Live data from Hacker News

Diamonds Suck (2006)

diamondssuck.com

481–490 of 618 posts

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#481
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't work. I have tried it. She (my GF) just argues with me about any purchase I try to make that is around the ballpark of what she is expecting me to pay for a ring. e.g. Her: So you want a new MacBook Pro, but you can't afford a $3000 engagement ring? Me: No, I need a MacBook Pro for work. This has been going on for quite some time now.

tell her you'd rather set the $3k on fire - as in, real fire, with smoke and all - while she watches than buy a diamond ring. be prepared to follow through. oh also don't listen to advice on the internet.

The trick here is to use good-quailty counterfeits, and then afterwards ask her if she feels the same way about the ring. If so, buy it. If not, spend the money on something else.

Also, don't do this.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Women love to look at other women's rings and chat about it. If she is open to the idea, just remember that she's the one being brave and breaking out of the mold more so than you. This is a great description that captures the social pressure aspect quite well. Guys aren't the ones wearing the ring everywhere!

> Guys aren't the ones wearing the ring everywhere! I believe that the bride-only thing is US-only, or (maybe) limited maybe limited to ex-british regions, but it's definitely not universal, and definitely not a thing in latinamerica (diamonds aren't a thing here either) or a great deal of europe.

[deleted]

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#483
post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what color is in her peripheral vision?

Purple from the anger that her boyfriend doesn't love her enough to drop their own personal beliefs, and get that damned rock. For girls, it's not personal, it'd social. If her "friends" are such that they will look down on her if she didn't get a rock, she will insist on one. As a man, you must understand this.

If she wants a diamond why doesn't she just buy a diamond? Is anyone stopping her?

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#484
You're so right! Diamonds are an incredible rip-off! But people keep buying them because of the tradition and history and because they don't know something else. Like coca cola and their ads, it's popular to buy diamonds.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#485
post #478
post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I feel like there is a growing social pressure to resist social pressure ;)

Don't give in to peer pressure, none of the cool kids do

Are you peer pressuring them to not give into peer pressure?

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#486
post #475
post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for writing this. I'm glad people are pushing back against the insanity of the diamond marketing. But you're still buying into the concept of the gifting of rings, when this is a recent phenomenon created by De Beer's. Unless they were European royalty, your great-great-grandparents did not exchange rings. Commoners did not have this custom until the twentieth century. When you suggest getting non-diamond ring…

This site isn't trying to upend the artificial customs that we've come to cherish, just to substitute one costly part of it with a cheaper indistinguishable alternative for all the reasons he described

Sure. That's why I opened by thanking OP.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#487

So people do this to signal (both to their spouse and their friends) they are both financially capable and care enough about their spouse to burn a large amount of money on a pyre. It's also a very useful signal that you are serious about the commitment and unlikely to back off of the marriage. I would prefer to replace it with a certificate that proves you have spent X thousand dollars on said certificate from Moche…

Exactly this. The problem with every diamond critique I see is that their very first argument against diamonds is that they're expensive when that is, in fact, the entire point. Likewise, all the people who cry foul about the De Beers conspiracy are neglecting the fact that this does absolutely nothing to reduce their signal value. If I spend a large sum of money on something which I know to be worthless just to star…

This is a cultural thing you've bought into, that a man must give a woman a tool to signal with. In other cultures this is not important or works the other way around.

I'm anti diamond and your pleas to come up with another useless signal fall on deaf ears - this manufactured need for the signal itself is something we should be fighting as we progress.

For a start it's pretty damned sexist and regressive

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#488
post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. The problem with every diamond critique I see is that their very first argument against diamonds is that they're expensive when that is, in fact, the entire point. Likewise, all the people who cry foul about the De Beers conspiracy are neglecting the fact that this does absolutely nothing to reduce their signal value. If I spend a large sum of money on something which I know to be worthless just to star…

This is a cultural thing you've bought into, that a man must give a woman a tool to signal with. In other cultures this is not important or works the other way around. I'm anti diamond and your pleas to come up with another useless signal fall on deaf ears - this manufactured need for the signal itself is something we should be fighting as we progress. For a start it's pretty damned sexist and regressive

Why do you assume I've "bought into" it? I have no intention to marry any time soon, I just think it's unhelpful to completely ignore the reason diamonds are used for engagement rings.

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Women love to look at other women's rings and chat about it. If she is open to the idea, just remember that she's the one being brave and breaking out of the mold more so than you. This is a great description that captures the social pressure aspect quite well. Guys aren't the ones wearing the ring everywhere!

> Guys aren't the ones wearing the ring everywhere! I believe that the bride-only thing is US-only, or (maybe) limited maybe limited to ex-british regions, but it's definitely not universal, and definitely not a thing in latinamerica (diamonds aren't a thing here either) or a great deal of europe.

In Hong Kong, both the husband and the wife wear a ring. My mother lost hers, my dad is still wearing his. My wife lost hers, I'm still wearing mine. XD

Re: Diamonds Suck (2006)

#490

>Sorry about Trump, BTW. Why on earth do you think that sort of random political non-sequitur is appropriate?

Uhm, well, because I'm having a conversation about cultural differences between the midwest and the north-east. I think it's appropriate to segway into another topic that way. If it's the sarcasm you find inappropriate, I respectfully disagree. If our new president fulfills his promises, friends of mine will be cataloged, deported. My own hopes of US citizenship and the life me and my wife had planned for ourselves i…

The only people Trump has promised to deport are those here illegally, so I'm assuming that the friends you mention are illegal immigrants, whose mere presence in the country is a crime. Is it so much to ask visitors to our country to follow our laws?

I've traveled to a lot of countries. Every country I visit, I read and follow the laws of the country, including visa and immigration rules. Many of these laws I disagree with it find morally repugnant. Forgive me if I don't cry any tears for your deported criminal friends.

Post reply on HN