What lies behind us or what lies before us are small matters when compared to what lies inside us.Ralph Waldo Emerson

A 100-Carat Diamond

Sotheby’s New York recently sold a 100-carat emerald cut diamond for $22.1 million. The buyer was anonymous. Even through its picture on the BBC website the stone was remarkable and for its size was described as a rare flawless diamond. Although it set a record, it wasn’t the most expensive diamond, two years ago a pink diamond was sold for $83 million. Were these stones bought

by and for a single individual or were they bought on behalf of an institution, a museum perhaps?
A few years ago I visited a diamond exhibit in a museum. I had never before then seen a pink or yellow diamond nor stones with such brilliance. Suddenly I understood why clarity in diamond was a sought after quality. And too I understood why diamonds have been the subject of sagas, adventures or been coveted and lusted after. I learned that their real beauty is not visible when one sees diamonds in jewellery stores’ windows and displays. It’s easy to imagine how the 100-carat stone would fit into an exhibit such as the one I saw, be its chief attraction, even adding to the lore, the history, the mystery of how carbon and time turn into the pristine rock we call diamond.
More than likely it was acquired by an individual. Then I, and I hope you the reader, begin to question. Oh no, not the right of someone to buy it, but the social good of one person owning a $22 million stone. If indeed it belongs to one person, who is or will benefit from it?


Comments

2 responses to “A 100-Carat Diamond”

  1. Susan Dillon Avatar
    Susan Dillon

    Good article, Danielle.
    s

  2. This article reminded me of Chief Seattle’s word,” The Earth does not
    belong to us. We belong to the Earth. ” Native American peoples understood,
    what, the so-called “developed” nations do not. The relentless desire to “own”
    the mineral and other kingdoms of our Earth has contributed to our
    current path of global environmental and political crises…