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Live Blogging the Oprah "Blood Diamond" Show
December 4, 2006

OPRAH, BEFORE THE SHOW:   All right, this is the moment we have all been waiting for: The Oprah show about "Blood Diamond," and my real-time reactions. I have a confession, dear readers: This is the first time I've ever watched an Oprah show. (Un-american, I know.) It’s a momentous day all around.

Before we begin. a gentle reminder, and I'm sure today's show will drive home the need for this:

All industry members who handle diamonds must abide by the Kimberley Process System of Warranties.

Just the other day, I was talking to a dealer who said he gets Kimberley certificates for rough stones, but “you don’t need them for polished.” Actually, you need them for both. For polished, it’s a different kind of certificate –just wording stamped on the invoice -- but you still need to insist on and have this wording for every stone you sell.

Thanks to shows like this, a lot more consumers are going to be asking for these warranties this holiday, and even if they don’t, it’s something the industry has agreed to -- not to mention the moral thing to do. It doesn’t even require that much work. Details on what you need to do are here, and here’s an old article I wrote that explains how it all works.

And now on with the show. We all know that Oprah can help the sale of books; can she hurt the sale of diamonds? Let's tune in and see ...

4:05 PM: All right, they are talking about a lot of uninteresting stuff here, including whether Leonardo is "more grown-up" at 32. (Well uninteresting to me, perhaps some people out there are riveted.) So let me just talk a little bit about the film:

Going into last week I had heard almost uniformly positive things about the "Blood Diamond" movie -- including from a friend of mine who is high up in the movie business. But that has changed. While reaction from bloggers and viewers has been generally favorable, the critical reaction has been a little more mixed.  JCK's own Anthony DeMarco posts his thoughts here, and here’s National Jeweler’s take.

4:10 P.M.: Leonardo just talked about conflict diamonds, and the terrible effect they have had on some African countries. "It's a story about ... how conscious we need to be, and when we do buy something, it is in fact a vote."  Oprah's talking "Oscar buzz" ...

4:23 P.M.: Okay, that segment was just everyone praising each other. Ed Zwick is "amazing," DiCaprio's become quite the mensch, all the actors are awesome. But after the break, they're going to talk about the diamond industry, and what "viewers can do." And yes, Laura, the consensus is that Leonardo has grown up at 32.

4:28 P.M.: Hmm ... this appears to be a pro-industry video, that mentions the Kimberley Process. But why does it say the Kimberley Process is voluntary? It is the law all over the world -- including in this country, the good old US of A. Oprah mentions that "blood diamonds" are less than 1% of the world's total.

4:31 P.M.: Oh my God ... they are mentioning Botswana! I think I'm going to have a heart attack. They are mentioning Africa's largest diamond producer in a talk about African diamonds!

I may have to take back everything I said about the World Diamond Council campaign, 'cause this really isn't too bad.  Director Ed Zwick is saying he's not telling people to stop buying diamonds, just that "when you walk into a diamond dealer or a jeweler, I want to see a warranty, I want to see a certificate, and you can make a difference in thousands of lives." Amen, brother. (See the beginning of this post if you're not sure what he's talking about.)

4:37 P.M.: So it looks like the segment on the "Blood Diamond" is over. That was relatively painless. Well, if you have your heart set on hearing the industry get trashed yet again, you will have to settle for these two articles: one in the New York Times this weekend and in USA Today today. (Actually, both of these pieces are pretty fair, as far as these things go.)

4:56 P.M.:  Time for music from the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars. They are sounding pretty good, though it’s weird to see people dancing and clapping to a song about “living like a refugee.” This isn’t Tom Petty; these are REAL REFUGEES.

As long as Oprah's going into this, I will note that Sierra Leone music is really fantastic. My favorite record I heard while I was there, which I still listen to all the time, is Emmerson's Borbor-Belle. Why this guy isn't more famous is beyond me.

And that looks like the Oprah show. Your thoughts and comments welcome. Live blogger, out ...

Posted by Rob Bates on December 4, 2006 | Comments (1)