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Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

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Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#21

Post by threadweaver34 »

slashdev wrote: post #8
OJFord wrote: post #5

It's crazy to prefer a natural diamond for anything other than a collectors' item. It's not about being 'cheap' - whatever your budget is, if you're picking an engagement ring say, why not get a technically superior (or larger) stone for the same price tag?

I pitched this to my wife a few years back. She insisted she’d rather have a smaller natural diamond. It makes no sense to me. Shiny carbon is shiny carbon to me. There’s no real logic in it. But given it’s a status symbol that derives its value from its rareness, I suppose it’s no different than a Luis Vutton or a Rolex. It’s not about the function, it’s about the fact that you can afford one. I hate that mentality,…

> derives its value from its rareness

Hah!

The big issue with choosing a smaller, natural stone is you can't really be sure it's actually natural. The industry has so many unethical practices I wouldn't be confident in any "certification" that comes with a stone's origin. Even lower-grade stones might just be from lab rejects, or labs intentionally growing good, but not perfect stones.

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#22

Post by paxys »

threadweaver34 wrote: post #21
slashdev wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pitched this to my wife a few years back. She insisted she’d rather have a smaller natural diamond. It makes no sense to me. Shiny carbon is shiny carbon to me. There’s no real logic in it. But given it’s a status symbol that derives its value from its rareness, I suppose it’s no different than a Luis Vutton or a Rolex. It’s not about the function, it’s about the fact that you can afford one. I hate that mentality,…

> derives its value from its rareness Hah! The big issue with choosing a smaller, natural stone is you can't really be sure it's actually natural. The industry has so many unethical practices I wouldn't be confident in any "certification" that comes with a stone's origin. Even lower-grade stones might just be from lab rejects, or labs intentionally growing good, but not perfect stones.

As opposed to the diamond mining industry which is a paragon of ethics...

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#23

Post by zokier »

arcticbull wrote: post #7

De Beers basically controls the whole diamond market. They make it almost impossible to resell them and strictly control the supply. They were also responsible (via advertising agency N. W. Ayer) for the idea that diamonds should be used in engagement rings in 1938-1941. This write-up from The Atlantic from 1982 explains the situation well. [1] Not sad to see the cartel taking an L. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/ma…

Lots of things have happened in the 40 years since that article was written. De Beers do not control the market anymore the way they did before. Wikipedia says

> De Beers's market share of rough diamonds to fall from as high as 90% in the 1980s to 29.5% in 2019

> De Beers sold off the vast majority of its diamond stockpile in the late 1990s – early 2000s and the remainder largely represents working stock (diamonds that are being sorted before sale). This was well documented in the press but remains little known to the general public.

> As a part of reducing its influence, De Beers withdrew from purchasing diamonds on the open market in 1999 and ceased, at the end of 2008, purchasing Russian diamonds mined by the largest Russian diamond company Alrosa

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#24

Post by jncfhnb »

organsnyder wrote: post #20
throw3747874747 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If future wife requires diamond, another stone is not going to fix root problem you have. Go with someone less materialistic.

Plenty of people have been socialized to expect certain material things as part of the marriage process. Does it make sense? Probably not. Is it a character flaw? Absolutely not.

How is it not a character flaw ?

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#25

Post by webignition »

skywhopper wrote: post #12

Makes total sense. Lab-created diamonds have been indistinguishable (for the typical consumer) from natural ones for years. DeBeers kept jewelry retailers in line in pushing "real" diamonds, but it was just a matter of time until something happened to shake that hold lose. Given the rapid switch away from gold for wedding bands etc after the 2008 crisis led to a major price spike, it is not surprising to me that jewe…

Might lab-grown diamonds have reached a point of being indistinguishable from natural diamonds such that people pass off lab-grown diamonds as natural diamonds without anyone being able to tell?

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#27

Post by ethanbond »

jncfhnb wrote: post #24
organsnyder wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of people have been socialized to expect certain material things as part of the marriage process. Does it make sense? Probably not. Is it a character flaw? Absolutely not.

How is it not a character flaw ?

Because all of us want stupid shit?

Unless you’re willing to bundle everything beyond pure Buddha-tier equanimity as “character flaws.”

it’s unfair to draw the line between “useless thing you were socialized to spend money on” and “useless thing someone else was socialized to spend money on.”

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#28

Post by pjot »

xnx wrote: post #19
OJFord wrote: post #5

It's crazy to prefer a natural diamond for anything other than a collectors' item. It's not about being 'cheap' - whatever your budget is, if you're picking an engagement ring say, why not get a technically superior (or larger) stone for the same price tag?

Welcome to the world of Veblen goods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good

When the Apple App Store first came out there was an app called “I am rich” that cost $1000.

It’s only functionality was a button that when pressed displayed the text, “I am rich!”

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#29

Post by jewelry »

silisili wrote: post #9
causality0 wrote: post #6

Frankly I'm amazed it took this long for people to realize diamond isn't that special a material, at least considering how easy it is to make.

Not just that, even natural diamonds just aren't that rare. This is what happens when one company corners a market, and controls supply and marketing.

It's also a product that's not required for day-to-day.

Re: Diamond prices are in free fall in one key corner of the market

#30

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

brianwawok wrote: post #17
slashdev wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pitched this to my wife a few years back. She insisted she’d rather have a smaller natural diamond. It makes no sense to me. Shiny carbon is shiny carbon to me. There’s no real logic in it. But given it’s a status symbol that derives its value from its rareness, I suppose it’s no different than a Luis Vutton or a Rolex. It’s not about the function, it’s about the fact that you can afford one. I hate that mentality,…

The difference between a $200 and a $2000 bottle of wine is mostly how expensive the thing you are drinking is. Tons of industries and products work like this. Why would it surprise you that gems are any different?

> The difference between a $200 and a $2000 bottle of wine is mostly how expensive the thing you are drinking is.

Yes, but the subset of people that can afford and would drink a $200 bottle of wine is hardly any bigger than the subset of people that can afford and would drink a $2000 bottle of wine.

It makes perfect sense to me why people would drink the $2000 bottle of wine. Why not? They've got the money.

If you balk at a $2000 bottle of wine, you're probably not casually drinking $200 bottles of wine either - and if you are - you're in a very small percentage of people where the price difference means something. It's maybe 2% of the population.

The other 97.75% isn't buying $200 bottles of wine. And the other 0.25% can buy $2000 bottles just fine.

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