Valentine’s Day is upon us, and the jewelry stores are really pushing their shit. The commercials are all the same: clueless guy is guided through the rock buying process by a patient, relatively attractive saleswoman. I always mute commercials, so I don’t know: are they still implying you’re an asshole if you don’t spend x% of your income on a diamond?
Of course. Diamonds, without advertising and total control of the supply, are worthless. Valentine’s day is pretty much the biggest holiday of the year for diamonds. They’re going to hit it heavy and strong, as they need to convince women that diamonds are a symbol of a worthwhile romance, and convince men that unless they give a diamond, they’re a failure.
On diamonds and their advertising, Ron White once said “On the commercials, they say “Diamonds: render her speechless”, which is their way of saying “Diamonds: this ought to shut her up!””
Nice OP/username/second-poster username trifecta. 
Not only do I not like diamonds, or jewelry in general for me, I get ticked off when I’m out with my husband and some sales person tries to draw me in with something sparkly. If they’d take half a second to look, they’d see my wedding ring in a plain gold band worn sans engagement ring (mine was an opal) and my watch came from WalMart. No earrings, no necklace, no bracelet. Yep, just try to sell me your overpriced shiny stuff…
I know I’m an anomaly (even in my family.) But I can be tempted with good chocolates… 
I would bet that all or nearly all of the ads you’re seeing are actually from one source. Most “diamond jewelry” stores are part of one conglomerate. That means, yes, the three or four jewelry stores in any given mall are actually the same.
Speaking of diamond commercials, is it just me or does it seem like many of them have the female voices overdubbed? The one that really jumps out at me is the “chocolate diamonds” commercial, but I’ve noticed it in lots of others too.
My all time favorite, NSFW.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ad that has a woman buying something for her man for VDay. Apparently, it’s only men who need to ‘prove’ their love by spending money they don’t have on things they can’t afford to further the riches of the people who sell them. Diamonds are the biggest ripoff con in the history of gift giving. They don’t appreciate unless they’re part of a currently collectible artifact by Cartier or someone. A diamond that cost you $1,000 30 years ago is probably not even worth that much today in terms of resale.
I guess its only fair; if miners can pull diamonds out of their asses for some woman’s finger, why can’t jewelry store chains pull commercials out of their asses for her too?
(…and I still think a siren whistle crafted into the ring under the stone setting is not only a good idea but often appropriate.)
Terrifyingly, this convention has worse alternatives
Just to follow up, Signet Jewelers LImited is the parent company of these national chains:
[ul]
[li] Kay[/li][li] Jared[/li][li]Zales[/li][li]Gordons[/li][li]Piercing Pagoda[/li][li]Peoples (Canada)[/li][li] H. Samuel (UK)[/li][li]Ernest Jones (UK)[/li][/ul]
And these regional chains:
[ul]
[li]Belden Jewelers[/li][li]Osterman Jewelers[/li][li]Goodman Jewelers[/li][li]Rogers Jewelers[/li][li]JB Robinson Jewelers[/li][li]Shaw’s Jewelers[/li][li]LeRoy’s Jewelers[/li][li]Ultra Diamonds[/li][li]Marks & Morgan Jewelers[/li][li]Weisfield Jewelers[/li][/ul]
And you thought the monopoly ended with DeBeers… it’s been funny to watch ads from three or four of these labels in “competition” over the last few days.
Also: the current trend in “stylish” diamond designs appears to be stuff that would have made a pimp boggle in 1972.
The diamond industry really is morally bankrupt at every single level, isn’t it? Mining, sales, advertising…all that’s left is to discover they’re cut using the teeth of orphans and endangered animals.