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

[Fenixgoon]

synthetic diamonds aren't fake - they're synthetic. they are chemically no different than a diamond dug up from the ground. science just accelerates the process by a few thousand/million years

 

[VashHT]

The same thing that makes real diamond rare is what makes them special so no.

That's also why there are paintings out there worth millions while there are perfect reprints of them that are worth nothing. The beauty is in the flaws.

If beauty is in the flaws then why do people pay more for less flawed stones and cut them down from their natural form?

 

[Deeko]

I wouldn't and neither would any sane person, it's like scanning the Mona Lisa, printing it out after fixing it up and selling it for half the price.

The real thing has value, the fake thing does not have anything more than production value, i'd buy a 100k fake for 10k max because no matter what it is, it's a fake.

Uh huh....so....do you understand economics? At all?

The "value" attached to diamonds - or anything really - is all about supply vs demand. Simple, yes? The current value of diamonds is artificially pushed extremely high, because one cartel dominates the business, and tightly limits that supply.

Diamonds are not really that rare. And if we can create the exact same thing - they become even LESS rare, thus lowering the value of the ones dug out of the ground.

Tell me this - you don't want a fake stone because it doesn't have value, and the real one does. What is this "value"? In what units do you measure? Usefulness? Yes, diamonds are very useful - but as a fake diamond is chemically the same, its just as useful. So no less value there. Scarcity? Again - the scarcity of a diamond is artificial. And in the "real world", not the one DeBeers creates, scarcity ceases to matter when you can mimic it artificially. If we came up with a cheap and effective way to make 100% identical oil/gas, would you keep paying more for the "real thing" because it has "value"? Hell no - you'd tell OPEC to shove it up their ass, and buy the cheaper alternative.

 

[Deeko]

The same thing that makes real diamond rare is what makes them special so no.

That's also why there are paintings out there worth millions while there are perfect reprints of them that are worth nothing. The beauty is in the flaws.

haha - the beauty is in the flaws? So then I guess flawed natural diamonds should cost more than flawless natural diamonds? What in the hell are you rambling about?

 

[lord_emperor]

Is your love not worth 2 months salary?

Assuming she is, which two months do I choose to park my car, shut off my utilities and skip eating?

She probably wouldn't want the ring after being starved for two months in the dark anyway.

 

[0marTheZealot]

Lab diamonds > Real diamonds.

Honestly, just don't tell your wife/gf/mistress. It's not like she's going to go to 5 different jewelers to see whether or not it's lab-made or not.

Also, real diamonds aren't "rare". They are actually quite common. DeBeers just makes them rare and has assassins that will shoot you in the face if you try to change the status quo (not even joking about the assassins part). Remember, DeBeers, at one time, controlled about 80% of the diamond mines in the world. I think they are down to 60% now, still more than enough to have a strangehold on prices and availability.

 

[lokiju]

One more reason I married my wife.

She didn't want a diamond.

Wanted a blue topaz, which she got.

 

[frostedflakes]

Wow, that just depressed me.

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.

Need to find a woman like that... Always thought it was ridiculous that a guy is expected to spend a few grand (at least) on rock to "prove" their love to someone. Probably why I'm single. :awe:

 

[BoberFett]

Need to find a woman like that... Always thought it was ridiculous that a guy is expected to spend a few grand (at least) on rock to "prove" their love to someone. Probably why I'm single. :awe:

They're out there, just keep looking. My wife doesn't wear gems at all, we have matching ArtCarved wedding bands that we spent about $400 for the pair, and even that was considered a luxury. She doesn't really wear jewelry at all, she'd rather spend that money on other things. Even if we were filthy rich, she wouldn't wear diamonds. She'd just as soon give the money away to something like the Humane Society.

 

[Zebo]

Diamonds arnt rare at all they break them up to put about 80 karats in a diamond saw blade which costs $200. It's the large ones they serialize and keep a stranglehold on for materialistic people.

 

[Zebo]

Need to find a woman like that... Always thought it was ridiculous that a guy is expected to spend a few grand (at least) on rock to "prove" their love to someone. Probably why I'm single. :awe:

Maybe you're looking in the wrong places. I meet mine at mensa - don't laugh

 

[CLite]

Well since I just blew $9,400 on a ring literally today this seems like an interesting thread. I got a "deal" since my friend's father is a jeweler (got it @cost). It would be cool if my gf was down with synthetic/gemstones but she wants the real thing so I shell out the cash. All it will do is slightly delay our wedding since we have to pay for it ourselves but she's fine with that. To all the people who laugh at the meaningless value of diamonds I would retort that money itself is meaningless if you are unwilling to use it for whatever brings you happiness.

 

[Deeko]

I just sent the article to my girlfriend and asked her take...she said she's all for synthetics if it means you get better diamonds for cheaper. She sold jewelry in college so she's well acquainted with how overpriced diamonds are.

I knew I liked her for a reason.

 

[Zebo]

Well since I just blew $9,400 on a ring literally today this seems like an interesting thread. I got a "deal" since my friend's father is a jeweler (got it @cost). It would be cool if my gf was down with synthetic/gemstones but she wants the real thing so I shell out the cash. All it will do is slightly delay our wedding since we have to pay for it ourselves but she's fine with that. To all the people who laugh at the meaningless value of diamonds I would retort that money itself is meaningless if you are unwilling to use it for whatever brings you happiness.

There is some truth to that in that you're willing to demonstrate your love by showering her with hard earned cash. Ultimately it's shallow though because that particular instrument, a diamond, her and her friends find one upping one another from a useless rock. Has no utility, no appreciation, no nothing other than symbolical of paid a lot for nothing.


edit: at cost LOL

 

[soccerballtux]

The only girl I'd actually want to buy a sick expensive ring for is the type of girl that wouldn't demand or even request that of me, and is the only type of girl I'd consider marrying anyways.

 

[fallout man]

:whiste:I don't care about expensive things.
Cashmere coats, or diamond rings
Don't mean a thing...
All I care about is love.

I don't care for wearin' silk cravats.
Ruby studs, satin spats
Don't mean a thing...
All I care about is love.

Give me two
Eyes of blue,
Softly saying, "I need you."
Let me see her standin' there,
And honest, mister: I'm a millionaire!

I don't care for any fine attire
Vanderbilt might admire.
No, no, not me...
All I care about is love!:whiste:



Maybe you think I'm talking about physical love. Well, I'm not. not just physical love. There's other kinds of love, like love of justice, love of legal procedure, love of lending a hand to someone who really needs you--love of your fellow man. Thats the kind of love I'm talkin' about--and physical love ain't so bad either!



:whiste:It may sound odd--
But all I care about is love!

Honest to god.
All I care about is love!()

Show me long, raven hair,
Flowin' down', about to there!
Let me see
Her runnin' free!
Keep your money... thats enough for me.

I don't care for drivin' packard cars,
Or smoking long buck cigars.
No, no, not me!

All I care about is:
Doin' the guy in,
Who's pickin', on you!
Twistin' the wrist
Thats turnin' the screw...

All I care about is loooooooooooooooooooove!:whiste:

 

[Visaoni]

I suppose one could argue the synthetics are a more true symbol of eternal love, or whatever the diamond companies decide they should be a symbol of. They are certainly younger than their dug up counterparts, so they should stick around as diamonds awhile after the dug up ones are graphite.

Of course, that isn't going to matter in quite a few lifetimes. But if age and/or means of production matter, why shouldn't the state of the diamond in so many millions of years?

 

[Robor]

If he's lucky.

It depends. Did she eat any of the wedding cake?

 

[Robor]

They're out there, just keep looking. My wife doesn't wear gems at all, we have matching ArtCarved wedding bands that we spent about $400 for the pair, and even that was considered a luxury. She doesn't really wear jewelry at all, she'd rather spend that money on other things. Even if we were filthy rich, she wouldn't wear diamonds. She'd just as soon give the money away to something like the Humane Society.

You're married to a damned hippie tree hugging animal lover?




/jk... I support the Humane Society and SPCA too. :thumbsup:

 

[Uhtrinity]

Did anyone else realize this article is from Sep 2003? Seems like it hasn't put much of a dent in Debeers market.

 

[BoberFett]

You're married to a damned hippie tree hugging animal lover?

/jk... I support the Humane Society and SPCA too. :thumbsup:

We're both animal lovers and far more likely to give to animal charities than human ones. Animals actually need some help. If you have opposable thumbs and the advantages of tool use you should be able to take care of yourselves.

 

[charrison]

Did anyone else realize this article is from Sep 2003? Seems like it hasn't put much of a dent in Debeers market.

I am pretty sure it was posted in 2003 as well.

 

[seemingly random]

We're both animal lovers and far more likely to give to animal charities than human ones. Animals actually need some help. If you have opposable thumbs and the advantages of tool use you should be able to take care of yourselves.

Animals are more appreciative than many humans.

And, they don't give a crap about jewelry...

 

[1prophet]

In 1919, De Beers experienced a drop in diamond sales that lasted for two decades. So in the 1930s it turned to the firm N.W. Ayer to devise a national advertising campaign—still relatively rare at the time—to promote its diamonds. Ayer convinced Hollywood actresses to wear diamond rings in public, and, according to Edward Jay Epstein in The Rise and Fall of the Diamond, encouraged fashion designers to discuss the new "trend" toward diamond rings. Between 1938 and 1941, diamond sales went up 55 percent. By 1945 an average bride, one source reported, wore "a brilliant diamond engagement ring and a wedding ring to match in design." The capstone to it all came in 1947, when Frances Gerety—a female copywriter, who, as it happened, never married—wrote the line "A Diamond Is Forever." The company blazoned it over the image of happy young newlyweds on their honeymoon. The sale of diamond engagement rings continued to rise in the 1950s, and the marriage between romance and commerce that would characterize the American wedding for the next half-century was cemented. By 1965, 80 percent of American women had diamond engagement rings. The ring had become a requisite element of betrothal—as well as a very visible demonstration of status. Along the way, the diamond industry's guidelines for the "customary" cost of a ring doubled from one month's salary to two months' salary.

The power of advertising and celebrities combined with a catchy marketing phrase trumps over logic and fiscal prudence, just imagine what corporations can do to the masses using those tried and true techniques every day.

 

[LegendKiller]

I wouldn't and neither would any sane person, it's like scanning the Mona Lisa, printing it out after fixing it up and selling it for half the price.

The real thing has value, the fake thing does not have anything more than production value, i'd buy a 100k fake for 10k max because no matter what it is, it's a fake.

The real thing only has value in marketing and the "greater fool" theory. Otherwise, it has NO value.