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Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#141

Post by NikolaNovak »

tom_mellior wrote: post #139
joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

> our teacher asked all of the women Sounds like a pretty sexist thing to do. The same question can be asked without putting women on the spot. "If you were to buy a diamond, what would you rather choose?"

My initial instinct agreed with you,but I then wondered if there would actually be a relevant gender difference in answers.

In western culture, still today I think,majority of men would be buying and majority of women would be receiving diamonds. It would be interesting if this affects answers. Would a buyer go for more practical cheaper option while receiver goes for more expensive traditional options? Or a different split completely , or none? I think it'd be a fascinating exercise.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#142

Post by mrighele »

tiborsaas wrote: post #126
joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

> at a fraction of the cost That might also be the reason. If something is cheaper, it feels inferior. Also with diamonds it's probably a factor that the fiancé is expected to present serious intents with a deeper monetary investment. "Look honey, it's an ethical, clean diamond and only cost 1/20th of a dirty one" sad, but feels wrong. Edit: I also remember a guy at dinner party bragging about buying a 5000EUR ring,…

> Also with diamonds it's probably a factor that the fiancé is expected to present serious intents with a deeper monetary investment. "Look honey, it's an ethical, clean diamond and only cost 1/20th of a dirty one" sad, but feels wrong.

Then he can spend the same money for a bigger diamond ? That would give also more bragging rights to the future wife (nobody will come and ask if it is a natural or artificial one).

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#143

Post by maccard »

alias_neo wrote: post #78
trapexit wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is kind of a lazyweb question because the "why marriage?" question has been discussed many times before on HN. https://www.google.com/search?q=marriage+site%3Anews.ycombin... Beyond the social convention that "it's the thing to do" at a certain point in a relationship, some reasons are: - Marriage provides financial assurance for a spouse who will defer their career to raise children. - Some friends and family (…

So, although the question-asker is being downvoted, your response does actually cover interesting discussion topics, and to summarise, the answer could be that the systems and conventions need to change? - I believe in the UK (where I live) one has all of the legal and financial implications automatically when a relationship reaches a certain age (3 years I believe). Legally you would be treated the same way as if yo…

Also in the UK, plus one to everything above (with the caveat I have no experience in the children area)

For friends and family, the older relatives on both sides I believe just assume we're married.

There is one difference, and that is in default treatment. If I died/was rendered otherwise incapable of communicating my desires, there is now an onus on my partner to prove that we are in the relationship she claims we are. That exists with marriage too except it's "solved" by a marriage certificate.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#144

Post by [deleted] »

Nursie wrote: post #123
qw wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's mostly about the emotional attachment. If you find two identical pens, and one of them was used by a famous writer, you would expect a price difference. There is no difference in the quality of those pens. They both work the same, and using the writer's pen will not make you a better writer by itself. I personally would not buy a natural diamond because of the ethical issues, but I do understand the students who…

That's a good point, the difference doesn't have to be in the item itself, BUT - Does anyone, other than geologists of course, really care about the back-story of the diamond, how it was created and how it was mined? Or are they just hanging on to an idea that some of them are "real" and some "not real" for the purposes of social signalling? If the latter, I would consider this much more changeable over time.

[deleted]

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#145

Post by coward76 »

joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

Would you rather buy a Banksy NFT Or JPG of a Banksy they are the same image at a fraction of the cost?

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#146

Post by whitepaint »

mattowen_uk wrote: post #129
cyberpunk wrote: post #3

Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?

Engagement rings are rings of ownership - They are a marker to tell other prospective suiters that the wearer is is 'off the market' and belongs to someone else. If you think you are any kind of forward thinking person, you would not be on board with this archaic practice at all. Also, De Beers invented[1] the concept of diamond-based engagement rings back when diamond jewellery sales were at an all time low, as a bu…

> If you think you are any kind of forward thinking person, you would not be on board with this archaic practice at all.

What if both people want to do it? You are demonstrating a vast amount of ignorance.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#147

Post by hackeraccount »

TekMol wrote: post #15
cyberpunk wrote: post #3

Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?

Honest question: Why marry in the first place? Why practice a personal relationship in a way others have designed? Isn't it somewhat contrary to the theme of Hacker News? To me, the term "hacking" describes the habit of doing things in a more interesting/efficient/fun way than how they are usually done.

Why marry in the first place?

Currently my wife is humming the first 4 bars of The Star Spangled Banner over and over and over.

The best answer I can come up with is that marriage is a constant battle of wills. A never ending struggle for absolute supremacy over the will of another person. To take an independent human and bend them to your desire or at least drive them crazy.

What's more thrilling than that? Also how can you be more crushed when that's done to you.

In short marriage is 100% pure adrenaline. Now that bloodsports have been abolished it's the purest most glorious release for any sadist out there ... also any masochist because one way or the other you're gonna get a big swig from both cups.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#148

Post by nottorp »

Jiejeing wrote: post #40
cyberpunk wrote: post #3

Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?

I am curious, is the diamond thing a US-centric trope? I do not know anyone here who genuinely cares about that sort of thing, generally people want some discreet metal ring. It may be a precious ore to symbolize the commitment but otherwise I have not seen anything outlandish among my friends or family members who got married.

Eastern Europe. We didn't bother with the engagement stuff and the wedding rings were plain gold bands. Which we don't bother with any more after 20 years.

I've almost never heard of anyone buying engagement rings, diamonds or no diamonds.

I do know a nouveau riche (or aspirational nouveau riche) couple whose wedding bands have tiny diamonds on them.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#149

Post by jankassens »

tiborsaas wrote: post #126
joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

> at a fraction of the cost That might also be the reason. If something is cheaper, it feels inferior. Also with diamonds it's probably a factor that the fiancé is expected to present serious intents with a deeper monetary investment. "Look honey, it's an ethical, clean diamond and only cost 1/20th of a dirty one" sad, but feels wrong. Edit: I also remember a guy at dinner party bragging about buying a 5000EUR ring,…

Maybe the key would be to keep the artificial diamond ring at a similar price point. Larger, designer brand, more manual labor details, I don’t know. Not saving money, but get a superior product.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#150

Post by hackeraccount »

toxik wrote: post #27
TekMol wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: Why marry in the first place? Why practice a personal relationship in a way others have designed? Isn't it somewhat contrary to the theme of Hacker News? To me, the term "hacking" describes the habit of doing things in a more interesting/efficient/fun way than how they are usually done.

I considered marriage and we even filed half the paperwork, but I decided against it because it would end up in the public records that I am married, and to whom exactly. So, I didn't marry out of infosec concerns.

I don't want to know if this is true or not.
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