Diamonds combine natural rarity, cultural symbolism and physical durability, making them the perfect gemstone to feature in high-stakes heists and robberies.
The Instant Appeal of Diamonds in Cinema
Diamonds bounce and bend natural light to create white light, rainbow colours and scintillation. This creates additional light when the gemstone is moved. When a briefcase is opened to reveal gems, there’s a universal visual scene that doesn’t require any dialogue to explain their value.
In heist movies, transporting billions of dollars in cash requires a lot of heavy lifting and armoured trucks, which, from a logistical standpoint, is difficult to convey. A billion dollars’ worth of diamonds, however, can easily fit into a coat pocket, allowing central characters to transport, steal, or hide them.
As worldwide audiences understand the value of diamonds, filmmakers can skip over the complex backstory involved with building the value of an object, and can cut to the chase much faster. Many movies have done this successfully over the years.
Several recent films follow the diamond heist path. Crime 101 follows a meticulous jewel thief who targets a diamond shipment. Starring Chris Hemsworth, the movie did incredibly well during its first week of release, and soon claimed the top spot on Prime Video.
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera star Gerard Butler, who plays Big Nick. The plot revolves around an ambitious robbery that targets the diamond exchange, a significant hub for the diamond trade.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t takes a very different approach. The Four Horsemen join forces with magicians to target Veronika Vanderberg, a diamond heiress who is linked to organized crime. Their target is the Heart Diamond, which soon becomes the centre of their elaborate performance.
Diamonds Beyond Cinema
Diamonds aren’t just the centre of attention in cinema. Channels like Diamond Dudes on Apple Podcasts bring together industry perspectives to discuss the global diamond trade. Covering changing consumer behaviour and business challenges, the podcast exposes the commercial side of the diamond industry. On Becoming a Diamond is hosted by Ilana Brandwain and covers the journey of diamonds from their origins to them becoming finished jewellery.
Books also cover the precious gemstone. Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair by Matthew S. Hart takes a more journalistic approach, documenting how diamonds go from mines to being presented in jewellery stores.
Diamonds are also a big theme in iGaming. Slingo online games like Slingo Da Vinci Diamonds feature diamonds as the main theme. The title is a reference to the 62-facet Vinci Diamond, which is based on the proportions of a five-pointed star.
From these examples, it’s clear that the appeal of diamonds stretches far beyond cinema. As time goes on, many movie screenwriters are getting more creative with the gemstones they use.
Uncut Gems is one example; it follows the story of someone who finds an uncut black opal in Ethiopia. Using the foundational appeal of diamonds to create a fictional gemstone shows how much creativity there is to be had with gemstones, and how, as the years go by, more elaborate storylines are being explored.
