Nothing Lasts Forever

Great characters. Great conflicting views between the old and new world. The first half is particularly interesting. And the journey of one character, arguably the main one, which including a Uber driver gig, is also extremely interesting to follow. But the designer/scientist/historian/writer hate so much De Beers that she managed to make them sympathetic. She is completely counterproductive and you end up doubting what she's saying. I'm not sure if it was deliberate by the production to keep her to weaken the "synthetic" side but her interventions are the only weak points in the documentary.

"Nothing Lasts Forever" is apt title for this short but interesting documentary on the diamond business, focusing on the diamond cartels and the rise of synthetic diamonds. We follow a Serbian gemologist with 30 years of experience as he tells us about the production of synthetic diamonds in China. And about how the cartels, as they publicly deride the rise of synthetic diamonds, actually take advantage of them. We hear from a diamond dealer, who, in trying to convince us how special and valuable real diamonds are, inadvertently tells us about how fabricated the value of real diamonds are - he admits the entire business is about selling a story, a lie. We listen to an Indian jewelry designer who levels with us that diamonds are basically worthless and how an entire luxury market has been created by selling lies and catering to people's vanity. She's believable because that's her business. The truth is that diamonds are not rare. Ms Aja Raden tells us there are enough supply to give every person on Earth (8 billion people) a 1/2 carat diamond ring with another 1/2 billion carat left over. It's a glut that keeps on growing. Essentially, diamonds have value only because many people give it value. And so, like money, if you flood the market with "fakes" such synthetic diamonds, you reduce confidence and hence the overall value of the commodity. At least that's what the cartels want you to believe. Aja Raden tells us the cartels are actually producing their own synthetic diamonds. Not to sell, but to undercut all other, smaller synthetic producers. The goal is to make "fake" diamonds uneconomical. It's a two-prong strategy: 1) convince people that "real" diamonds have value, and 2) make sure that they control the production of "fake" diamonds by pricing others out. In the end, it's win-win for the cartels.

It's a documentary about the industry of diamonds and the threat of synthetic diamonds being mixed with natural diamonds. Briefly shows De Beers as the company that created the market for diamonds, and the mais driver of pricing. It fails into investigate anything really documentary about the illusion being talked about. Doesn't peak into the courtain properly. It's mainly well directed interviews. The rythm it's adequate, has some fun to the text. Amazing soundtrack, the interviews are interesting and engaging. Top notch production. But has nothing in the end, no conclusion, nothing really worth it. It just suddenly ends.

This is the bizarre story of how an industry built on lies struggles with technological innovation and ultimately co-ops it. The lie is the fact that diamonds are remarkably common in the world and paying an exorbitant amount for an engagement ring is a tradition that was invented by a cartel. When you think of cartels, you usually think of drugs, but in this case the DeBoers company controls most of the diamond prices in the world. The idea of giving a diamond as an engagement ring is a remarkably recent phenomenon, and it only exists so that the cartel can make money. More recently, the ability to make synthetic diamonds became such that it is impossible to distinguish real diamonds from synthetic ones. And DeBoers was terrified because they had cornered the market with an expensive product, and so ultimately that they decided to market their own line of somewhat overpriced but still cheaper than the real thing synthetic diamonds. I've told you the thesis of the documentary, but it's still entertaining for the great talking head interviews, especially Aja Raden who destroys the lie with a humour that is refreshing to watch.

Nothing conclusive Only confusing Most of them are half information. Jewelry designer was super confused she had no clue what she want to convey. Over dramatic. Overemphasize on "illusion" because most of top business are illusions. Most often when you purchase an original painting you pick it because it has some meaning to you. Placing it and seeing it in your space gives you a feeling of comfort. Original Paintings refresh your spirit. Looking at an original painting can be a gift of daily inspiration. There is no comparison in both the business, but just to say Natural diamond is a illusion business its just not right.

This is worth the 90 minutes runtime, which peels back the veneer of the diamond business - more accurately a cartel. Anyone who is skeptical of large corporations was probably already skeptical of the myriad ad campaigns surrounding the diamond industry. And while the documentary seems to focus more on engagement rings, the whole industry seems tainted. Two people interviewed stand out in this documentary. First is jewelry designer Aja Raden, who is not shy about ripping the lid off the rather secretive diamond cartel, especially De Beers. Raden paints De Beers as a monopolistic organization that controls the supply - and therefore pricing - of a significant percentage of the world's gemstones. And when it is uncovered that some - or maybe a lot - of diamonds on the market may actually be synthetic (not natural), DeBeers comes off almost like a criminal organization. If they know about the synthetic diamonds (those that are "grown" in a lab), which are much less valuable than natural diamonds, then they are operating a fraudulent business. But De Beers will never admit that. Instead, they will continue to try to convince you that an engagement ring is worth the 2 months salary (or maybe 3 to 4 months) that the price commands. Who else does that? The other interviewee is Martin Rapaport, an industry insider (CEO of Rapaport Group) and easily the ***worst*** salesman on why we should buy diamonds. His arguments are old-school misogyny, mainly focused on diamond engagement rings and how they make "women feel valued." His opinions totally ignore other retail channels for diamond, including earrings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, etc. And eh remains completely dismissive of synthetic diamonds, which obviously threaten his bottomline. Instead of finding a way to help the industry pivot, he remains an obstructionist. Even De Beers only recently began selling their own line of synthetic diamonds, but still disses their worth. Not unlike the Koch Brothers or ExxonMobil dissing electric cars. So why not 10 stars? The documentary ends on an unresolved note regarding a gemologist attempting to create the "perfect synthetic", something that no "expert" will ever be able to detect (despite millions of synthetics already in the market and undetected by these same "experts"). I wish the documentary had reached a more concrete conclusion.

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