Diamonds are one of the most beautiful creations of nature. Birthed from extreme heat and pressure, it is often a symbol of tressure, status, opportunity and wealth.
Being as bright as it is, it is more than often that we are distracted by its beauty and know little about its truth. It is there—in that deep, dark gap of a lack of information, that Diamond Pro CEO Michael Fried has mined his treasure.
Starting his career in the diamond industry almost right after graduating from university, Michael has been in the corporate side of the diamond business for almost 20 years. He witnessed its remarkable aspects, as well as its darker side, and after taking time away from corporate life, he decided to dedicating his efforts and generating income through sharing his expertise with buyers and people looking to know more about diamonds.
“I didn’t feel personally with the end consumers but I saw there were issues—not with the company I was working with, but the industry as a whole,” he stressed, “where a lot of the retailers were taking advantage of your consumers by using nefarious tactics to make more profit on lower quality diamonds.”
Launched in the summer of 2009 by founder Ira Weissman, it was originally named TruthAboutDiamonds.com before being changed to Diamond Pro in 2014, its mission, however, has remained the same, offering unbiased information and guides to diamond buyers.
Michael highlighted that people are easily convinced by their own imagery after reading a few article titles and movies such as the war drama film Blood Diamond (2006) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou.
The movie, set in 1990s Sierra Leone, depicts a war-torn country, infested with conflict, abuse and supported by the diamond mining industry.
The Diamond Pro boss agreed that blood diamonds should be avoided and stopped, but he also notes that it should not be the prime concern of a buyer, since diamonds come from hundreds of regions around the world.
“The overwhelming majority, It’s such a statistical minority that the diamonds are coming from these war-torn areas, the chances of you getting those diamonds are virtually zero in the United States.” He adds, “A lot of the major manufacturers have done incredible work in countries like Botswana South Africa, that really helped the quality of life there. Obviously, blood diamonds are a terrifying thing and we should do our best to minimize that, but the industry as a whole has a pretty secure pipeline of where the diamonds are coming from.”
When it comes to buying diamonds, Michael says, “Personally, your best bet is buying diamonds and diamond jewellery online, you’re least likely to get ripped off as long as you are sticking to one of the few reputable websites out there, there is little to no risk to the end consumer.”
If we do want to visit shops and see the jewellery ourselves, Michael says that there are 4 C’s that describe a diamond’s characteristics, but consumers should focus on the 5th C, a Certificate. He recommends that we should focus on third-party certifiers, especially those certified by the Gemological Institute of America, (GIA) and American Gem Society (AGS).
The Diamond in the Rough
Leonardo da Vinci is quoted to have said that diamonds are just lumps of coal that stuck to their job.
Finding success in the Affiliate Marketing business model, Michael enjoys educating the public and filling in that gap between manufacturers, retailers and the consumer. He shares with us that Diamond Pro’s success in the field can be attributed to their years of dedication to informing their end-user rather than relying on gimmicks.
“Don’t take shortcuts on your content,” he gleams, “There are a lot of ways you can take advantage of little glitches in Google Search algorithms, and we’ve worked really hard to avoid that and worked at building in-depth content that’s going to help the end-user.”
“If you feel you have knowledge in whatever field you’re choosing, you should focus more on that. Something like clickbait or other tricks that may get you in the first place of a keyword, in the long run, it’s not going to help you.”
More from Michael
Diamond Pro: The Diamond Pro
Instagram: @diamondproofficial
YouTube: The Diamond Pro
