Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 239 posts

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#91

Post by patio11 »

HorizonXP wrote: post #26

Wow, absolutely brilliant. I can't believe this article popped up on HN's front page tonight. I just got back from looking at engagement rings with my girlfriend. I've known about this monopoly for a while, and so has she. Heck, one of the first movies we watched together when we first started dating 7 years ago was Blood Diamond. Here's the conversation we had while in the jewellery store tonight. Me: "Sweety, I rea…

She even told you her true requirement, which is to look good for her girlfriends. (Watch what happens when ladies announce an engagement or look for the ring shot on Facebook, then tell me I'm off base.)

You did not sell her a product which would make her the envy of her girlfriends. "Cheaper than their rings" is the opposite of a victory condition. Don't sell cheap. Sell authentic, sell natural, sell one-of-a-kind, sell meaning, sell status, sell a story, etc.

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#93

Post by TeMPOraL »

kamaal wrote: post #83
HorizonXP wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why do I have to buy my future fiance a diamond to experience that moment? Why not give her a piece of coal? It's the same element/material, just in a different, albeit less attractive, form. No one's arguing about the idea of giving a gift or a token or your love. The issue is about why this token needs to be a diamond. I know that in our family, and my girlfriend's, there is a lot of jewellery that is passed dow…

>>So why do I have to buy my future fiance a diamond to experience that moment? Why not give her a piece of coal? It's the same element/material, just in a different, albeit less attractive, form. Try gifting her a piece of coal and watch. Really why should you wear a suit? Or why should you wear a watch? Or why should you dine a good restaurant? There are a few emotions attached to a few things. Like for example Ros…

> Try gifting her a piece of coal and watch.

That's the whole point. Coal is a hyperbole here, but her special attitude towards diamonds is something manufactured artificially around 50-60 years ago.

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#94

Post by bobowzki »

HorizonXP wrote: post #26

Wow, absolutely brilliant. I can't believe this article popped up on HN's front page tonight. I just got back from looking at engagement rings with my girlfriend. I've known about this monopoly for a while, and so has she. Heck, one of the first movies we watched together when we first started dating 7 years ago was Blood Diamond. Here's the conversation we had while in the jewellery store tonight. Me: "Sweety, I rea…

You should think twice before you marry...

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#95

Post by Tichy »

icelancer wrote: post #76
w1ntermute wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of irrational things that smart, educated, and informed people believe in. Not to start a flamewar, but God is a great example of this.

A belief in a higher power can easily be a rational decision.

Interesting: how can a belief ever be a rational decision? Isn't it irrational by definition?

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#96

Post by [deleted] »

kamaal wrote: post #61

Sorry but is this the real reason why somebody buys a diamond? The number one reason why anybody buys anything expensive is because they wish to make a statement for that moment. Now if you go by what this article is trying to convey is the value of diamonds in the investment per se. No body I know buys diamonds as an investment. My father once gave me a gift which his father gave it to him. Which is basically a wris…

[deleted]

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#97

Post by Tichy »

kamaal wrote: post #61

Sorry but is this the real reason why somebody buys a diamond? The number one reason why anybody buys anything expensive is because they wish to make a statement for that moment. Now if you go by what this article is trying to convey is the value of diamonds in the investment per se. No body I know buys diamonds as an investment. My father once gave me a gift which his father gave it to him. Which is basically a wris…

That my all be true, but at the root of it, I find the concept revolting. I mean demonstrating your economic viability as a spouse. It is actually the most unromantic thing ever, because it means at the end of the day you marry for economic reasons, not for love. Which is OK, but then don't pretend for it to be romantic.

As for remembering a moment, I don't see why something expensive is required. You could as well collect a special looking pebble from the beach and have it remind you of the romantic sunset you watched together.

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#98

Post by Tichy »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #89

A classic, I read it first almost a decade ago. My advice, take her on a trip to Paris and Versailles instead... or climb Mount Everest if you're more adventurous. We have great memories.

Try not to get her killed, though. Hasn't climbing Mount Everest something like a 20% mortality rate?

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#99

Post by Cass »

YokoZar wrote: post #74
HorizonXP wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the link! I've been trying to find a decent source for conflict-free diamonds, and this seems to fit the bill. I hope I can convince my girlfriend to go with an alternative, but this is likely a battle that I will lose. The issue centres around the social stigma of not having a diamond ring. Friends and family will ask what the stone is, and need to be educated. And no matter what you tell them, the per…

You could do the economist thing and try to phrase it in terms of opportunity cost. That is, by insisting on a diamond, she's giving up a moissanite stone that's 5 times the size; by insisting on an uncultured diamond she's giving up a diamond that's twice the size (and more pure to boot).

Speaking as a girl without even the least bit of interest in diamonds, "If you give up the thing you want, you can get a thing you don't want that's TWICE AS BIG" is just in no way a selling point, especially as long as her association with those stones is that they're fakes. You can try to make the moissanite seem cooler, or the lab diamond more ethical, but women are already aware that if you buy "fake" jewelry, you can get bigger stones, and generally that's just seen as trashy.

Re: Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? (1982)

#100

Post by patio11 »

patio11 wrote: post #91
HorizonXP wrote: post #26

Wow, absolutely brilliant. I can't believe this article popped up on HN's front page tonight. I just got back from looking at engagement rings with my girlfriend. I've known about this monopoly for a while, and so has she. Heck, one of the first movies we watched together when we first started dating 7 years ago was Blood Diamond. Here's the conversation we had while in the jewellery store tonight. Me: "Sweety, I rea…

She even told you her true requirement, which is to look good for her girlfriends. (Watch what happens when ladies announce an engagement or look for the ring shot on Facebook, then tell me I'm off base.) You did not sell her a product which would make her the envy of her girlfriends. "Cheaper than their rings" is the opposite of a victory condition. Don't sell cheap. Sell authentic, sell natural, sell one-of-a-kind,…

P.S. If you understand the thing she is trying to buy, you don't have to sell her a ring at all.

There turns out to be an arbitrage opportunity in social status for, say, middle or upper-middle class Japanese women. Anybody can buy rocks, but nobody can buy a man vacation, so a man who demonstrates ability to take long vacations must be able to buy virtually unlimited amounts of rocks. Regardless of whether I can afford rocks, I can afford long vacations quite easily, so we announced a small rock and a long honeymoon on the same day.

It's absolutely unreal how effective that was. All relevant stakeholders believe I'm unreasonably well-off. Ironically, this caused them to sharply upgrade their estimations of what the (quite modest) ring must be worth.

Post reply on HN