• Diamonds are mentioned in many works by famous and eminent authors.
  • Diamonds began delighting and inspiring people many centuries ago.

The timeless beauty of diamonds has not only delighted owners throughout history, but also renowned authors. Diamonds were already mentioned in well-known literary works hundreds of years ago, which helped shape the perception of diamonds in society.

In his play “A Wife for a Month” in 1647, English author John Fletcher wrote the line “She is very respectable and will be as hard to cut as a rough diamond”. This means that she possesses qualities that only very few people possess but she has not yet been able to realise her true potential; and because at that time there were very strict social ideas about the role of women and what was deemed to be appropriate behaviour.

The importance in French literature, for instance with Rabelais, is particularly interesting. There diamonds, with their sparkle and radiance, were credited with a positive effect against pain, sadness and melancholy, which is noted in several places in literary works.

There is a notable mention in American literature in Scott Fitzgerald's novella “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”. It is about a rich family in Washington who have a diamond so big that, if it was cut up into lots of small diamonds, would flood the world market and cause the price of diamonds to collapse. The novella describes how the family does everything to keep the existence of the diamond secret, become corrupted and ultimately fall as a result of fear for its assets and social status. A didactic play based on the proverb “Pride comes before a fall”.

Authors also address the fact that diamonds are difficult to mine and often found in inhospitable areas. For instance, Arthur Miller wrote the sentence “The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds” in his play “Death of a Salesman”, which is also well known in German-speaking countries and can be freely interpreted in the sense of “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.

Even as far away as China, people were familiar with the value of diamonds long ago; in German-speaking countries people say “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”, the Chinese say “A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections”.

There are also famous references to diamonds in modern literature: in the James Bond novel “Diamonds Are Forever” by Ian Fleming (later made into a film starring Sean Connery in the lead role), the British secret agent competes against an international ring of diamond smugglers and, of course, wins in the end.

Do you want to experience the magical beauty of diamonds for yourself, for example, in the form of a diamond bracelet or a diamond ring? The experienced BAUNAT team look forward to hearing from you and will happy to advise you.

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