Swift Way to Sell the Diamond Dream

It's a masterstroke by Taylor Swift. The entrepreneur, brand builder, influencer, philanthropist (and singer/songwriter) puts diamonds front and center in her latest video, a homage to the late, iconic Elizabeth Taylor and her equally iconic jewelry collection.

The montage of movie clips shows the screen legend with a diamond tiara from Mike Todd (husband number three), a 33.19-carat Asscher-cut Krupp Diamond Ring from Richard Burton (husband number five and six), and many more besides.

Swift is, in her own inimitable way, doing what the much-lauded Luanda Accord has yet to do - selling the natural diamond dream.

OK, she's not drawing a distinction between natural stones and lab growns, but she is sending a message to a hundred million Swifties (yes, that's how  many she has), who hang on her every word. 

Look how demand for vintage-cut diamonds surged after Travis Kelce put an 8-carat old mine brilliant-cut ring on Swift's finger in August 2025.

Now consider the potential impact of her latest hit - Elizabeth Taylor, from the album The Life of a Showgirl.

It is three-and-a-half-minutes of non-stop, back-to-back, diamond drooling -  clips from three decades of movies starring Hollywood's Queen of Diamonds.

Elizabeth Taylor was famed for her acting, her love life and her incredible jewelry collection. It sold for over $156 million shortly after her death in 2011.

Swift's lyrics to the Elizabeth Taylor track are admittedly somewhat layered and nuanced.

"All my white diamonds and lovers are forever / In the papers, on the screen, and in their minds" is a bittersweet nod to the permanence of diamonds against the fragility of relationships (Elizabeth Taylor famously married eight times).

But let's not dwell on that. Most Swifties won't. They'll see a beautiful woman, wearing beautiful jewels and, hopefully, they'll decide to buy some of their own.

It's a success in the making. And this "free diamond ad" is just a byproduct of the Swiftonomics powerhouse.

Her Eras tour alone (2023 to 2024) generated more revenue than the annual GDP of Liberia or dozens of the world's smaller countries. 

Meanwhile, 10 months after the Luanda Accord was signed, we're still waiting to see what the combined might of Angola, Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Namibia, Sierra Leone and South Africa will achieve.

They all pledged 1% of their rough sales ($80 million to $100 million annually) to promote natural diamonds over lab growns.

That money will eventually boost campaigns by the Natural Diamond Council (NDC). But much of it has yet to arrive.

"The Luanda Accord is well underway and progressing with strong momentum from African producers and across the industry," the NDC told us this week as it introduced World Diamond Day.

"Funding commitments from the Luanda signatories are either secured or actively being secured and are progressing well."

But the checks from these nations still aren't in the bank. Funds that could transform NDC's activities are being delayed by bureaucratic delays, funding holdups, and the need for government approvals.

There is clearly more than one way to reach the same goal. There's the slow way, which may well prove effective, but which has so far missed Diwali, the Indian wedding season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day.

And there's the Swift way.

Have a fabulous weekend.