Originally published by InStore magazine, January 2007
(ED NOTE: We sent our correspondent, Great Falls, MT, jeweler Claire Baiz to watch Blood Diamond … not once, but
twice. We asked her to write about how the movie made her feel as a viewer and more importantly how she believes it
will impact her as a jeweler.)
DECEMBER 30, 1999THE DAY BEFORE THE WORLD ENDED
On December 30th, 1999 I was in my jewelry store backing up my hard drive, printing two loose-leaf notebooks full of appraisals just in case my computer went belly up with Y2K. I figured if the world went to hell in a hand basket, in the new hard-asset economy my customers might want offers on the family jewels. If that was the case, I would be ready to work under generator power if necessary.
“Bring it on,” I comforted myself by preparing for the worst.
My behavior is probably more typical of women and Montanans–and possibly Jews–which is why Jewish cowgirls like
me do well in a crisis. I tend to fixate, mentally playing out the worst possible scenario, just because I like to be pleasantly
surprised when the reality is not as awful as I had imagined.
The jewelry industry loves a crisis, especially before Christmas. We’ve endured December exposes on 60 Minutes and
20/20, the advent of commercial synthetics and fracture filling. Now we have to deal with a brutal portrayal of an issue
that we’ve dealt with for half a decade. Will Blood Diamond hurt the diamond trade in the U.S.? If you
held Martin Rapaport in a half-nelson he may admit that De Beers’ Supplier of Choice initiative is more of a challenge to
diamond dealers than this Hollywood movie — and the diamond industry did that to itself!
SUMMER 2006
GETTING PREPARED
I’ve missed two industry trade show presentations on “blood diamonds.”
Perhaps I don’t want to buy inventory and hear about conflict diamonds in the same afternoon, afraid it might feel like
ordering foie gras while lamenting the chained dog outside the restaurant.
This is a serious issue: As if Africa didn’t have enough problems, it has to squeeze conflict diamonds
between drought, AIDS and genocide. Who’d have imagined that my family’s livelihood would be touched by suffering
half a world away?
I’ve asked suppliers all the right questions. I have assurances and written statements. But I have a degree in
history and I understand paper is thin. As dealer statements renouncing conflict diamonds spit from my fax machine, I
sigh and hope they ring true.
In my 14 years of business, I’ve had only two customers inquire about conflict diamonds. I was ready for them and I plan
to be prepared for Blood Diamond.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7
HIGH ANXIETY
Sixty-five years ago today the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Tomorrow, Hollywood might bomb my holiday diamond
sales.
In the last week there have been more than a hundred postings on the POLYGON network about the movie and the
issue of blood diamonds. It’s like getting our teeth cleaned. Even if we don’t think we need it, my instinct says it’s good
for us. We’re examining our industry, hearing from jewelers who have been to Africa, calling people to task and
questioning our suppliers and ourselves.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8OPENING DAY
No soft drink. No popcorn. No companion, no distraction. Blood Diamond opens across the nation and in Great Falls
today. I am in the theater to see the movie … twice.
There are only 11 people in the theater for the 1 p.m. matinee as an outline map of Africa appears on screen. Simple
sentences flash orange on black to introduce the story: The conflict rages in Sierra Leone in 1994; millions of Africans
who have suffered from the rebellions funded in part by the illicit gem trade have in fact, never even seen a diamond.
The implication in these first moments is that diamonds are the cause of war. My throat is dry. Maybe I should have
picked up a Pepsi at the concession stand.
The beautiful young boy in the simple hut has hope for a better future. His father the fisherman dreams of his son
becoming a doctor, but RUF (Revolutionary United Front) rebels predictably and brutally raid their village. Father is taken
off as slave labor for primitive alluvial mining, and son is abducted to serve the RUF.
I am grateful this happens early in the movie. I didn’t want to dread these moments for 40 minutes, better to get it over
with and deal with what’s next.
Director Edward Zwick instantly gives us the impression that random acts of brutality are served with supper in Sierra
Leone.
Flash from muddy squalor to a G8 meeting where an American diplomat is pointing out that illicit diamonds are funding
bloody civil war. It’s important to prohibit illegal rough, he says, before it merges invisibly with legitimate goods.
“Legitimate diamond mining supports burgeoning African economies.” In 1999, it’s stated that 15 percent of all diamonds
are illegally entering the pipeline.
The bland diplomat who bookends the movie brings up good points, even if it’s more of an Inconvenient Truth moment
spliced into the drama. It’s made clear that any substance of value means strife and violence in Africa: ivory, rubber,
gold, diamonds. And as two-thirds of the world’s market for diamonds, the U.S. needs to help exclude conflict diamonds
from the global marketplace.
Watching Blood Diamond is like watching a gruesome Grand Prix. Diamonds are not the cause of conflict in this movie —
they are the high-performance vehicles that allow vicious rebels to conscript and dismember innocent victims. Corrupt governments in turn attempt to regain control by funding armies bolstered by a big corrupt diamond distributor called Van De Kamp. Jockeying for position, funded in part by “blood diamonds,” the deadly race seems endless.
I’m beginning to see why the Diamond Promotion Service fought so long and hard in advance to mitigate the effects of
this movie. If Blood Diamond has a single villain, it’s the fictional Van De Kamp Company, which puts profits above all
else. Its executives publicly oppose conflict diamonds, yet turn a blind eye to atrocities and privately support whatever faction suits their needs. Ouch.
Diamonds are not rare, the movie reminds us, but to keep prices up, supply is controlled — and stored in a huge
underground vault in London.
The plot itself is convincing. The violence is raw but not patronizing. Leonardo DiCaprio does a fine job as Danny Archer,
who believes the purpose of escaping a brutal childhood is not to save others from your fate, but instead to profit from
the experience by trading in misery as an adult. Maddy Bowen, the feline-eyed magazine reporter, well-played by
Jennifer Connelly, is looking for names, dates, and a Pulitzer. She’s is supposed to be attracted to Archer, though I
couldn’t see much chemistry in the cliche dialogue.
The soul of the movie is Solomon Vendy, portrayed by Dijmon Hounsou, the fisherman whose family is torn apart by a
war and a diamond. If this character can be called primitive, it is only because he is closer to the source. Vendy, sparse of speech, is a one-man Greek chorus, reminding us what we will do for those we love.
Everyone’s worst enemy is the white Colonel Coetzee, played by Arnold Vosloo, who pulls his soldiers’ triggers in any
direction for a hefty percentage of the spoils. Archer owes this colonel money for a diamond deal gone bad: In return the
colonel will take the mythic blood diamond that he believes Vendy has hidden.
This movie is primarily about what happens when we make decisions based on greed, opportunism and hunger for
power. It’s about dehumanizing relationships that were once precious: family, country and tribe.
It’s about what happens when we give away guns — ultimately they are aimed at us.
Diamonds are the precious reality and the precious symbol here. Blood Diamond is a Hollywood version of John
Steinbeck’s The Pearl for the 21st century, with a real precious gem as the metaphor in both works.
With the increasing popularity of natural fancy color diamonds, the pursuit of the pink diamond in Blood Diamond may
have an unintended effect, actually increasing the mystique. After all, fancy color diamonds are the world’s most
concentrated form of wealth. Like I tell my customers, “When a despot is chasing you, you can’t carry your hut on your back. If you have a diamond you can at least grab it and run like crazy.” In war-torn Sierra Leone in 1999, where stock certificates might have been used to light fires, having a diamond may have killed you, or it may have set you free.
The film ends with a coda and a song. The coda flashes: “There are still over 200,000 child soldiers in Africa … Sierra
Leone is conflict free.” The rap tune “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” booms over the credits. Resist the urge to leave early. Listen.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9THE DAY AFTER
The true test of a movie is sleeping on it. Perhaps it’s because I think DPS overreacted
on its own behalf, Blood Diamond feels like a small blip on Santa’s radar. Perhaps it’s because I sat through two back-to-back premiere showings in my town of 55,000 people and only 27 people altogether watched it with me.
Regardless of the reasons, industry introspection is a good thing. I’m glad I pressured my suppliers into giving me their
documentation for conflict-free sources. I’m glad I can answer questions and offer options to
buyers. I appreciate the postings on POLYGON, the DPS e-mails and the firsthand accounts. I know our industry is
trying, and I know it’s not perfect.
As a jeweler, I’m dusting off my Y2K attitude and taking stock of my assets. First, my active trade in estate and antique
jewelry means that if bad stuff happened when these gems were mined and mounted, at least there is no one alive today
to complain. I am a mere 90-minute drive from Canada, which has been into “clean diamonds” for half a decade.
My advice to my fellow jewelers? Go see the movie. Print out the downloadable DPS consumer brochure from their website (DPS.org). Read it, comply with it, and keep it handy.
