With a heavy heart, I must tell you that the other day Gina read and passed around an appalling Wall Street Journal article to a few of us here at Breakpoint. Vying for a niche in the rich novelty market, top jewelry companies like De Beers and Tiffany are selling as finished product un-cut and un-polished diamonds. Gina sums up the problem, “I know there are lots of different styles of jewelry, but this is just plain UGLY.” Unfortunately, people are buying it and it isn’t cheap. 

Gina is absolutely correct. Mankind, or most of mankind, craves beauty, and the crafting of jewelry is a perfect example of man being a co-creator with God. What’s lacking from these stones is the refining dedication of an artisan, who turns an ugly piece of rock into a gem which sparkles brilliantly like sunlight flashing on a body of water.   

As Russian philosopher and theologian Nicholas Berdyaev aptly wrote in The Destiny of Man, "God created man in his own image and likeness, i.e. made him a creator too, calling him to free spontaneous activity and not to formal obedience to His power. Free creativeness is the creature’s answer to the great call of its creator. Man’s creative work is the fulfillment of the Creator’s secret will."

Berdyaev is expressing a high view of man and his freedom to create in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The antithesis of truth, goodness, and beauty is degeneration. When people believe they are truly autonomous and stop acknowledging their status as co-creators with the Creator, they start producing ugliness, like this “novelty” jewelry.

Comments

[David Cervera]

or as PT Barnum famously said, "There's one born every minute".

[Matt]

I often see beauty in natural stones, have you ever had a look at a nice piece of ocean jasper? The natural process that created the stone are the very things that make it beautiful to look at. That being said a dirty hunk of rough diamond on top of a ring is pretty ugly. But if people are willing to pay for ugliness, well that's their choice.

[Mita]

Is it the de-volution of the diamond? Is it a shortage of good diamond cutters? Perhaps the diamond cutters are all on strike and we just haven't heard about it. Or maybe they're just being lazy. I think I'll just skip my diamond shopping spree this week and get myself a copy of "Blood Diamonds". I hear Leonardo is especially cute in this movie.