De Beers — A Diamond Is Forever, October 1967
In October 1967, De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. ran this full-page advertisement under the slogan "A diamond is forever" — the line Frances Gerety had written for the company in 1948 and that would become one of the most quoted slogans in advertising history. The page pairs a "New World" photograph by Monte Casazza with long explanatory copy: it walks the reader through differences in clarity, color, cut, and size, illustrates diamond sizes from 25 points to 2 carats, and quotes October 1967 retail prices ranging from $80 to $7,000, noting that prices are based on jewelers' quotations throughout the country. The advertisement is a late-1960s instance of De Beers' decades-long campaign to equate diamonds with enduring value — selling the stone's meaning rather than any single product.
Category: Jewelry
Year: 1967
Rarity Class: B
Paper & Print Condition
Full-page magazine advertisement — a color halftone reproduction on coated periodical stock. The Casazza photograph's dark tones and the diamond illustrations retain contrast; the small body copy remains legible throughout. Light age-toning is visible at the sheet edges, consistent with bound-issue storage. The sheet is complete and flat.
Provenance & Rarity
Publication provenance: October 1967 issue placement (month and year stated in the copy's price panel). Advertiser: De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd.; photograph credited to Monte Casazza. Chain of custody: from the collection of Ronin Naodhinsuk; photographed for The Record Institute archive. Rarity — Class B (provisional): a mass-circulation magazine advertisement; complete, well-preserved examples with the price panel intact are the collectible state.
Rarity & Condition Summary
Class B artifact in Good condition: complete and flat, photograph and copy legible, price panel intact. Its significance is as a 1967 specimen of the "A diamond is forever" campaign — the slogan's third decade — with dated retail prices that make it a primary document of the diamond market's self-presentation.
