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The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

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Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#71

Post by Loughla »

pbj1968 wrote: post #49

These threads are always great for men posting about how their wives love the imitation stones “just as much” and “I didn’t foolishly spend money.” As always, if it worked for your marriage, it worked, but many of us can sniff out a fake from across the room. And it will always look tacky and cheap and she will be wearing it, in theory, the rest of her life. I have visited exactly one jeweler in my life that set man…

I agree that moissanite and zirconia look tacky. They sparkle too much for my tastes.

But lab grown diamonds are just as good. And no children died in their creation, so that's nice.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#72

Post by subpixel »

brink wrote: post #3

I would like to take this moment to thank https://diamondssuck.com/ for preventing me from buying my wife a diamond, and getting her a much prettier moissanite instead. It's been on hn's front page several times.

My wife thinks little of diamonds. So when we got engaged I gave her a ring set with an emerald my grandfather got in Colombia in the 50s and that my grandmother and mother wore.

Turns out all those warm fuzzies are generally cancelled out by the likelihood that our emerald is as bloody as any diamond. The story of emerald trafficking in Colombia is dark.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#73

Post by SamBam »

squigz wrote: post #31
Horffupolde wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand what he’s saying, but he doesn’t get it.

Get what?

That the diamond industry has convinced people that the amount of money you spend show the worth of your love?

Tell you what, I can set up a website that sells moissanite for 10x their retail price if you like. Give me a day to set up a Square account and you can buy from me.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#74

Post by Loughla »

mint2 wrote: post #34
coffeebeqn wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also you can’t make gold in a lab

A Needless Pedanticism, that is only technically correct if you mean gold that won’t kill you We can make gold in the lab. It’s radioactive gold but still gold. Edit, actually i think in the 1980s Seaborg might have created stable gold out of bismuth, but just might have. The articles aren’t mentioning which isotope was created so I don’t know. Mercury to gold is radioactive isotopes, which is the one I’d known about…

Tangentially related item, since we're just getting weird now. Related to gold and (SPOILER ALERT) Mercury.

Listen to the podcast Shit Town. It's one of the best pieces of media ever created.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#75

Post by engineer_22 »

xivzgrev wrote: post #46
brink wrote: post #3

I would like to take this moment to thank https://diamondssuck.com/ for preventing me from buying my wife a diamond, and getting her a much prettier moissanite instead. It's been on hn's front page several times.

Guys, buying diamonds, can complain all day about what a rip off it is (it is). But if you apprise your fiancé of the alternatives / opp costs (moissanite, man made, second hand, etc) and she still wants a new diamond, just get her a new diamond. It will make her happy for years. My wife had her heart set on a pink diamond, so that’s what I got her. I made it clear though that if I got this, she is not getting a new…

Happy wife, happy life.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#76

Post by pyuser583 »

gumby wrote: post #21
jamiek88 wrote: post #4

Has anyone ever tried to sell an engagement or wedding ring with diamonds? You get cents on the dollar. Even or I should say especially brand names like Tiffany. The whole thing is a scam from start to finish and I wish I could go back in time and avoid the entire thing.

The origin of diamond engagement rings was insurance: with the decline of "breach of promise" suits, the fiancée at least had something to sell as a settlement if the fiancé reneged on the promise of marriage. All of that nonsense is long gone; the fetish for engagement rings is just a residual and empty metaphor. Good riddance. My US gf was astonished and dubious that my relatives (in various other countries) didn't…

In almost all states, courts will order engagement rings to be returned if the marriage is canceled, and the giver wants it back.

This is likely a legend.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#77

Post by SamBam »

koolba wrote: post #39
toomuchtodo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought my partner's diamond and wedding ring set before we were hip to the shenanigans around diamonds. We had the ring melted down to make a pendant for our child with the diamond (which they'll receive when they're an adult) and no longer wear wedding rings (mine was a ~$20 tungsten ring from Amazon luckily). Thousands of dollars wasted in hindsight. Hot take: Diamonds are scams, don't buy them! Take a trip, buy…

Wedding bands have some utility though as if you get a gold one, you’re always carrying a small amount of gold to barter with.

I feel like if you're in a situation where you're reduced to bartering with someone with your gold wedding ring, chances are reasonably high that you're also in a situation where you don't get a say in whether they take your gold wedding ring.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#78

Post by defrost »

huytersd wrote: post #56
defrost wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gold, just gold, is an investment simply because people value it - it's a shiny noble metal that stays "pure", ergo percieved value. From a resource utility PoV it costs more to source than copper or aluminium which are nearly as conductive - so they win out for electronic and power transmision applications. There are applications where gold is the clear winner - "forever" circuits and switches that are worth the ext…

Depends what culture you’re in. Work gold jewelry gives you a lot of social cache in India so it is worn all the time. Additionally it’s used as a mode to transfer wealth across generations with jewelry giving mandated in the cultural milieu.

That's pretty much the point I made,

if you're part of a culture that values gold then gold has percieved value .. otherwise it's not especially useful

(in that other elements have similar properties and are cheaper to bulk source, with few applications that benefit uniquely from gold).

'Useful' being the pragmatic sense, food, shelter, clothing are neccesary, concrete and steel are useful, copper is useful, gold is (mainly) hoarded and shown off.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#79

Post by subpixel »

Loughla wrote: post #68
huytersd wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s specifically no market for them somehow. I tried to look but the only places I could found that sold them was at pawn shops.

Honestly, second hand diamond and other gemstone jewelry seems like such a missed opportunity. I feel like people would go for it, with the new focus on sustainability and what-not. I wonder why that's not a thing?

The majority of people who understand that diamonds are a scam are not simultaneously attracted to diamonds.

Re: The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

#80

Post by biglyburrito »

brink wrote: post #3

I would like to take this moment to thank https://diamondssuck.com/ for preventing me from buying my wife a diamond, and getting her a much prettier moissanite instead. It's been on hn's front page several times.

I just did some cursory searching, and moissanite still seems pretty expensive. Am I missing something?
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