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The diamond world takes radical steps to stop a pricing plunge

bloomberg.com

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

#341

Post by oblio »

chewz wrote: post #299
Retric wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not the cost that’s the issue, it’s the underlying desire. Belief in astrology is seemingly harmless, but it’s a sign of underlying irrationality that I find unacceptable. The ritual around a hunk of carbon is the same category of thinking IMO. Also, ‘a few days salary’ rather defeats the rituals purpose.

> Belief in astrology is seemingly harmless, but it’s a sign of underlying irrationality that I find unacceptable. How about spirituality or religion?

I'm fairly sure that if someone is strongly against astrology and irrationality, they're probably against religion, too :-)

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

#342

Post by IanCal »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #329
serf wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

acknowledgement of irrationality, especially one that isn't accompanied with a wish to better themselves away from that irrationality, would be a major red flag for me personally entering into a long-term relationship. there is also a great distinction between "Yeah I know another helping of chocolate syrup on my ice cream is a bad decision, but it'll make me feel good today.", and "You need to make a 10kUSD+ purchas…

> "You need to make a 10kUSD+ purchase on a totally arbitrary piece of jewelry that very well may have incited real human suffering and violence, even though I know that desire is irrational and poorly balanced." That's a tricky topic to broach. Drop one zero from the price tag, and this definitely applies much more to your smartphone and computer than it does to gems. Drop one or two more zeroes, and this covers the…

Part of the comparison here is that the alternatives are both cheaper and practically better. So it doesn't apply so much unless you chose to buy, say, clothes from brand A that were indistinguishable from brand B to normal people but cost more and involved more child labour. Or if apple made a special phone you could buy that looked the same but cost 10x as much because it also includes payments to warlords.

> Call this irrational, but the amount of personal responsibility one should feel for some injustice they benefit from, among with a billion or two other people, is an unsolved philosophical and ethical problem.

I don't think it's unsolved, it's just unsolved in a way that makes people feel ok. The reality is that we regularly choose minor improvements to our lives or even just spend through laziness at a cost of other people's lives.

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

#343

Post by lukas099 »

mjamesaustin wrote: post #89
Loughla wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Because the marketing goal of the diamond industry is to convince buyers that the amount of money you spent indicates how much you love your spouse.

Theoretically you could spend the same amount an some insanely huge used diamond.

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

#345

Post by imtringued »

c0pium wrote: post #199
jonkho wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reality is the person with lower leverage in the relationship does the keeping of the one with higher leverage happy. In marriages men have the lower leverage due to various reasons. One of which is favorable treatment of women in the family courts.

If you’re thinking about marriage in terms of leverage you’ve guaranteed you’re going to find out about those courts.

I don't know anyone with a marriage that didn't go to "those courts".

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

#346

Post by oblio »

stef25 wrote: post #332
xivzgrev wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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 one for a long time (she has a tendency to want to rent / sample / change things up). So to her credit she did her homework and spent a few months picking the best one. Sounds like me talking about my toddler and his Legos

If you think that as a guy you don't do the same, you're sorely mistaken and you probably haven't been digging around your own history.

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

#347

Post by oblio »

Seattle3503 wrote: post #214
smt88 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Loving someone means wanting them to be happy. The type of emotional abuse you describe is available to anyone in a loving relationship.

It's not necessarily about manipulation, it's about not being codependent. If every time your partner is unhappy, you freak out, your ability to be a good partner is diminished. Couples need some buffer between their emotions to dampen extreme lows.

You guys are reading too much into that expression.

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

#348

Post by oblio »

imtringued wrote: post #345
c0pium wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re thinking about marriage in terms of leverage you’ve guaranteed you’re going to find out about those courts.

I don't know anyone with a marriage that didn't go to "those courts".

You need a better entourage.

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

#349

Post by benj111 »

atleastoptimal wrote: post #261
xivzgrev wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I wouldn't marry anyone whose happiness is dependent on a artificially expensive hard and shiny rock whose prestige was inflated for years by an industry built on slave labor, especially when far less expensive alternatives exist. If she is apprised of the alternatives and still demands "No I want EXPENSIVE shiny thing" then it's cultural shaming factoring into the decision making. You have to reevaluate what she see…

We are a pack species.

No one is immune from trying to fit into a group, by valuing things that the group values.

You can tell your self that your Audi is objectively the best car for you, or that Mac is required to do your job most effectively.

For anyone who thinks they are totally immune, go and spend a week with an Amazonian tribe, and try to spot how many cultural differences there are between you, and then those differences are just you fitting in with your fellow tribe at home.

The best you can say is that there's a healthy balance between fitting into your pack and being subsumed by it. I don't think one diamond makes that case though. What is the difference in principle between that an someone spending years of their time making a hobby os or spending money and time making a computer from valves. Both things that 'our pack' would tend to view favourably.

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

#350

Post by [deleted] »

Maxion wrote: post #253
Animats wrote: post #227

The diamond industry has a terrible problem. They promoted diamonds as "perfection". The most valuable diamond is supposed to be a crystal with no flaws. Then they ran into the semiconductor materials industry. Wafer fabs want every atom where it is supposed to be. So semiconductor materials manufacturers are very good at making crystals with few or no flaws. So, now the synthetic diamond market looks like this.[1] D…

That first link makes me want to buy some 1 carat CVDs to play around with. I mean at those prices, making my own diamond chandelier isn't too out of the question.

[deleted]
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