RAPAPORT... 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.
This Note from the Publisher first appeared in the September 2022 issue of Rapaport Magazine.
Image: Martin Rapaport speaking at the 2022 JCK Las Vegas show.
|
|
|
|
|