FILM Conflict Money

The initial reaction of diamond sellers to the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie Blood Diamond was that it may hurt diamond sales in the Christmas season. But that was before they figured out how to spin the publicity that the movie was to generate. Even though "conflict diamonds" make up less than 1% of the market, diamond retailers have begun advertising "conflict-free diamonds," and I'll bet they charge more for them. Once again, the luxury markets have found a way to exploit the problems in Africa. Brilliantly.