Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

scmp.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 314 posts

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#191

Post by andrewla »

OtterCoder wrote: post #144
andrewla wrote: post #98

> At a trade fair in Hong Kong on Tuesday De Beers unveiled its latest diamond verification technology, the coffee-machine sized AMS2 that costs US$45,000 – already a substantial discount to the US$65,000 price tag of its predecessor. Within the first few hours of its release, over a dozen orders had flooded in, the company said. All I can think when I read this is that of course they get orders -- all the companies…

I was about to quibble with you about the usage of organic, but then I remembered that diamonds are literally just carbon, so, by chemistry, you're right.

I was going to put organic in quotes, but then I had the same thought as you. Although, as the sibling post states, the use or "organic" in the chemistry sense is probably not precisely accurate. Still, better than advertising organic table salt!

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#194

Post by rhino369 »

gruez wrote: post #117
washadjeffmad wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a "real" diamond after protracted negotiations (with my SO, not the diamond seller), and I still don't really understand it. She cried more during the process than when her grandmother was dying, and she still wanted one particular diamond even though I'd explicitly given a significantly larger budget for either lab grown or moissanite. And although she understood why there was no real difference outside of…

>And although she understood why there was no real difference outside of price, I think she was very worried she would be judged by other women for not having (or being worth) a "real" diamond. get fake diamond, claim it's real to everyone else. it's not like they can tell the difference, or they will take her ring to get tested.

She probably feels like its dishonest. Like hanging a fake painting.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#195

Post by LMYahooTFY »

hdkrgr wrote: post #183
peatmoss wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so incredibly badass. I mean, just imagine that the only practicable place to get this new, incredibly strong material, was from space. On the topic of found vs made materials: I’ve read that shipwrecks are getting mined as a source of steel because it’s more or less impossible to make new steel that isn’t contaminated by trace amounts of radiation from 20th century nuclear testing. While not a problem for sk…

More on the latter point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-background_steel The same effect was also used in understanding brain development by looking at Carbon isotopes in brains of people born before WW2 to determine which cells were formed when.

That's fascinating to me, I didn't realize anthropogenic radiation levels were significant enough to offer a control for molecular examination of human brains in the general population.

It's almost a bit unnerving.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#196

Post by aepiepaey »

dsacco wrote: post #95
vanderZwan wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You’re taking away a lot of agency from people who prefer natural diamonds. No, I'm not. I'm stating the fact that the language used by De Beers is manipulative. Whether or not people fall for that manipulation is a separate argument. I did not bring consumers into the equation, you did. And speaking of manipulative language, I would appreciate it if you didn't try to spin it as if I'm the one talking down to them.

It’s only manipulative to take advantage of people’s desires for “real” diamonds insofar as it is manipulative to take advantage of people’s desires for “real” luxury items of any sort that can be faked. In other words: calling it manipulative isn’t productive, because that is essentially how the entire luxury industry works. We can make hyperrealistic imitation handbags and watches, but people still prefer the real…

The use of fake/real is definitely manipulative.

Especially for people who are not (yet) particularly invested/interested, it signals that the "fake" ones are flawed and objectively worse in terms of quality, because of the parallel to fake (counterfeit) goods which often are.

Instead of fake, calling them synthetic or artificial would be more neutral choices. For "real" you could use "natural(ly occurring)" or similar.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#197

Post by eco »

smoyer wrote: post #187

Good! ... The DeBeers cartel is monopolistic and exploitative. There's an interesting article that talks about how they initially created demand for diamonds as they weren't commonly associated with an engagement. I'm glad to hear there's a competitor that should at a minimum lead to a price correction.

DeBeers having a monopoly isn't really true anymore. DeBeers lost an antitrust lawsuit in 2012 and had already sold off its stockpile by 2004 under increasing pressure for a lot of new mines opening up, particularly in Russia, which wrestled away their control of the market. Prices of diamonds have actually shot up quite a bit since DeBeers lost control but I don't know what the explanation for that is (maybe they were artificially low because of the stockpile selloff?).

I agree that this is a good thing though.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#198

Post by rubidium »

washadjeffmad wrote: post #94
gruez wrote: post #46

>Indeed, even the most experienced diamantaire’s in the world can’t tell the fakes from those extracted from mines when using their naked eye, which is where technology comes in if they look identical to the naked eye, how can jewelers and debeers justify buying the naturals? are you now buying the diamond for its "history" or "story"? is it like buying "organic" food? or is it purely because it was never about the d…

I bought a "real" diamond after protracted negotiations (with my SO, not the diamond seller), and I still don't really understand it. She cried more during the process than when her grandmother was dying, and she still wanted one particular diamond even though I'd explicitly given a significantly larger budget for either lab grown or moissanite. And although she understood why there was no real difference outside of…

A little guidance to people who may be in a similar situation. Just get what she wants.

" I think she was very worried she would be judged by other women for not having (or being worth) a "real" diamond. "

Your projecting your own ideas on her.

"She also felt that she wanted something that showed (again, to whom?) I recognized her commitment to me and that I thought she deserved to have the things she wanted, whatever they might be. "

The 'to whom' is to her. It's what she wanted. Give it to her, don't fight her about it.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#199

Post by Kelbit »

wolfgke wrote: post #111
cptskippy wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably but I doubt they'll be successful. For decades they've talked about the flawlessness and purity of diamonds, now faced with a superior product they have to change everyone's minds. They could go the granola from the earth natural route but unlike organic farming, which evokes images of the stoic farmer, their image is of conflict diamonds and exploited children in dangerous mines. Couple that with the fact t…

> Probably but I doubt they'll be successful. For decades they've talked about the flawlessness and purity of diamonds, now faced with a superior product they have to change everyone's minds. I believe that with really good marketing (which De Beers can easily afford) this should not be a problem. For example the fact that Persian rug makers traditionally include deliberate small imperfections into their carpets > ht…

It wouldn't be the first time. The practice of giving diamond engagement rings was a result of a very clever marketing campaign by De Beers ("diamonds are forever").

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/diamond-de-beers-marketin...

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#200

Post by at-fates-hands »

baldfat wrote: post #140
dmix wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what are some of the places we would start to see titanium if the prices dropped?

Cheap titanium bikes are high on my list but I think the killer application is titanium hinges. Springs will last a lifetime. Looks like this is starting to happen alreadt: https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/titanium-hinges.html $0.25 for a hinge Titanium is light, but my favorite thing is it is next to impossible to bend. So anything that shouldn't bend will be better with titanium.

> Titanium is light, but my favorite thing is it is next to impossible to bend.

This gives an insane amount of tensile strenght since it always wants to retain its shape. TBH I have no idea why we haven't seen Titanium in things like golf clubs, hockey sticks, baseball bats, tennis rackets, snowboards etc, where you could really use its springy characteristics to a huge advantage.

I've always felt like it has a huge potential for widespread use in sports.

Post reply on HN