De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds • Hacker News Board

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#231

Post by pishpash » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:32 AM UTC

ballenf wrote: post #185

dylan604 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of diverging into politics, it's amazing how "influencers" can do this with social media posts without spending lots of money. As long as the information is from someone (company/individual/etc) perceived as reputable, people will believe almost anything at face value. It's much easier than researching something on their own. Whatever the message, say it loud and often, and it becomes accepted as true. Ca…

Some people value information and being right less so make a trade off. If I found an “influencer” who was right on product recommendations 95% of the time it would be a relief and I’d be so happy to get all that research time back. I think the bar for right enough varies among different people. And for some people it applies to everything from politics to science. These people are also likely to believe the topics t…

Put another way, not "lazy" then, but "slow". Because if you're "fast" enough (in understanding something new or different), you can do more of your own research and thinking and demand a higher bar on the outsourcing accuracy.

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#232

Post by artellectual » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:34 AM UTC

My wife and I got married without buying a diamond ring. I simply refused to spend money in things that are overvalued by the market because some marketing scheme was so strong that it made facts look silly. I told her that I refuse to spend money on things that cause other people pain. Especially when there is no guarantee that the diamond we buy are not blood diamond. Instead we invested our money in buying things that are truly beneficial in our lives, like buy an SUV, preparing for a baby, preparing to buy a home.

I have to say this is a huge step forward. I just talked to her about buying her a 3 carat lab-grown diamond ring now because of this news. She's still in doubt. I told her "It's the exact same thing, and no one died in the process the rest is up to your perception now".

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#233

Post by jacobush » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:40 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #133

godzillabrennus wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smart move. Throw enough marketing dollars at misinformation and you can convince hordes of people to doubt facts. Case in point. Despite overwhelming evidence there are people today who still debate climate change.

That's not how disbelieving works. People disbelieve facts that would cost them to believe. If I believe in climate change, I have to make expensive life changes (sell the SUV, buy a Tesla, etc). Therefore I will not believe in it. This belief is 100% honest, BTW. This is key to understand! For diamonds, the incentives are reversed. If I believe that artificial diamonds are as good as the natural kind, I can get a we…

Wedding rings are supposed to be expensive, that’s the point. It’s basic signalling. You know this, deep down. Of course there are exceptions, but those are often about explicitly signalling some other virtue. Like hipness.

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#234

Post by patall » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:40 AM UTC

> The world's largest diamond miner is doing the unthinkable: Selling stones produced in a laboratory.

Sorry, but that is some plain wrong headlining. Maybe its a first that they sell them as jewelry but De Beers is producing (and selling) synthetic diamonds now for 60 years and is already one of if not the biggest producer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Element_Six)

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#235

Post by jacobush » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:43 AM UTC

briandear wrote: post #211

ThomPete wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people believe in climate change also the so called sceptics as the climate is mostly changing. The disagreement mostly is about how severe its going to be and how much human affect it.

But see, any debate at all is blasphemy. The inability to accept skepticism is anti-science. There was a worldwide scientific consensus that Eugenics was a good thing in the early 1900s. But somehow the overwhelming “evidence” of its “benefits” suddenly fell out of favor. People that are hysterical about climate change are, incidentally in favor of the government curtailing freedom and controlling the means of produc…

The only way to coordinate humans across the globe is bolshevism?

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#236

Post by Cogito » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:46 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #135

randomdata wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Farmer here: We apply glyphosate to both GMO (roundup ready) and non-GMO crops. The big difference is when: The roundup ready crops can have it applied early in the growing season. The non-GMO crops have to wait until just before harvest, when you don't care, or even prefer, that the crop dies.

What's the benefit to apply glyphosate just before harvest. Hasn't all the growing already been done? Is it to avoid bringing in bugs with the harvest?

Some farmers with apply roundup just before harvest in order to desiccate the plant. This makes harvesting much simpler and cheaper, as you don't have to wait for the plants to dry naturally, or deal with moisture rich plants after harvest.

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#237

Post by ggg9990 » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:49 AM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #221

ggg9990 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if even below Moissanite? If they are selling artificial diamonds for $1 each that might be the best way to protect the mined diamond price.

It would. But I think the real threat is that man-made diamonds will likely become impossible to distinguish from natural, even with the expensive, specialty equipment that debeers has created. At that point, natural and man-made will reach a price parity... Far below the current cost of natural diamonds. Because there will be no way of knowing where your diamond comes from.

Well, at that point they can create a "guaranteed provenance" diamond with papers like a show dog or a Mickey Mantle autographed baseball. That will help shut out even other mined diamonds vendors since all the marketing will be for the DeBeers branded diamond.

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#238

Post by KozmoNau7 » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:50 AM UTC

caf wrote: post #137

officialjunk wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

diamonds can burn, and temperatures reached in house fires are sufficiently hot enough to burn diamonds. cubic zirconia, on the other hand, will survive a house fire.

My experience of a housefire is that there is far more water and smoke damage to contents than heat.

That depends on the response time of the firefighters, ie. how long the fire is allowed to rage.

If it's an old house, there is going to be a bit more "stuff" in the wallpaper and furniture. Airborne cooking grease in the kitchen, and as disgusting as it sounds, human sweat and grease in the soft furniture.

A well-used armchair with a decade or two under its belt is going to go up in flames disturbingly fast when it catches on fire.

Depending on oxygen availability, you're right that smoke will do most of the initial damage, but as soon as the windows blow out, things heat up dramatically.

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#239

Post by dontstopnowbaby » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:51 AM UTC

ISL wrote: post #199

nradov wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never mind about jewelry and fashion. Cheap synthetic diamonds would open up a host of industrial applications. Bring on "The Diamond Age".

When the Diamond Age arrives, it's going to be amazing. For a sneak peek, look up "diamond-like coatings", already in use in physics experiments and industry.

Imagine coating my dick in diamond like coatings. My wife will still complain it is too freaking hard.

Re: De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds

#240

Post by tempestn » Wed, May 30, 2018, 5:52 AM UTC

test6554 wrote: post #181

sigi45 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We as humans just need to be less stupid. Srsly no one cares if a stone is real or not.

Everyone is "trying" to be less stupid. But selling my wife's diamond rings and buying cubic zirconia replicas at this point feels like a very stupid move even though I know I will net a bunch of money up front, I hear divorces are very expensive.

For our second anniversary I got my wife a Moissanite stone to replace the relatively poor (I1) diamond in her engagement ring. It's larger, much more flawless, more attractive all around, and cheaper. She's happier having a beautiful stone without me wasting a bunch of our money on a diamond. (Wouldn't have bought the diamond in the first place, but it came with the ring, which we both loved.)