As soon as journalists start writing about advertising campaigns, you know the ads are working.

　　In the United States right now, you can hardly open a magazine without reading about the "latest trend in jewellery"--the right-hand diamond ring.

　　According to these news items, economically independent women, like the ones seen on Sex and the City, are no longer waiting for a man to buy them a rock for the ring finger of their left hands. Married or not, they are buying their own diamonds, and wearing them on the right hands as a symbol of their independence.

　　Sales of rings are indeed up, but not all (and maybe none) of this should be traced to a new wave in feminist thoughts.

　　In fact, the trend can be traced to September 2003, when the giant De Beers diamond company launched a massive advertising campaign across the US called "Women of the World, Raise Your Right Hands".

　　According to the ads, which appear in top-end magazines such as Vogue, wearing a diamond on the right hand means you are independent and free.

　　Obviously, the idea is to get well-paid women to buy their own diamonds, something they traditionally do not do. But in recent months Sarah Jessica Parker, from Sex and the City, has been spotted with a monster-sized right-hand ring. Female band Destiny's Child wrote a song about their right-hand rings, with the lyrics: "I buy my own diamonds, I buy my own rings. The rock I'm rocking, I bought it for me."

　　The idea of using feminism to sell stuff to women is not new. Before cigarette advertising was banned, Virginia Slims tried, through advertising, to link smoking with female independence. It worked: more women took up the habit.

　　The De Beers campaign is also working. In a recent magazine article, writer Hermione Eyre announced the "beginning of a revolution" in the diamond trade, saying: "(The ads) mark the creation of the Me-Ring, as brilliant and expensive as a engagement ring, only symbolizing independence, not alliance. It is a token of love from you to yourself."

　　The New York Times has also weighed in, declaring the right-hand ring finger the "bling finger" ("bling" being the name given to the over-sized, shiny jewellery that rap stars wear).

　　Women of the world are putting out their right hands, with credit cards attaching. Maybe it proves only one thing: men can't tell these women what to do, but marketers certainly can.