Keyword: TIME | Diamonds are forever

Diamonds are forever, sparkling round my little finger
Unlike men, the diamonds linger

According to Shirley Bassey in her song “Diamonds are Forever” (from the James Bond film’s soundtrack), a diamond ring is more valuable than a romantic relationship. Considering that the ratio divorce-marriage is generally 50% nowadays, maybe she is right. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of relationships are not forever. And that is fine. They don’t have to be. However, it is paramount to have means of subsistence. Financial independence is crucial for both men and women. And diamonds are extremely valuable. Having a diamond ring means having an object that you can sell if you need a lot of money.

“Diamonds are forever” was actually a marketing slogan of a private diamond mining company. The message was: giving a (big stone) diamond ring when proposing marriage to your fiancée shows how much you love her and proves that your love will be forever. The marketing campaign was so well executed that people still believe in such an idea today. Which is false, obviously. The quantity of couples who break up after the man had given the woman such an engagement ring speaks for itself. In the meantime, diamond companies are making a lot of money.

Human beings like to chaise “forever”: they want to live forever, want to be forever young, want to love forever, want to be friends forever… But is there anything that lasts forever? And what is “forever” anyway? Until Earth ceases to exist? Yes, Earth will cease to exist when the Sun dies and engulfs Earth 4,500,000,000 from now”. Therefore, not even Earth will last forever.

In truth, “forever” can last until we die, until the relationship ends or until tomorrow. Forever is a perception, representing our wish for something (good, of course) to never end. Or representing something bad that seems to never end, regardless of our wish for it to end. At some point, it does end, both the good and the bad. The truth is: nothing lasts forever. Even diamonds can be damaged and destroyed and, if that happens, their lustre would wear off.

“Timeless” can be a less elusive term. It means that its value doesn’t change over time. For example, a song that is timeless is a song that is beautiful long after it was composed. Classical music is timeless: we still listen to and appreciate it centuries after it was first heard publicly. You can say diamonds are timeless too. Since that marketing campaign, diamonds have stopped being common minerals to become a precious piece of luxury jewellery. Its beauty and expensive cost are still the same.

Diamonds are not endless. At least, not the natural ones, the ones which are mined in places like Russia, Botswana, Canada, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Africa, among others countries. Researchers have found a way to fabricate synthetic diamonds. However, this process is too expensive, thus, its production is not massive. Besides, the natural ones are considered to be of higher quality. When the mining ends, and it will at some point, will the production of synthetic diamonds skyrocket?

Life is always changing. We get older, children grow up, we get promoted or fired, we get a new job, we move to another city or another country, we meet new people. Society changes too, as well as beliefs, traditions, perspectives. Therefore, holding on to “old stuff” can make us weak and vulnerable, as we lack the flexibility to adapt. “Forever” may not be as good as it sounds. Imagine what it would be like if Europe was stuck forever in the Roman Empire…

Forever can be especially terrible in harmful situations. For example, countries that are in war, marriages where there is violence, jobs with toxic cultures. It is good to know that these situations are not endless, although some problems can be timeless. Yet, negative situations can trigger evolution. They can actually be an opportunity to improve and find creative and innovative solutions. When everything runs smoothly, no matter how good it may sound, it leads to a standstill and standstill leads to decay. In reality, improvement is the guarantee for maintaining good stuff.

“Living in the moment”, “appreciate the little things”, “be in the moment”, are some of today’s mantras. These are other “versions” of “forever”, attempts to freeze the good things and ignore the bad things. We can see this to a great extent in social media, where people want to show how happy they are. There are common themes like (good) food, sunsets, drinks with friends, luxury holidays with romantic partners. In other words, the lifestyle which is considered ideal. And people are made to believe that this ideal lifestyle can last forever.

At the beginning of June 1940, the inhabitants of Paris were living their lives as usual. The echoes of war were still far away and many believed war would not get there. Suddenly, they were surprised with the news that the German Army was only a few kilometres away. Panic took hold of people and in two days two million men, women, and children filled the roads with the possessions they could gather in such a short time. Their “forever” life ended on the next day and no one knew what to do or what would come next.

** YOUR WORDS AND IDEAS **

By Isabella Muir | On 19 March 2025 at 15:21
Fascinating article and one that gets us thinking about time and the importance of moments. How would our priorities shift if we were told we only had a year left? And what we have told our younger selves if we knew then what we know now? And who can explain how it is that the older we are, the faster time seems to slip by?! If we could slow down ‘forever’ surely that would be worth more than diamonds?!

By Words in Ideas | On 20 March 2025 at 12:43
Thank you! I’m glad it made you think about how short-lived our life here on Earth is. Time is truly precious, more precious than diamonds. Einstein discovered that time is relative. As we get older, time seems to go faster, but it doesn’t. The pace is the same, our perception is what changes. We can’t slow down time, but it’s up to us to make it worthwhile. Like Gandalf said in the book “The Fellowship of the Ring”, by J.R.R. Tolkien: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

By Isabella Muir | On 20 March 2025 at 15:41
Thanks Ana Catarina, yes, how fortunate we are to have the wisdom of Tolkein and other great thinkers and writers to help us to stop and re-evaluate! Thanks for all your great articles, they are well researched and thoroughly enjoyable!

By Words in Ideas | On 21 March 2025 at 12:02
Thank you so much for your kind words! That is exactly my aim 🙂 Yes, we should pay more attention to what great thinkers and writers had/have to say. They figured it out before us. Like a great Portuguese artist once said: “When I was born, the sentences that would save humanity were already all written, there was just one thing left to do – to save humanity”. This is actually written on the walls of Saldanha tube station in Lisbon.

By Isabella Muir | On 23 March 2025 at 10:43
What a beautiful quote and a wonderful sentiment!

By Words in Ideas | On 23 March 2025 at 13:12
Indeed! 🙂