Why are diamonds so expensive when these are out there?

[sdifox]

You have to consider that there is a huge supply of diamonds somewhere being kept from the market. Evidently DeBeers was broken up but they tightly controlled the supply by basically warehousing absurd amounts of diamonds. There was a big find of colored diamonds in Australia not long ago and evidently they didn't want to play ball with the big boys so the big boys released a bunch of their own stashed colored diamonds as a big fuck you and to show what happens when you don't play ball. I don't imagine they'd sit around and let a new player come in with a huge supply of new diamonds.

Even then, I still question the cost effectiveness of it. Don't forget you'd have to launch an Earth reentry vehicle, along with the rover and fuel, which would be fairly heavy. You think they could get all that up in a single launch? I guess the rover could be solar powered and stay there so you'd only have to launch a vehicle to collect what the rover has already gathered and sorted and then get it back into the Earth's atmosphere.

On a side note, you ever see the security at diamond mines? I can't imagine the amount of security they'd have at the landing site and holy shit if it lands somewhere unexpected, that would be a funny thing to watch.

Far cheaper to spend that money to develop fusion reactor then you can make as many shiny rocks as you want.

 

[DrPizza]

You have to consider that there is a huge supply of diamonds somewhere being kept from the market. Evidently DeBeers was broken up but they tightly controlled the supply by basically warehousing absurd amounts of diamonds. There was a big find of colored diamonds in Australia not long ago and evidently they didn't want to play ball with the big boys so the big boys released a bunch of their own stashed colored diamonds as a big fuck you and to show what happens when you don't play ball. I don't imagine they'd sit around and let a new player come in with a huge supply of new diamonds.

Even then, I still question the cost effectiveness of it. Don't forget you'd have to launch an Earth reentry vehicle, along with the rover and fuel, which would be fairly heavy. You think they could get all that up in a single launch? I guess the rover could be solar powered and stay there so you'd only have to launch a vehicle to collect what the rover has already gathered and sorted and then get it back into the Earth's atmosphere.

On a side note, you ever see the security at diamond mines? I can't imagine the amount of security they'd have at the landing site and holy shit if it lands somewhere unexpected, that would be a funny thing to watch.

Such a mission though would be easier than the Apollo missions - you don't have to keep 3 people alive for a few days. Small rover that has 3 functions: pick up diamonds, sort diamonds, return good diamonds to the lunar lander. You don't even have to bring the rover back - just leaving it there. For comparison, Curiosity weighs right around 2000 pounds. Or, a better comparison, 2 astronauts and an average of 160 pounds of rocks per Apollo mission has a combined weight of around 500 pounds. Strip their vessel of the equipment that maintained life, and you can probably squeeze in a couple more hundred pounds of diamonds. So, conservatively, 700 pounds of diamonds. That's 1.589 million carats of diamonds. Let's say conservatively, $5000 per one carat stone. (I think it's conservatively - you'd be able to sort through for the best stones in that area on the moon, but the stones would be uncut - I don't know how much of the price reflects cutting.) That's close to 8 billion dollars worth (again, operating on the assumption that the price doesn't change as a result of the influx of diamonds and market manipulations.) Comparing to the value of such diamonds to the cost of, say Curiosity or the next Mars rover, shows that the value of those diamonds is a bit more - but on the same order of magnitude in value.

 

[Jeff7]

I'd wager that if the moons surface was pure diamond, no mining required, that "moon" diamonds would still be far more expensive on a real cost basis then mined "Earth' diamonds. Hell I'll let ya throw in the manipulated price and then some and I'd still wager the price wouldn't even be close.

I had given the moon some thought, and if sold at current market prices, it's fairly conceivable for an unmanned mission to return & make a profit. 1 carat = 1/5 gram. Provided the diamonds were gem quality on the surface - though a rover could probably sort diamonds, I think it would be reasonably feasible to bring back several hundred pounds of diamonds. The moon has such a low gravity well that you could take sufficient fuel for a return trip. E.g., see Apollo missions.

Hmmmm. Then again, if we look at the percent of the national budget that was spent in the 1960's on the Apollo missions... Still, I find it conceivable though unlikely someone (Elan) could do it and make a profit.

At that point, maybe make some kind of electromagnetic fission/fusion-powered mass driver cannon on the Moon, and blast the diamonds back at the planet toward some kind of pickup area. They're durable enough to survive elevated temperatures on reentry, still within some kind of capsule to protect them against ablation. But it wouldn't need to keep the interior cool enough to protect a payload like living astronauts.
That might be able to yield a decent quantity of raw material versus energy required. (Ignoring the possible safety concerns of a large cannon firing diamond-filled projectiles at Earth.)
This is more like mass-production quantities though, rather than enough to just serve a modest jewelry industry.

If you start blasting diamonds back en masse though, they'd have to hold their value at least well enough to justify that investment.

Far cheaper to spend that money to develop fusion reactor then you can make as many shiny rocks as you want.

But this method does not involve a diamond cannon on the Moon. Sure it's practical and logical, but....

 

[sdifox]

My fusion reactor can vaporise whatever diamond you fling towards earth

Damn terrorist with kinetic strike weapon.

 

[TheGardener]

OP, give it up. Regardless of IQ, your bride-to-be won't accept the industrial made diamond. When she finds out you "cheaped out", you're life will be hell until you make amends. And diamonds will only cost more later. De Beers makes sure that the price always increases, because they control the supply and price.

Other planets? De Beers will buy up the mines on these other planets, when they come online. Then they will be the Milky Way cartel.

If you try to sell a diamond to a dealer, you'll find they will only pay you the wholesale price, which is way, way less than what they would sell it to you for. Accept that you can't win.

 

[HeXen]

Just like Raisins, it's all about controlling the price.

OP, give it up. Regardless of IQ, your bride-to-be won't accept the industrial made diamond. When she finds out you "cheaped out", you're life will be hell until you make amends. And diamonds will only cost more later. De Beers makes sure that the price always increases, because they control the supply and price.

Other planets? De Beers will buy up the mines on these other planets, when they come online. Then they will be the Milky Way cartel.

If you try to sell a diamond to a dealer, you'll find they will only pay you the wholesale price, which is way, way less than what they would sell it to you for. Accept that you can't win.

I disagree, just get em from a pawn shop or some sorry sap that's getting a divorce or best yet...from a woman who caught her husband cheating.

 

[luv2liv]

OP, have hope.
my wife doesnt care about diamond. all of her jewelry are fakes from Burlington. maximum any of them cost would be $15. and no stupid overpriced handbags as well. she is rare, but im sure there must be more like her.

 

[werepossum]

From a simple energy point of view, the cost of bringing back one kilogram of diamonds from some far off planet/meteor/whatever would make those diamonds even more expensive on Earth than current diamonds. Huge costs in getting out of the solar system... and it'll be even more expensive to launch from one of the nearby candidates. I think there's been talk that a planet named 55 Cancri e is most likely 15% diamond. The diamonds aren't on the surface - the surface is graphite. Thus, when you get there, you have to mine the diamonds. THEN, you've got to launch the diamonds. And, you're not going to be back within the next 20 or so generations, if you launch today. I'm not sure how you're getting a launch vehicle there - it's not like launching from the moon. It takes far more energy to launch there than it does on Earth. That is, you need a much bigger rocket than you would need on Earth. Imagine needing to not only launch a rocket here on Earth, but that rocket has to be carrying an entire, fueled rocket that's larger than the biggest rockets we've ever built.

Oh, and the surface of that planet is several thousand degrees - enough to melt any materials you make your rocket out of. Damn. Also, it's 40 light years from Earth. That round trip is going to take, ohhhhh, 6000 years if you hurry.

In the meantime, they can create all the diamonds you'd ever need in labs at a far lower expense.

He's got that figured out. He's going at night.

Exactly.

At first I hated the diamond racket but now I think a diamond engagement ring is the perfect purchase before marriage- it teaches the future husband how to accept that his money will be wasted on stupid shit that looks good.

+1

Just as long as the future husband's bride doesn't also fit that description.

 

[Jeff7]

OP, give it up. Regardless of IQ, your bride-to-be won't accept the industrial made diamond. When she finds out you "cheaped out", you're life will be hell until you make amends. And diamonds will only cost more later. De Beers makes sure that the price always increases, because they control the supply and price.

Other planets? De Beers will buy up the mines on these other planets, when they come online. Then they will be the Milky Way cartel.

If you try to sell a diamond to a dealer, you'll find they will only pay you the wholesale price, which is way, way less than what they would sell it to you for. Accept that you can't win.

And accept that we value some things like some other animals do: "Oooh, shiny!"


(Full disclosure: One of my favorite sections of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum is the minerals and gemstones exhibit.)

 

[Torn Mind]

Women prefer a nice cock.

And leading you to spending the goods on her by stimulating said cock until she decides it is time to move on.

And practically every girl has some ability to HIDE HER REAL THOUGHTS and INTENTIONS and put on a mask so convincing you'd think it is real. Shit, they might not even know it themselves that they are a golddigger.

 

[Printer Bandit]

i can't tell the difference between glass and diamond. i'm a simpleton.

 

[Torn Mind]

OP, give it up. Regardless of IQ, your bride-to-be won't accept the industrial made diamond. When she finds out you "cheaped out", you're life will be hell until you make amends. And diamonds will only cost more later. De Beers makes sure that the price always increases, because they control the supply and price.

Other planets? De Beers will buy up the mines on these other planets, when they come online. Then they will be the Milky Way cartel.

If you try to sell a diamond to a dealer, you'll find they will only pay you the wholesale price, which is way, way less than what they would sell it to you for. Accept that you can't win.

That is more speaking of her character and that even if you did spend the coin for a diamond, she will still leave you for either a richer man or a better lover/performer in bed. It's not like Maxim or Cosmo doesn't go around interviewing women who admit to cheating and why they did it....

 

[HeXen]

It's marketing, they have marketed diamonds to women for so long to make them think that if a man loves you enough, he should be willing to waste money on a piece of carbon rock.

 

[Darwin333]

OP, have hope.
my wife doesnt care about diamond. all of her jewelry are fakes from Burlington. maximum any of them cost would be $15. and no stupid overpriced handbags as well. she is rare, but im sure there must be more like her.

How long ago did she have her gender reassignment surgery?

 

[Darwin333]

It's marketing, they have marketed diamonds to women for so long to make them think that if a man loves you enough, he should be willing to waste money on a piece of carbon rock.

I find it funny that they even tell you how much money you should waste, 2 months of your pay. You gotta give them one thing, they did one hell of a marketing job.

 

[Torn Mind]

How long ago did she have her gender reassignment surgery?

If she really used to be a heterosexual male....

She should have her power drills and Snap-on ratchets hidden somewhere in his/her dresser with his/her undergarments. And few Armani suits and cologne. Men can have their fashion vanities too. :sneaky:

Oh, and a BMW because a real man is a rich asshole.

 

[Jeff7]

I find it funny that they even tell you how much money you should waste, 2 months of your pay. You gotta give them one thing, they did one hell of a marketing job.

A marketer's ultimate dream:
1) Create a market out of nothing and convince people that this is an essential item.
2) Tell the market how much they should pay.
3) Control the supply.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Men can have their fashion vanities too. ;

I would argue men are bigger brand whores than women.

The difference is we pick a brand a stick to it long past the point when better alternatives exist. Women who follow fashion don't mind jumping from brand to brand, as long as the brand they are on is "hot" (read: full price) right then.

 

[Jeff7]

I would argue men are bigger brand whores than women.

The difference is we pick a brand a stick to it long past the point when better alternatives exist. Women who follow fashion don't mind jumping from brand to brand, as long as the brand they are on is "hot" (read: full price) right then.

AMD! Intel! nVidia! ATI!

Giants! Cowboys! 49ers!

John Deere! Cub Cadet! Toro!


Some of these words could easily lead to a fistfight.




.

 

[Howard]

tightly controlled market that limits the supply to bolster value.

also eco-kooks and junkies