Fake diamonds = Win OR Why you shouldn't throw money at your wife's jewellry

[StageLeft]

This was brought up in another thread but deserves its own. Talking about how fake diamonds are now becoming pimptastic and the company we all love to hate, Debeers, is miffed. I found this long article on wired, recently written:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html

I think it's great. Spending a lot of money on something just because somebody dug it up instead of in a lab, but they are the same damn thing, is simply brainless, IMO.

From the article (with an entertainment flare to the writing):

In other words, the General is preparing a first strike on the diamond business. "Right now, we only threaten the way De Beers wants the consumer to think of a diamond," he says, noting that his current monthly output doesn't even equal that of a small mine. "But imagine what happens when we fill this warehouse and then the one next door," he says with a grin. "Then I'll have myself a proper diamond mine."

...

"If you give a woman a choice between a 2-carat stone and a 1-carat stone and everything else is the same, including the price, what's she gonna choose?" he demands. "Does she care if it's synthetic or not? Is anybody at a party going to walk up to her and ask, 'Is that synthetic?' There's no way in hell. So I'll bite your ass if she chooses the smaller one."

...says Jef Van Royen, a senior scientist at the Diamond High Council, the official representative of the diamond industry in Belgium. "If people really love each other, then they give each other the real stone," he says, during an interview at council headquarters on the Hoveniersstraat in Antwerp. "It is not a symbol of eternal love if it is something that was created last week."

Bolded for comedy.

Basically the only difference between a lab and real diamond is that you literally need a machine to determine it; even a skilled jeweler with a magnifier can't do it. However,

CVD diamond precipitates as nearly 100 percent pure diamond and therefore may not be discernible from naturals, no matter how advanced the detection equipment.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Hm, I was under the impression that artificials were easily discernible from natural. Artificial ones are too perfect.

 

[rudder]

Hm, I was under the impression that artificials were easily discernible from natural. Artificial ones are too perfect.

Could you really tell that without looking at the diamond through a magnifier? ANd even if it is too perfect... it will glitter just the same. The diamond industry (Debeers) has been a big scam. I do feel sorry for all the african warlords whose money supply may dry up.

 

[StageLeft]

Hm, I was under the impression that artificials were easily discernible from natural. Artificial ones are too perfect.

So is that the selling point: Pay $500 for a perfect diamond or pay $1000 for our crappier one that was found in a pile of dirt.

 

[Robor]

LOL @ Debeers. I'd much rather buy a larger flawless 'fake' diamond than a smaller slightly flawed 'real' one. Odd timing... I'm streaming the local sports station and they just had a diamond ad on it.

 

[PricklyPete]

I love the idea of this becoming mainstream and cheap. Engagement rings in the US is a ridiculous business.

 

[Robor]

I love the idea of this becoming mainstream and cheap. Engagement rings in the US is a ridiculous business.

Is your love not worth 2 months salary?

 

[Genx87]

I bought my wife a higher quality diamond. It looks nice but honestly they could switch it with a piece of glass and doubtful I'd know the difference. And I highly doubt people not trained in this business would notice either. I say bring on the cheaper lab made diamonds.

 

[StageLeft]

LOL @ Debeers. I'd much rather buy a larger flawless 'fake' diamond than a smaller slightly flawed 'real' one. Odd timing... I'm streaming the local sports station and they just had a diamond ad on it.

The nice thing is these really ARE real diamonds. They are not look-alikes, they are the real deal, they are just not created naturally. Like most of our food, actually

 

[PingSpike]

I hope this guy is right, but he may be making a grave error that many a man has made before him: Assuming logic when dealing with women's tastes. I would advise men to lie and simply say that the diamond was dug up out of the ground. The display of a diamond seems to be about showing how much wealth one can waste, rather than how smart one is.

I watched part of that parks and recreation show (generally not a great show, but nothing else on) last night and one of the characters suggested diamonds as a gift for his girlfriend. "All chicks love diamonds. Even the super left wing chicks that cried at the end of blood diamond, you show them a diamond and they'll be like 'Oh yeah, give me that blood diamond, bitch!'". I laughed fairly hard since it was true, my wife seemed less amused.

 

[CycloWizard]

Unfortunately, women will choose the real diamond every time. My wife has a PhD in chemical engineering, understands that the fake ones are actually technically superior to real diamonds, and knew that she could get a bigger, better diamond for the same price, but insisted on a real one. I even made her watch Blood Diamond a week before I proposed. There's just something about digging a rock up out of the dirt that instills it with some sentimental value for a woman... Either that, or de Beers marketing is really that good.

 

[Robor]

The nice thing is these really ARE real diamonds. They are not look-alikes, they are the real deal, they are just not created naturally. Like most of our food, actually

Yep, that's why I put the '' around them.

 

[rudder]

The nice thing is these really ARE real diamonds. They are not look-alikes, they are the real deal, they are just not created naturally. Like most of our food, actually

I finally read the whole article. Funny how the competition wants the FTC to make them say synthetic. Nothing synthetic about it... carbon is carbon whether a machine heated and pressurized it or the earth did. Calling them synthetics would likely rile the ignorant public. But i guess debeers knows they can do it since their 2-months salary guidline campaign was a success.

 

[PingSpike]

Unfortunately, women will choose the real diamond every time. My wife has a PhD in chemical engineering, understands that the fake ones are actually technically superior to real diamonds, and knew that she could get a bigger, better diamond for the same price, but insisted on a real one. I even made her watch Blood Diamond a week before I proposed. There's just something about digging a rock up out of the dirt that instills it with some sentimental value for a woman... Either that, or de Beers marketing is really that good.

I think the key, as I said, will be lying. She'll never be able to tell the difference. You can even tell her its a real diamond, since it is. I think the guys that make these should briefly bury them in a hole before digging them back up and boxing them, that way to can say "It is a REAL diamond honey! Like, it was dug up out of a hole and everything!"

 

[CycloWizard]

I think the key, as I said, will be lying. She'll never be able to tell the difference. You can even tell her its a real diamond, since it is. I think the guys that make these should briefly bury them in a hole before digging them back up and boxing them, that way to can say "It is a REAL diamond honey! Like, it was dug up out of a hole and everything!"

Yeah, but she would have known when I came home with a 4 carat, flawless, D-color, perfectly cut diamond with only a grad student's salary.

 

[MotF Bane]

Unfortunately, women will choose the real diamond every time. My wife has a PhD in chemical engineering, understands that the fake ones are actually technically superior to real diamonds, and knew that she could get a bigger, better diamond for the same price, but insisted on a real one. I even made her watch Blood Diamond a week before I proposed. There's just something about digging a rock up out of the dirt that instills it with some sentimental value for a woman... Either that, or de Beers marketing is really that good.

Real reason: women are illogical. :awe:

 

[MotF Bane]

Wow, that Florida factory picture says something.

 

[StageLeft]

Unfortunately, women will choose the real diamond every time. My wife has a PhD in chemical engineering, understands that the fake ones are actually technically superior to real diamonds, and knew that she could get a bigger, better diamond for the same price, but insisted on a real one. I even made her watch Blood Diamond a week before I proposed. There's just something about digging a rock up out of the dirt that instills it with some sentimental value for a woman... Either that, or de Beers marketing is really that good.

Wow, that just depressed me.

I think the guys that make these should briefly bury them in a hole before digging them back up and boxing them, that way to can say "It is a REAL diamond honey! Like, it was dug up out of a hole and everything!"

This is a good idea.

For Mrsskoorb I bought a decent but nothing opulent (or indebted) engagement ring and since then nothing much big at all. If she wants a gift I'd rather buy her something worth something.

 

[ElFenix]

Could you really tell that without looking at the diamond through a magnifier? ANd even if it is too perfect... it will glitter just the same. The diamond industry (Debeers) has been a big scam. I do feel sorry for all the african warlords whose money supply may dry up.

assuming the cut is just as good it should sparkle better, no inclusions or anything.


there are 4 Cs in the diamond world:
cut cut cut cut

 

[CycloWizard]

Real reason: women are illogical. :awe:

Yes, this was the straw that broke the camel's back for me as well. I had hope until that day...

 

[cubeless]

and being a diamond member here will have to go down a couple rungs...

the new marketing for synthetics will be 'fresh and new, like your love is, yet eternal, like your love will be...' for the women's mags and "lot's cheaper, so you don't cry as much when the bitch dumps you..." for the men's mags...

 

[ElFenix]

and being a diamond member here will have to go down a couple rungs...

the new marketing for synthetics will be 'fresh and new, like your love is, yet eternal, like your love will be...' for the women's mags and "lot's cheaper, so you don't cry as much when the bitch dumps you..." for the men's mags...

actually that's pretty catchy

 

[cubeless]

actually that's pretty catchy

now i have to run out and copyright it...

 

[seemingly random]

I try not to lose composure over shiny objects. Don't always succeed.

 

[Genx87]

Unfortunately, women will choose the real diamond every time. My wife has a PhD in chemical engineering, understands that the fake ones are actually technically superior to real diamonds, and knew that she could get a bigger, better diamond for the same price, but insisted on a real one. I even made her watch Blood Diamond a week before I proposed. There's just something about digging a rock up out of the dirt that instills it with some sentimental value for a woman... Either that, or de Beers marketing is really that good.

She probably was thinking of DiCaprio with the real diamond lol