A South African diamond rests on Beyonce's chest
The Tiffany and Co. diamond she wears for the jewellery company's campaign has received mixed reactions from the South African audience.
The diamond which Beyonce wears for the 'About Love' campaign was discovered in South Africa 143 years ago.
Tiffany and Co. officially launch this project globally on 2 September, with Beyonce and Jay-Z being the main faces as the “epitome of a modern love story”, according to the brand.
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This diamond, which goes by 'Tiffany Diamond', is the jeweller’s signature diamond. It is one of the largest yellow diamonds in the world and weighs in at 128.54 carats.
The campaign shared photographs of the two with Jay-Z in a black and white tuxedo. He also wears a pair of cufflinks that have been constructed from Tiffany’s 'Bird on a Rock' brooch, created in 1956 by the esteemed French designer, Jean Schlumberger.
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Unfortunately, Beyonce specifically has received mixed reactions about her wearing this diamond. This is because of the way she promotes the African culture in her previous music projects, but the diamond was discovered by slaves in Africa back in the 1800s.
Beyoncé doing a Tiffany’s campaign wearing a blood diamond doesn’t sit well for her brand ESPECIALLY given her African influenced work in the past few years pic.twitter.com/B97GGpXNRR
— •B• (@Lovely__B) August 23, 2021
@Beyonce wearing a diamond mined in South Africa by African people nearly two hundred years ago because it’s @TiffanyAndCo, seems like a sell out to me.
— 男の赤ちゃん (@cuubcake) August 23, 2021
beyonce wearing that diamond after her mother africa era affirms the BIK critiques. the diamond exists because of cheap black labor, black death, and south african apartheid. ✨AFRICA✨ was an aesthetic for her to commodify, never a declaration of pan-africanist solidarity. https://t.co/3x9XxAsCP5
— igboamericano (@igboamericano) August 23, 2021
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The above sentiment is what most South Africans and the rest of the black community in the world are saying about the campaign. Beyonce is actually the first black woman to have the diamond around her neck. Whilst that might be the progressive step that the jeweller is taking with their campaign, people are not having it.
Another view that people have regarding Beyonce and the Tiffany Diamond is that people are only remembering that it is a 'blood diamond' when Beyonce wears it. When Lady Gaga and Audrey Hepburn wore it, there was nothing to be said then.
Lady Gaga wore that diamond necklace and it was all love but as soon as it lands on Beyoncé’s neck y’all suddenly remember where it’s from and how it’s a blood diamond. pic.twitter.com/oHhO1xXuB5
— 💀💀 (@Des_Ti_M) August 23, 2021
Okay so we can drag Tiffany for owning a blood diamond but I just want to say that yall only now know it’s a blood diamond when it’s Beyoncé wearing it and not when Audrey wore it or lady gaga. I digress…
— black karen (@FranklynGautier) August 23, 2021
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Beyonce, being hyper Pan-Africanist, will probably respond with a statement. Or rather Tiffany and Co. will clarify the values and goals of their campaign with a statement.
Main Image Courtesy: @blkgirlculture