Very often, behind the wealth of an entrepreneur lies an unexpected stroke of luck. What made Cecil Rhodes the most envied businessman in the world at the end of the 19th century is truly a curious case of good luck. In poor health, due to a lung disease, the young Cecil left the United Kingdom in September 1870 to join his brother who grew cotton in Natal, a British colony of South Africa< at i=4>. The future entrepreneur has 3000 pounds with him and with this sum of money, he is headed towards that land that will make his future ‘brighter’ than ever. But that of the man who gave his name to current Zimbabwe, once known as Rhodesia, is a story that begins among hydraulic pumps and ends among diamonds. A story that still shines today thanks to the jewels signed by De Beers.
De Beers, the story of a brand, Cecil Rhodes discovers diamonds
Although in South Africa he intends to get rich in the industrial mechanics sector, Cecil is caught up in the enthusiasm of the seekers of precious stones, and, in 1871, he begins to dig until, in a plot of land inside the brothers’ farm, or the immense mine.KimberleyBig Hole. For Rhodes, it is the beginning of a new life, for the modern diamond industry it is the origin of the famous diamond finds an 83-carat Johannes and Diederik De Beers,
The enterprising businessman therefore sells the precious diamond he found and his hydraulic pumps to purchase the De Beers family’s land. After the latter, he decided to name the company he founded in 1888, De Beers Consolidated Mines, an ’empire’ which until the 1990s held the monopoly on the diamond trade.
A diamond is forever
It is, therefore, in the deep south of the world that the ‘once upon a time’ of a fairy tale made famous by the slogan is located <<a diamond is forever>>. It was 1947 when De Beers, – which had come a long way – since the distant year of its foundation, turned to the advertising agency with a precise objective: to launch a message that identifies the concept of love and marriage of American families with the company’s gems and jewels.No. W. Ayer & Son
Thus, from the creative mind of copywriter, Frances Gerety was born the famous motto whose origins are probably unknown to many today. Less than a decade later, diamonds were at the center of attention and became a woman’s best friend’, in 1953, thanks to the song sung by Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”.
Celebrities wear De Beers
In the last and current millennium, movie stars have thought about making those of De Beers the most desired diamonds in the world and the world of entertainment starting with Natalia Vodianovan; the supermodel, as a designer, gave life to the necklace in 2010Magic Moments.
Only two years later, the well-known singer Adele wore a pair of De Beers earrings at the Grammy Awards winning six statuettes. But 2015 is certainly the year that sees more celebrities illuminated by the diamonds of the Anglo-American brand thanks to the charity project “Moments in Light” which features Diana Krall, Zaha Hadid, Liya Kebede, and Karen Mok. Photographer Mary McCartney immortalized them for the occasion.
The choice of synthetic diamonds
And continuing to leaf through the album of memories of the jewelery brand founded by Rhodes, we come across clippings from newspaper articles that announce sensational news to the world in 2018: De Beers also chooses to invest in synthetic diamonds making the precious stones accessible to a wide range of customers. a>Identical to those extracted from the depths of the earth, they will be produced in the laboratory: an important step for the global jewelry giant which becomes less elitist, allowing everyone not only to dream but also to wear it sealed by ‘forever
In 2023 blue diamonds
Reset Collective is, however, the title of a new project by De Beers which saw the light in 2020, taking the form of a capsule collection of pendants created in collaboration with five designers, namely Jade Trau, Jennie Kwon, Julez Bryant, Sara Weinstock, and Zoë Chicco. They created jewelry inspired by a trip to Botswana, which took place at the end of 2019.
And then, last year, the brand dyed itself a sparkling blue with the chapter “The Alchemist of Light”. A project which, alongside the white diamonds, makes numerous colorful stones shine, among which “The De Beers Blue” stands out, one of the most precious blue diamonds in the world. Its value? 57 million dollars, which is the amount it was sold for at auction will truly last ‘forever’; for now they have illuminated, with their glow, over 150 years of history.De Beers diamonds in April 2022. We don’t know if the success some s in Hong Kong Sotheby’s of
