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Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

newyorker.com

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Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#71

Post by coredog64 »

saidajigumi wrote: post #57
brandnewlow wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t speak to finance but I get confused when people bash advertising in broad strokes. People running businesses need ways to exchange money for new customers. That’s advertising. Making that more efficient might surely be annoying but a complete waste of time?

I think you have a vast disconnect between the reality of advertising today vs. the quaint mid-20th century mental model that you seem to hold. Or you're being entirely disingenuous about what people complaining about "advertising" mean . If modern advertising 1) did not vacuum up personal data in extremely invasive ways, 2) didn't distort the entire business models of the largest tech companies against the interests…

Nitpick: Plenty of people gripe about CL. By giving away classified ads, CL killed a huge cash cow for many newspapers.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#72

Post by coredog64 »

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...

One downside to moissanite: I bought some earrings that I thought were nice looking and affordable. My wife doesn’t wear them very often and instead wears real diamond earrings that were the same price because the moissanite is too big.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#73

Post by pzone »

77pt77 wrote: post #59
galangalalgol wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Synthetic" diamonds are better in all objective criteria that "natural" diamonds. Before they were a thing they would even be considered top quality diamonds. Once they were mass produced the criteria changed and now the "natural" with higher degree of impurities (a previously undesirable trait) are considered better. It's not about the rock. The rock is a placeholder. It's about how much you spent on the rock (comm…

It is extremely difficult to create large, colorless, flawless synthetic diamonds. Currently synthetics are primarily used for industrial applications like drill bits.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#74

Post by devin »

Fantastic article. Before you make a comment about the diamond industry, read the whole thing. I’ve had the same view, but this article moved me.

Also, the audio version is wonderfully read. Recommended.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#75

Post by CrazyStat »

joering2 wrote: post #65
elcomet wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you tell her about the nature of the stone ? That sounds like a disaster to come if she doesn't know, and she learns it by going to the jeweler to clean / repair the stone.

Can you elaborate? You mean the fact all are synthethic (for hewlery purpose) or something else?

If she thought I gave her an expensive diamond and then learned from a jeweler that it was in fact a moissanite I would expect her to be upset about me misleading her.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#76

Post by CrazyStat »

Infinitesimus wrote: post #58
CrazyStat wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Did her perspective change or does she believe she got an expensive diamond?

I was upfront with her about my dislike for the diamond industry and my feelings about spending 3 months salary on a diamond. I told her that I wasn't getting her a diamond and told her exactly what it was when I gave it to her.

I don't think I changed her perspective necessarily, but she knows what she got and respected my reasons for that decision. She didn't break up with me over it anyway.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#77

Post by 77pt77 »

pzone wrote: post #73
77pt77 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Synthetic" diamonds are better in all objective criteria that "natural" diamonds. Before they were a thing they would even be considered top quality diamonds. Once they were mass produced the criteria changed and now the "natural" with higher degree of impurities (a previously undesirable trait) are considered better. It's not about the rock. The rock is a placeholder. It's about how much you spent on the rock (comm…

It is extremely difficult to create large, colorless, flawless synthetic diamonds. Currently synthetics are primarily used for industrial applications like drill bits.

"synthetic" diamonds with far fewer impurities are far cheaper than "natural" diamonds of the same size.

The goalpost will always move because the things used to justify it are excuses and not real reasons.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#78

Post by CrazyStat »

elcomet wrote: post #44
CrazyStat wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Did you tell her about the nature of the stone ? That sounds like a disaster to come if she doesn't know, and she learns it by going to the jeweler to clean / repair the stone.

Yeah I told her exactly what it was when I gave it to her. We had had several discussions prior about my feelings about the diamond industry and the surrounding social expectations, so she knew I wasn't going to get her a diamond.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#79

Post by raverbashing »

elcomet wrote: post #44
CrazyStat wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Did you tell her about the nature of the stone ? That sounds like a disaster to come if she doesn't know, and she learns it by going to the jeweler to clean / repair the stone.

Life Pro-Tip: don't marry a woman that will feel unvalued by the stone in the wedding ring.

Spend the money in something better and that will further the relationship, like the honeymoon.

Re: Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

#80

Post by throwawayhhakdl »

betab7777 wrote: post #42
roganartu wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't really matter, tbh. The patent for moissanite is held by Charles and Colvard, so no matter where you shop for them they will be coming from them (and should have an authenticity certificate too, btw). Charles and Colvard has an online shop you can find by googling. No affiliation, my wife's stone is just also a moissanite.

Charles and Colvard actually lost their patent a while ago...I wanna say two or three years in August? I'm a huuuuge proponent of moissanite, but it's one of the reasons I am slightly wary of purchasing moissanite online without at least speaking to the seller. Moissanite doesn't always come with a certificate. In my mind, though, if you love it and can afford it, who's to tell you it's fake?

Isn’t it a natural gem? How is it patentable?
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