy them performatively. Noting the variety of consumers’ engagements with diamonds, I began looking for social theory that would embrace such idiosyncrasy, since accounting for variation, difference, and the unexpected is a prerequisite to making the world intelligible. I have presented one idea for integrating idiosyncrasy here in a study of the commodity. “Consumption” is understood as the set of practices, including meaning making, that people undertake with things—commodities— they buy. I have used the term “commodity” to mean objects (though of course, services and experiences might be included too) that are usually mass produced, are often highly marketed and/or branded, and are sold in exchange for cash or its equivalent on the open market. Commodities usually have conventional, socially sanctioned—but not overdetermined—uses and meanings. The presence of commodities in contemporary American society can hardly be overstated. They acquire meaning, and it is by, through, and with commodities that we negotiate our lives. But how do things come to mean anything at all? This book 180 — Conclusion has examined people’s stories to uncover the range of semiotic ideologies, or the kinds of signs diamonds are taken to be, but what can such a study suggest about consumption in general? Looking at some of the particular issues that shape the meaning of diamonds—authenticity, sensuality, luxury, and symbolic load—can help us open up the study of consumption to incorporate idiosyncratic meanings. On a meta-level, fakes index the power of real diamonds. Many commodities engender fakes or replicas: “Gucci” watches, “leather” handbags, and gemstone jewelry can all be bought on the streets of New York for a fraction of the price one pays for the “real” things in a retail store where “authentic” goods are sold. Diamond owners frequently remarked upon the fact that diamonds are “easily faked” or that there are “lots of fakes out there.” And some people are comfortable with wearing fakes, or even prefer fakes or knock-offs. The existence of simulated diamonds attests to the power of real diamonds’ meaning, though they do have an ambiguous relationship. Fakes, for example, encode a set of commentaries on “real” diamonds through iconic resemblance; they may operate as a play for status, but the ease with which they are faked speaks to an uneasy relationship with their utility as a status marker. Industry as well as consumer concern with authenticity is reflected in the professionalization and growth of grading and certification bodies such as GIA. In addition to the common “4 Cs” of diamond quality, retailers now urge consumers to pay attention to a fifth “C,” which stands for “Certificates” that define, map, and legitimize the evaluation of diamonds using the first four “Cs.” The trend toward certification reflects the threat presented to the industry by “good” fakes: to remain in power, the industry must construct and maintain a belief that the difference between a carbon gem and a paste is relevant and worth paying for. The industry has even developed responses to synthetic goods by promoting the idea that natural diamonds, with their irregularities and flaws, are more legitimate than lab-produced stones with their regular chemistry and lack of mineral inclusions. By calling flaws and inclusions “nature’s signature” at the point of sale, retailers intimate that stones are Conclusion — 181 one-of-a-kind, “signed” pieces, akin to great works of art. (In fact, it was this analogy of a diamond to a great [and unique] work of art that led to an ad campaign that featured paintings by well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.) Laser branding, though virtually invisible, further adds to the sense that each diamond is special, not just one among millions of nearly identical stones. It is through such efforts that mass-produced diamonds are orchestrated into having greater uniqueness and thus value. These activities—in combination with meaning making by individuals— generate an aura that cannot be replaced with a fake, a synthetic, or even another real...