It only takes a person with half a brain for finance to realise the good ol’ pound isn’t going as far as it used to. For us bankers, I think Ronald Reagan best summed up our feelings about inflation, describing it as being “as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hitman”.

Of course, while City folk are not generally the group you’d vote most deserving of pity, bankers with any leftover bonus cash under their mattresses are wondering if that is seriously the only safe place to keep it, given the current state of the market. With equities in a downward spiral, bonds unprofitable, commodity prices sky-high, and inflation taking juicy bites out of our trusty savings accounts, what’s a girl to do with her loose change?

As I strolled down Old Bond Street last Saturday afternoon, the answer presented itself like a gift from God: spend it. All of it. Not on anything as transient as clothes and shoes, however. Oh, no. I would use these volatile market conditions to invest in my and every other girl’s best friend: diamonds.

More beautiful than a Picasso, less cyclical than real estate, like gold and silver, diamonds offer the promise of real returns in summer 2008. When I discuss my new investment strategy with male colleagues, I am constantly surprised by how diamond-savvy they are. They know about size, cut, colour and clarity – and so they should. After all, an impulse buy in Hatton Garden has brought a smile to the face of many a disgruntled mistress over the years.

Perhaps my own diamond-buying will have the same effect on me. While men may come and go, diamonds are forever.
So as I pore over the window displays at Cartier, Tiffany and Bulgari, I take comfort from knowing that, while the world may be running out of enough food, oil and jobs to go around, there will always be an inexhaustible supply of people falling in love.

And somewhere along the line, that means falling for diamonds.