Shaking Up the Diamond Industry • Hacker News Board

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#21

Post by shawnz » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:17 PM UTC

anonu wrote: post #18

lordnacho wrote: post #4

I still wish I'd discovered Moissanite before I got married. The rock would have been multiples larger and I'd have the satisfaction of not contributing to a monopolistic and exploitative industry.

I wish manufactured diamonds were more prevalent before I got married. There's still a slight look and feel difference between these things. I feel the diamond still looks slightly more sparkling in light. This is all subjective of course...

While cubic zirconia has a lower refractive index than diamond (making it less "brilliant"), moissanite actually has a higher refractive index than diamond.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#22

Post by primity » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:18 PM UTC

rcarmo wrote: post #13

rcarmo wrote: post #3

My father was a diamond cutter (one of the folk who designed the modern “Portuguese cut” of the 70s) and he went through the evolution of diamond cutting from abrasion with copper disks (for cutting windows and facets) to laser cuts. I distinctly remember going into the (then state-owned) workshops as a kid and watching the cutters at work with their loupes, and how they kept tabs on stones by checking in and out of…

Also, a note on the humanitarian side of things, but not directly related to mining: When the Portuguese colonies seceded in the 70s, many people returned or emigrated to Portugal with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and "diamonds" they had exchanged their farms and real estate for. I remember a few dinner conversations about how a few of them came to my father to assess the value of those stones, and mo…

I come from one of those families. My grandfather came back to Portugal from Angola soon after the war started. Unfortunately, he never got to trade his possessions for diamonds, so they had essentially their clothes.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#23

Post by matwood » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:24 PM UTC

irishcoffee wrote: post #11

lordnacho wrote: post #4

I still wish I'd discovered Moissanite before I got married. The rock would have been multiples larger and I'd have the satisfaction of not contributing to a monopolistic and exploitative industry.

I was fortunate enough to discover moissanite. Wife loves it, and the price was somewhere in the ballpark of 90-95% cheaper than an equivalent size diamond. The added benefit is, everyone thinks it’s a diamond and we haven’t yet felt the need to correct them...

> everyone thinks it’s a diamond and we haven’t yet felt the need to correct them

It also avoids conversations that have few good outcomes. Tell someone who spent $$$$ on a diamond that you think diamonds are a waste of money or a humanitarian disaster, and it's not a great way to start a conversation. There are also other colored stones that I think are nicer looking than diamonds, but moissanite provides a nice way to stay within cultural norms without necessarily[1] contributing to the problem.

[1] Obviously actively fighting against the whole diamond industry is better, but we all have to pick our battles.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#24

Post by mhb » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:32 PM UTC

demosito666 wrote: post #2

The right way to shake this industry would be to obliterate it completely. Finding another useless piece of glass and selling it for $$$ is not shaking anything.

Maybe replace it with something that also consumes energy and produces nothing of real value. Maybe call it cryptocurrency.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#25

Post by galangalalgol » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:32 PM UTC

matwood wrote: post #23

irishcoffee wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was fortunate enough to discover moissanite. Wife loves it, and the price was somewhere in the ballpark of 90-95% cheaper than an equivalent size diamond. The added benefit is, everyone thinks it’s a diamond and we haven’t yet felt the need to correct them...

> everyone thinks it’s a diamond and we haven’t yet felt the need to correct them It also avoids conversations that have few good outcomes. Tell someone who spent $$$$ on a diamond that you think diamonds are a waste of money or a humanitarian disaster, and it's not a great way to start a conversation. There are also other colored stones that I think are nicer looking than diamonds, but moissanite provides a nice way…

Synthetic diamond will eventually become so easy the industry won't be able to supress it anymore. The collapse will be interesting, in the bloddy sense of the term I suspect.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#26

Post by CrazyStat » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:33 PM UTC

irishcoffee wrote: post #11

lordnacho wrote: post #4

I still wish I'd discovered Moissanite before I got married. The rock would have been multiples larger and I'd have the satisfaction of not contributing to a monopolistic and exploitative industry.

I was fortunate enough to discover moissanite. Wife loves it, and the price was somewhere in the ballpark of 90-95% cheaper than an equivalent size diamond. The added benefit is, everyone thinks it’s a diamond and we haven’t yet felt the need to correct them...

I also went with moissanite. My wife (then girlfriend) was in the "2-3 months salary for a diamond" camp which I find incredibly crass. Saved $15k on the diamond by going with moissanite and spent a fraction of that on getting a nice custom ring + wedding band made by an independent local jeweler instead. I was happy to support a local craftsman rather than DeBeers & co.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#27

Post by CrazyStat » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:36 PM UTC

mhb wrote: post #24

demosito666 wrote: post #2

The right way to shake this industry would be to obliterate it completely. Finding another useless piece of glass and selling it for $$$ is not shaking anything.

Maybe replace it with something that also consumes energy and produces nothing of real value. Maybe call it cryptocurrency.

So the new engagement ring diamond will be a piece of glass with a bitcoin wallet containing 1+ BTC microetched on it?

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#28

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:41 PM UTC

galangalalgol wrote: post #25

matwood wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everyone thinks it’s a diamond and we haven’t yet felt the need to correct them It also avoids conversations that have few good outcomes. Tell someone who spent $$$$ on a diamond that you think diamonds are a waste of money or a humanitarian disaster, and it's not a great way to start a conversation. There are also other colored stones that I think are nicer looking than diamonds, but moissanite provides a nice way…

Synthetic diamond will eventually become so easy the industry won't be able to supress it anymore. The collapse will be interesting, in the bloddy sense of the term I suspect.

[deleted]

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#29

Post by andrepd » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:46 PM UTC

anonu wrote: post #17

Really cool history. Thanks for sharing this. I can imagine if you "know the truth" about the business you're in you might want to get out. I felt like that about certain financial jobs I've had in the past. The actual work felt like it provided no real value to society, but the intellectual challenges were what kept me there.

>The actual work felt like it provided no real value to society

A sign of a broken system that needs urgent repair. Most financial jobs, hft, adtech jobs... We have our best minds working on things that do not provide any useful value to society. This is not a good state of affairs.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#30

Post by ci5er » Sat, Feb 01, 2020, 1:55 PM UTC

dannyw wrote: post #5

We should crowdfund a PR campaign that diamonds are synonyms for death and exploitation, and it’s more humane for “any gem but a diamond”. A $10 million campaign or so, targeting youth especially, can have tremendous impacts on future generations.

So... One superbowl ad?