Diamonds are durable and look pretty (sparkly), just like gold (one of the least reactive metals and it looks shiny). If you buy a ring with a piece of glass on it, it'll probably last a few years and then need to be cut again to look as clean and new as before (but it'll be smaller). If you buy a diamond, it will last for hundreds (thousands?) of years needing just some polishing.
Originally posted by: Glitchny
Originally posted by: Eli
I didn't read your post in full.. but it sounds to me like you're saying diamonds are worthless, when they clearly are not.
They are worth $ because they're rare and considered precious gems. Same principal as Gold.
I just won't buy any diamonds from De Beers.
they arent that rare if De Beers is hoarding them... they are only rare to find in the market since someone already has all of them
Then that makes them rare. Regardless of the integrity of the scarcity, they're valuable. You'll never get stuck with a quality diamond you can't sell. Whether they're actually rare or not, someone will pay market value for it.
Great article.
So basically, what you're saying is that you do place value in the object instead of the sentiment.
That's what I call High-Class Whores.
Were these girls, by any chance, from a region of land lower than the others?
(Subtitle - Valley Girls?)
- M4H
If your just tuning in.....
#1: DeBeers sucks
#2: Understand the history of the "DeBeers Diamond/Marriage" marketing saga and realize once again we are sheep-like consumers!
#3: Diamonds are nothing special, far from it, very ordinary and represent some companies 'marketing product' / false meaning.
#4: DeBeers sucks
-VTrider
#1: DeBeers sucks
#2: Understand the history of the "DeBeers Diamond/Marriage" marketing saga and realize once again we are sheep-like consumers!
#3: Diamonds are nothing special, far from it, very ordinary and represent some companies 'marketing product' / false meaning.
#4: DeBeers sucks
-VTrider
Well, I didn't give my fiancee a 1.06 carat stone, but it was a diamond and I'm sure the reaction was the same.
Ding ding ding...that's right Rob, as long as Debeer's controls the primary supply of them and people still want them then the price will remain high since they control supply and the item is in high demand.
Again I cannot stress the fact that even though they were a heavily marketed item no one ever held a gun to someone's head and made them buy a diamond or anything else...society decided they liked diamonds hence why the popularity. I have seen plenty of heavily marketed products that have failed due to a lack of demand.
Should the market get flooded with diamonds from another source I do see the price going down initially, however I do not see their popularity decreasing, if anything more people who were reluctant to buy because of price will go out and take advantage of the savings, eventually it will get to the point where a few companies are selling and controlling the flow and they will work together to price fix. I also don't see people just abandoning the idea of using some kind of a gem or jewelry as a symbol for their commitment as Mach seems to be in favor of (he would have us all buy MP3 players or new video cards), gems, diamonds, rubies and other "precious" substances have been coveted for hundreds and thousands of years, I don't see that changing in my lifetime....
I guess I am not surprised with the range of opinions here, this is a tech related site and all so it does make sense, however I must say viva le difference, I am glad that I can find value and understand why some would appreciate something they had to work hard for that is a symbol of a bond and can become something which a memory is attached...I know I would not feel happy if I gave my fiancee a nice shiny new computer, or as that article mentioned a toaster in lieu of a "useless" piece of jewelry and in a few years time it became obsolete and was replaced by something new, there is no long term emotional and sentimantal value in objects such as those...they are disposable, which seems to be something that is a common trend...
kranky
Elite Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 21,019
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"People can tell how you are dressed if you have the real thing or not"?! Sorry, that's just not true. I have two well-off friends who only buy cubic zirconia. Their other well-off friends are always drooling over the latest "diamond" jewelry they bought. They buy CZ because (1) they know people can't tell, and (2) they save money on insurance and don't have to worry about theft.
My own experience with CZ is with two one-carat CZ stones I bought from a jewelry store for $25. I had them mounted in earrings and my wife wore them a few times. No one thought they were fake.
I guess if I sunk a pile of money into real diamonds, I'd want to believe people could tell the difference.
- Mar 20, 2000
- 102,402
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theres so much cheating in OPEC, plus theres many oil producing countries that aren't in it, that comparing its market power to debeers is kinda funny. also, oil demand is largley inflexible as its the basis for our economy, while the diamond supply could be cut off tomorrow and the only people who would suffer much is jewelers.
kranky
Elite Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 21,019
- 156
- 106
Another key difference between DeBeers and oil is that DeBeers controls the distribution. OPEC only controls production (or tries to). DeBeers has such a stranglehold on the distribution of diamonds that it is difficult for other producers to get their product to market.
The obvious point that a lot of folks are missing is that value is in the eye of the beholder, not simply in the intrinsic value of an item. A diamond engagement ring has become an item that holds a value of saying "you are special, I want us to be together forever, and this diamond is symbolic of that". Whether or not the actual stone is worth that much or not is irrelevant.
If your wife (to be) prefers some other token or symbol of your feelings, that's fine. It's not that the women (at least not most of them) are strictly materialistic, it's the fact that they can show their friends how "special" they are to someone that the person is willing to invest such a large amount in buying them something special. It's as simple as that.
Perhaps people can't tell the difference between CZ and the real thing -- so what?? You know you have cheap junk that's meaningless, and that's what matters.
If your wife (to be) prefers some other token or symbol of your feelings, that's fine. It's not that the women (at least not most of them) are strictly materialistic, it's the fact that they can show their friends how "special" they are to someone that the person is willing to invest such a large amount in buying them something special. It's as simple as that.
Perhaps people can't tell the difference between CZ and the real thing -- so what?? You know you have cheap junk that's meaningless, and that's what matters.
I told my wife about this yesterday. She was like "wow", but there is no way in hell she will stop wanting diamonds. I just bought her a diamond tennis bracelet for our anniversary. Like it or not, diamonds are going to be a girl's best friend for a long long time.
Yes it is. In my experience, the majority of women are materialistic. Gotta have the diamonds and gold or no marriage for you!
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