Marriage
Marriage is important. Commitment is important. Love is important. Engagement and wedding rings are important. These things are not just a fad. They are meant to last forever and establish the foundation of personal identity.
Of course, everyone is an individual with an individual identity. But your identity is also shared by the people connected to you. No connection is more important or more powerful than marriage. Sure, we might try to liberate ourselves and our society from the constraints of commitment with a hedonistic “carpe diem — live for
today” lifestyle. But for those who live on a higher level, we yearn for something more than the physical. Marriage is more than a series of one-night stands.
Demographics play an important role in defining social values and consumer behavior. Who can blame millennials for fearing marriage and commitment when about 50% of their parents are divorced? The Tinder sexual evolution liberated sex from commitment. Just because you slept with someone did not mean you owed them anything. Not relationship exclusivity, and certainly not an engagement ring.
But now, “the times, they are a-changing.” The demographics and associated values are shifting. Millennials, now in their 30s, are getting older every day. Many are thinking beyond themselves. Being alone in the post-Covid world is not ideal. Some want children. As people get older, many millennials realize they do not want to die alone.
Nothing is sure and nothing is perfect. But dare I say that marriage, commitment and love are becoming the new “new.” It’s not that society is becoming more conservative; it’s that values are becoming more real. Concern about the future, whether it’s global warming or sustainable personal relations, is more evident. The current surge in demand for bridal jewelry is not a short-term trend. It’s a reflection of a demographic shift in values.
For the past few decades, the jewelry trade has placed marketing emphasis on fashion jewelry and short-term, feel-good, impulsive purchases. This was done to increase profit margins. While there is nothing wrong with fashion jewelry and short-term profits, it’s high time the jewelry trade focused on the most basic need for diamonds: the need to communicate the commitment of love and marriage.
martin@rapaport.comArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - September 2022. To subscribe click here.