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Diamonds Suck (2006)

diamondssuck.com

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Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#191

Post by atomical »

fizixer wrote: post #166
joshkaufman wrote: post #66

I'm the OP - surprised to see this at the top of HN today, but happy to post a quick update: My wife and I have been happily married for ten years now. She loves her ring, and it has held up extremely well. (She just had the band resized, absolutely no issues with the stones.) No one has ever thought it was anything other than a diamond ring, which includes several years of daily scrutiny from crazy New York City bri…

Would you confirm or deny my two hunches: - Lab-grown diamonds are purer, more perfect crystals, cheaper, and better than mined diamonds in every way. (ignoring the market manipulation factor, which I'm not too knowledgeable about, except that I've heard big diamond companies do some shady things to keep prices high) - Girls hate lab-grown diamonds because they consider them "artificial". Also in your article, you do…

Lab grown diamonds are still too expensive.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#192

Post by Insanity »

Just got married yesterday and went for the traditional thing. I am happy to read there is an alternative for diamond though, and if we have a gem put it, as is tradition for the birth of a child (for some), I will surely suggest this to my wife.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#193

Post by [deleted] »

bluejekyll wrote: post #186
beevai142 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that the diamond ring fad apparently originated from a marketing campaign, it would be interesting to see how well the belief that wedding rings should have a diamond correlates with where the ads were run. At least in the nordics, I don't think there's a specific type of wedding (EDIT: or engagement) ring that you're expected to have, and I think many people have no stone of any kind embedded in theirs.

It's the engagement ring that traditionally has a stone, not the wedding band, which is often just a pure metal (in the US), though many have small stones around the ring.

[deleted]

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#194

Post by ddoolin »

silencio wrote: post #121
joshkaufman wrote: post #66

I'm the OP - surprised to see this at the top of HN today, but happy to post a quick update: My wife and I have been happily married for ten years now. She loves her ring, and it has held up extremely well. (She just had the band resized, absolutely no issues with the stones.) No one has ever thought it was anything other than a diamond ring, which includes several years of daily scrutiny from crazy New York City bri…

From a fellow moissanite fangirl, thank you for writing this up! I always enjoy telling people my ring isn't a diamond, but the essay is more compelling to share with folks that can't see moissanite in person. I have a 1ct moissanite and 2 3mm white sapphires in my ring, and the bonus was that custom designing my own ring was still _drastically_ cheaper than getting a diamond: http://i.imgur.com/H3jDulz.jpg

That is a very beautiful ring. Thanks for sharing the photo!

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#195

Post by ajkjk »

Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #75
ajkjk wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely not just that, because placing huge import on diamonds, and gushing over their (much agreed upon) beauty, and having preferences for stones and cuts etc., and showing them off at the office, and talking about their size and how much they must have cost, and equating some of those things with the size of someone's affection and worth as a person, are still ubiquitous in (at least) American society. As…

>As far as I can tell they're only on the way out with bleeding-edge progressives. A demographic known for their immunity to costly signalling behaviors.

Just trying to work in a jab against that group?

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#196

Post by lacampbell »

ejcx wrote: post #112
joshkaufman wrote: post #66

I'm the OP - surprised to see this at the top of HN today, but happy to post a quick update: My wife and I have been happily married for ten years now. She loves her ring, and it has held up extremely well. (She just had the band resized, absolutely no issues with the stones.) No one has ever thought it was anything other than a diamond ring, which includes several years of daily scrutiny from crazy New York City bri…

I sent this to my SO and she now wants one instead of a diamond. Until now, it's been non-negotiable. Thanks for writing. I did not want to buy a diamond :)

> Until now, it's been non-negotiable.

I really hate to be a random person on the internet giving personal advice but... diamonds being "non-negotiable" seems like a huge, glowing, neon warning sign. Don't be surprised to find out a bunch of other things are non-negotiable if you divorce.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#197

Post by graycat »

Gee, ever since she was three years old and playing with Disney dolls, e.g., Cinderella, she was dreaming of HER dream man, on a white horse, in shining armor, picking her up and carrying her off to their love nest castle on the top of the mountain.

Alas, with current economic conditions -- those suits of shining armor and white horses can really set a guy back -- she gets a guy, he did just take a shower, in blue denim on a mule?

Ah, for sure the good, old days of romance are gone with the wind forever?

But, now, with Silicon Valley and everyone making at least $10,000 a week, what's the big deal of a $10,000 diamond?

Or, suppose in 10 years she discovers it's not a diamond? And in the meanwhile the startup went public, and he got $600 million. Now that she's had her romantic heart crushed by the fake diamond, her mom, who never thought he was good enough for her to begin with, reminds her of the beautiful California community property law, and suddenly he has to pay both his lawyer's fees and hers, loses the house, the kids, the new, high end Mercedes SUV, the boat, the boat house, the kids, the three dogs, and half of what is left of the $600 million and has to pay child support for kids he can't see and alimony forever. All because he was cheap and bought a fake?

Just kidding, guys!!!! :-)!!

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#199

Post by joering2 »

joshkaufman wrote: post #66

I'm the OP - surprised to see this at the top of HN today, but happy to post a quick update: My wife and I have been happily married for ten years now. She loves her ring, and it has held up extremely well. (She just had the band resized, absolutely no issues with the stones.) No one has ever thought it was anything other than a diamond ring, which includes several years of daily scrutiny from crazy New York City bri…

I'm not, especially that this article was very popular not so long ago [1].

After a while on HN you can figure which subjects they like, and which they don't. Diamond are yes subject. Another example could be Leonard Cohen. His recent departure has so much to do with technology or hacking as your toilet seat, but yet he was #1 for a long time...

[1] https://priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bulls...

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#200

Post by err4nt »

riffraff wrote: post #42
m1aw wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what annoys me. The geek and idealist in me doesn't want to give her a diamond because it's not that valuable. Yet, I don't want to be cheap. I don't want her to feel like I don't value her enough.

try to convince her that a different gemstone (ruby, sapphire etc) is better. I tried and failed, but it might work.

Yellow sapphire is non traditional and very beautiful. If I had opted for something other than a diamond, I would have chosen something that was very different but still beautiful. My boo desperately wants an opal ring, but unfortunately opal is too soft for daily wear and tear like that, so we would have ended up replacing the stone many times over the lifespan of the ring.

Now, moissanite or CZ for fun jewellery, watches, earrings etc DOES seem like a perfect time to use those diamond-like stones!

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