Image: https://ethereum.org/en/
NFTs and diamonds were made for each other, with both being predicated on an idea of uniqueness and blockbuster prices.
While this has resulted in some predictable outcomes (like rapper-made jewelry NFTs), one company, NFT Diamonds and Co., is using them as an opportunity to turn the real-world diamond game in on itself and as they put it, “challenge the monopoly of the $80 billion dollar diamond industry.”
NFT Diamonds and Co. sells what they refer to as Digital Diamonds (DD’s), or NFT diamonds that exist in a limited series of 100, making them actually scarce. Each DD auction will start at 1 ETH* per 1 carat and will grow in carats as the price increases to reflect the environmental impact of real diamonds (which are made from carbon atoms), and the environmental cost of the blockchain. The DD’s themselves feature references to both real-world diamond types, and crypto, with names like “Amethyst Smoke” and “The Great Vitalik.”
DD’s follow some earlier, less mission-driven diamond NFTs, like the one Lil Pump dropped on Sweet last month. “Esskeeetit Diamond VVS” was meant to mimic some of Lil Pump’s IRL collection and was minted as an edition of five, with each piece selling for $10,000. In a press release, Lil Pump said that NFTs “are the future” and will allow his fans to “live like him.”
Rapper Jim Jones turned a picture of his Vamp Life chain into an NFT that sold for a thousand dollars last year, while the company Icecap, is allowing investors to purchase diamonds exclusively on the blockchain.
The real-world GIA-approved diamonds, which are purchased as a redeemable token, are apparently stored in a vault somewhere in New York City (presumably in the Diamond District). On OpenSea, Icecap is listing diamonds as high quality as 5 carats for tens of thousands of dollars.
Even though these latter NFT diamonds differ in focus from NFT Diamonds and Co., they all point to the benefits of putting diamonds on the blockchain. By being able to store and prove the ownership of objects on the blockchain, the environmental and human cost of shipping, storing, and even producing precious goods can be reduced. Of course, all of those benefits are contingent on the working out of NFTs seemingly environmental issues.
About the creator
“Mr Sebastian” is the NFT alias of Sebastian Errazuriz a critically acclaimed NY artist and designer. In 2017 Sebastian Errazuriz created the first historic digital vandalism by covering Jeff Koons and Snapchat’s augmented reality installation in graffiti. Since then he has become an authority in a new mouvement combining contemporary art and new technologies technology to question their structures. In 2020, He created the first commission-free Augmented Reality tool for artists to exhibit and sell their artwork during the pandemic.
Sebastian ErraZuriz launched Digital Diamond. Co – the first digital diamond company at the price of real Diamonds. The critically acclaimed Artist challenges two massive and yet artificial markets: Diamonds and Art.
Sebastian Errazuriz’s work has been included in major exhibitions and collections internationally. The coverage of his creations has been a successive string of viral responses and has been published in the New York Times, WSJ, Artnet, Forbes,
*What is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a technology that’s home to digital money, global payments, and applications. The community has built a booming digital economy, bold new ways for creators to earn online, and so much more. It’s open to everyone, wherever you are in the world – all you need is the internet.
