31–40 of 89 posts
I wonder what we'll use next. I've always wanted to give my wife a ring with a bit of a meteorite set in it because, hey, its from outer space. Where does one find such things?
note that this article is from the 1980s, not recent (though still accurate)
De Beers was basically formed by an English colonialist (Cecil John Rhodes). He controlled a company which basically owned a country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_South_Africa_Company).
He also had his own private army and tried to overthrow a sovereign government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson_Raid).
Unfortunately, realizing this is not enough. You need your partner to realize it too, or you're out of luck. Good luck presenting a ring of ruby or sapphire; even though they are far prettier stones IMHO, every girl I've met has diamonds stamped into her heart.
Sapphires perhaps but I think you're stretching it with rubies. Still, diamonds _are_ beautiful, even if they are more common than people think. And there's the other part of the discussion that these threads often miss—the relative rarity of diamonds doesn't matter a bit when the supply is controlled. If at some point in the future the floodgates open, then yes diamonds will be less valuable but their worth is based…
It knocks the socks off everyone. That said, we mostly don't correct people who think its diamond (protip: no matter how much you believe it, no-one who just admired your wife's ring wants to hear about blood diamonds or how evil debeers is.)
FYI, rubies are saffires (but you're referring to the colour of course.)
Relevant article on the synthetic diamond trade from Wired last year: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html edit: oops I mean 2003; 11.09 was the issue number
Does anybody know where I could buy a synthetic clear diamond?
A good alternative is Canadian diamonds, which are not owned by DeBeers, not mined or polished by slaves, and not the cause of any conflict. That solves about half the problems with diamonds.
Get them from Brilliant Earth (I'm not employed there, just a very satisfied customer.)
This article appears to be an excerpt from a longer book on the subject: Epstein, Edward Jay (1982). "THE DIAMOND INVENTION" The author has a website, http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/prologue.htm with what appears to be the complete contents of the book. I don't know if he's updated it since 1982.
Long story short, I'm currently on my honeymoon, and her yellow saffire ring blows everyone away.
If your girlfriend turns you down for lack of a diamond, you have probably chosen poorly. However, she might (reasonably) turn you down if she's dissappointed, so make your feelings known long in advance, or you might be in trouble.
Get your rings at Brilliant Earth in SF (I did my shopping online, and was not dissappointed). They are the only ethical jewelers I've found, and I looked hard. My wife's ring has a large yellow saffire (fair trade from Sri Lanka, mined from shallow mines with a low environmental impact), small diamonds from Canada (sadly lab diamonds are not good enough for jewelry yet), and recycled gold.
The ring is pretty unique, and utterly amazing, and I would recommend this route for any ethically minded person.
Unfortunately, realizing this is not enough. You need your partner to realize it too, or you're out of luck. Good luck presenting a ring of ruby or sapphire; even though they are far prettier stones IMHO, every girl I've met has diamonds stamped into her heart.
I got pretty lucky in that I read the article before I met her, and told her about how bad diamonds were early on. That meant we had the discussion years before I proposed. She had diamonds stamped in her heart too, but we compromized, and I went to huge effort to get her an amazing ring.
If the ring is amazing, she'll be OK, and so will her friends.
(My wife points out that she has friends who would have said no, on the basis that if the suitor wouldn't do what she wanted for a proposal, he wasn't the right guy for her. This may sound douchy, but the proposal is hugely important to (some, maybe most) women. So maybe I just got lucky.)
A few years ago, my girlfriend and I had an argument about this article and the book it came from. I flat refused to buy diamonds, and obviously she wanted a beautiful engagement ring. The compromise we came to was that if it wasn't a diamond, then it better be fucking amazing, preferably with a yellow saffire. Long story short, I'm currently on my honeymoon, and her yellow saffire ring blows everyone away. If your g…
A few years ago, my girlfriend and I had an argument about this article and the book it came from. I flat refused to buy diamonds, and obviously she wanted a beautiful engagement ring. The compromise we came to was that if it wasn't a diamond, then it better be fucking amazing, preferably with a yellow saffire. Long story short, I'm currently on my honeymoon, and her yellow saffire ring blows everyone away. If your g…
How bout a pic?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does anybody know where I could buy a synthetic clear diamond?
They don't come any larger than 0.3 karats, which is too small for a solitaire. You can't get them to match either, which makes them bad for side stones. I tried. A good alternative is Canadian diamonds, which are not owned by DeBeers, not mined or polished by slaves, and not the cause of any conflict. That solves about half the problems with diamonds. Get them from Brilliant Earth (I'm not employed there, just a ver…
