The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire

Diamonds are an illusion. Tom Zoellner proves this in his engaging account about the diamond trade. The book’s chapters are divided by geographical location. This format helps make each chapter stand on its own, like a series of essays. But, Zoellner ties the narrative together by talking about his engagement and break up with Anne, his former fiancee. It is through describing the joy that Zoellner and his erstwhile fiancee experienced when the diamond was first given that he frames the insanity and obsession that diamonds can elicit. In the chapters exploring the seedier side of the business, the stories shift to the when relationship begins experiencing turbulence and its ultimate breakup. Zoellner finally conducts his own post show more mortem on it in the chapters talking about the rise of synthetic diamonds, a perceived challenger to the DeBeers hegemony. These personal anecdotes give the already interesting narrative a glue that really ties everything together.

The main character of this book is the DeBeers cartel. Like the Smoke Monster in Lost, DeBeers permeates every facet of the business, exerting a grip that is total and astonishing in its casual brutality. DeBeers dispatches agents wherever diamonds are found. The beginning of the book shows how certain countries have buckled, the middle shows how other countries are cautiously trying to branch out from DeBeers’ control, and the last few chapters profile the mavericks who are attempting to spectacularly break free and bring some transparency to the industry. That DeBeers has been able to operate a worldwide monopoly and pumped up the value of a gem that is not all that rare through the creation of artificial scarcity and bully tactics is breathtaking to behold. I don’t think we’ll see another company ever control an industry like DeBeers, and that is a good thing.

I highly recommend the book. It is eminently readable and moves along at a fast clip. There are no dead spots within. If you’re looking to buy a diamond ring, read this book before wasting your money on a diamond. If you’ve already made that mistake, then pick this book up to read about the insidious effect that marketing and advertising has had in creating the cultural need to express love with diamonds and diamonds alone. Hell, if you have any interest at all in world affairs, read this book. show less

After his girlfriend broke off their engagement and he got the ring, Zoellner went on a journey to find out where diamonds come from. The resulting book is boring and materialistic; the author needs to get over his ex. There are many more informative books on diamond mining that don't have a self-centred author bleating about his broken relationship. He claims the diamond industry will always thrive because a diamond "is the only luxury thing everybody has to buy". Really??

I'm giving this a generous two stars.

An excellent read about the marketing of diamonds. Also points out the power of corporate advertising and the control a company has over a society. You may never buy diamonds again, I won't

Interesting, the history of diamonds in america and their sociological context. Knowing the origin, actual history and social history was great, I did feel this book left something of a futile view of fixing the diamond crisis. It was hard to leave this book and still have hope that things will change.

Really good read about diamond trade. Author gets a little wordy at times but I really liked it overall.

Where do diamonds come from? This is the driving question behind The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire (St. Martin’s Press, $24.95). The other writers who might tackle such a subject—John McPhee, perhaps, or Simon Winchester, would probably start with the big stuff. They are geologists at heart, and would be unable to resist a thorough, if fascinating, geological explanation for the formation of diamonds, the formation of the geologic strata in which they are found (a kind of rock called “kimberlite), and a suitably dramatic, large-scale picture of eons’ worth of plate tectonics before bringing their focus back to the very small and the very present—to the people who dig and dabble at show more these gigantic, operatic processes in search of the twenty carat stone.
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Miserable miserable book...at least for someone like me who doesn't understand economics and couldn't care less about the diamond industry.