THE office calls. “Sean, as it’s St Valentine’s Day this Saturday we thought it would be a good idea to write about gold, silver and diamonds.” Click. Good idea london links I’ve seen stronger links on a plastic love bracelet. But what kind of sadist would remind me about Valentine’s Day while I’m still in Kashmir? I mean, give or take an ankle or two, I haven’t even seen a woman for three months.
Kashmir is 90 per cent Muslim which is why the only sweetheart I’m likely to meet is the kind they serve in a restaurant. Mind you, it’s not that I ever cared for Valentine’s Day. It’s about as worthless as . . . er, a diamond ring, or a gold necklace links of london . Gerald Ratner might have shot himself in the foot by comparing his “crap” jewellery to prawn sandwiches, but he had a point. At least you can eat a prawn sandwich.
When you think about it, all jewellery is worthless, albeit expensive, junk. (Women may laugh at men and their cars, but have you ever tried taking a diamond for a spin in the country ?) Gold, silver and diamonds are important for industry, but so are steel cables, so that can’t explain their exorbitant price Links Bracelets.
No, the only reason why shiny stones and metals continue to demand such high prices is because we want them to. It’s a case of suspended disbelief or, in the case of diamonds, a suspended market. If De Beers – which mines half the world’s diamonds and markets more than two-thirds of the world’s total output – ever allowed diamonds on to the open market their value would hit rock bottom Links Bangles .