There’s a lot of beautiful gemstones out there, but women expect a diamond on their finger, and only a colorless one, even though diamonds come in all colors. This started when a British princess had one at her engagement, shown by the British press, and now everyone wanted one. Demand was also pushed be DeBeers of South Africa. The price of colorless diamonds skyrocketed, and any other color is industrial-grade.
I think E.B. just needs knee grease.