We all know how effective the DeBeers marketing campaign has been to create an aura of magic around a loose diamond and specifically a diamond engagement ring as a symbol of love and commitment.
Indeed, the sentence "A Diamond Is Forever". has inspired millions of people worldwide to give their loved one a diamond engagement ring as a token of their love.
However, what if a diamond isn't forever?
I mean, what if you get engaged to the girl/guy of your dreams and it turns out that your union doesn't last? G-d knows this happens all of the time.
A funny spoof on the Debeers "a diamond is forever" marketing campaign.
In these instances, what happens to the engagement ring?
A friend of mine called me this morning with an interesting business idea called "Leasing Diamonds".
His idea was not very different from the concept of leasing a car, just with diamonds.
He proposed that our company offer a leasing program for loose diamonds where a customer would actually be able to lease a diamond for a pre-determined period of time, without having to actually buy the diamond outright.
Although, he mentioned many variables, the long and short of it was that we would benefit from being able to retain ownership of the diamond at the end of the lease, after which we could certainly re-evaluate the diamond and possibly re-cut and re-certify the diamond before placing it up for sale.
The customer would benefit, since they would not have to buy the diamond outright and would actually pay very low monthly premiums for the diamond in their possession. In this way, if, heaven forbid, their marriage went belly-up, they would not get stuck with an expensive diamond they could not possibly use again (for any number of reasons...including bad luck..).
My initial reaction was that this is a cool and novel concept. However, upon further contemplation I decided it was a bad idea; simply too convoluted.
For starters, there are already several options for consumers in place by different diamond and jewelry websites and companies that would protect a customer from "getting stuck" with a diamond, or from having to pay for it entirely up-front.
Some companies offer a "buy-back" policy on diamonds as well as a "financing option" that makes much more sense than a "leasing option".
There are also a number of other factors which I won't get into, that prevent this concept from being anything more than a "cool idea".
Kudos to my friend though for the thought!
Leasing a loose diamond is certainly a very cool and novel idea!
