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

bloomberg.com

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

#151

Post by fragmede »

ethanbond wrote: post #67
bigbillheck wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flaw isn't 'wanting the diamond', the flaw is 'being aware of the horrific nature of the industry and still wanting the diamond'.

I’m sure the coffee you drink and the tshirts you wear and the phone you use are all ethically sourced eh? We’re all deluding ourselves for the sake of sanity + having nice stuff.

Yes! Fairtrade coffee and pre-owned clothing is the least we can do in the face of capitalism's worst excesses. It won't end horrors of humanity that have existed since before capitalism but it's something. Hoping a usable Fairphone comes to the US, but getting a refurb iphone is still better than getting a new one.

You can't fix the whole world with personal choices, like an eyedropper against the ocean, but you can still opt out of the worst excesses without having to compromise every modern convenience.

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

#152

Post by NiloCK »

m-ee wrote: post #32
pjot wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!”

It was better than that, it displayed a few sentences that included a misspelling

From memory: "i deserv it"

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

#153

Post by RandallBrown »

typest wrote: post #104

I just got engaged. When we looked at rings, the jeweler asked my fiancé if she wanted natural or synthetic, and she responded “I don’t want a blood diamond!!” Of course, mined diamonds aren’t blood diamonds, but her impression was still they were a little ickier. The jeweler told me that one reason to get a natural diamond was that the prices of lab grown diamonds had been falling, whereas natural hasn’t as much, so…

When I bought my wife's engagement ring the jeweler showed me 3 different diamonds in my price range and then had me pick the one that I thought looked the best.

I ended up picking a lab grown diamond and was able to get a larger and (in my opinion) prettier diamond. My wife didn't seem to mind that it was lab grown when I eventually told her.

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

#154

Post by Fezzik »

bluedevil2k wrote: post #135
Fezzik wrote: post #95

What a great opportunity to re-share one of my favorite articles: https://priceonomics.com/diamonds-are-bullshit/ I really can’t think of an example better than people buying shiny rocks for absurd amounts of money that demonstrates how non-advanced we are, as a society generally.

The same can be said of BMWs, Philip Patek, Louis Vuitton, and dozens of other luxury brands. People like buying status signals, but it doesn’t signal how “non-advanced” we are. It’s how society has always worked and will always work.

Surely it does - the fact that most people—or large numbers of people—are still incapable of distinguishing between when they are exchanging their dollars for something that has no value beyond the hype behind it and making good financial decisions shows we, as a society, have a long ways to go in improving how we teach ourselves and others to value stuff. It’s one of many things we have to improve on, but rocks purchased for tens-of-thousands-of-dollars are a prime example of supremely poor financial decision making. At least cars are modes of transportation, watches tell time, and bags hold things. Diamonds are truly just bullshit.

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

#156

Post by andrewflnr »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #139
satvikpendem wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, being able to see through it has nothing to do with water purity (unless your water is so muddy that it's not clear even as a liquid), it's to do with the formation of the ice and the incorporation of air bubbles. You can make clear ice pretty easily with molds.

"This crystal isn't impure - it's just full of pockets of an alien substance"?

When you said the water was "impure" in your previous comment, no one thought you meant it was sullied with... air. While not technically incorrect, if you honestly thought "impure" was a good way to describe water with air dissolved in it, the best I can say is to watch out for your subtext when using a word much differently than basically anyone else does.

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

#157

Post by jncfhnb »

typest wrote: post #104

I just got engaged. When we looked at rings, the jeweler asked my fiancé if she wanted natural or synthetic, and she responded “I don’t want a blood diamond!!” Of course, mined diamonds aren’t blood diamonds, but her impression was still they were a little ickier. The jeweler told me that one reason to get a natural diamond was that the prices of lab grown diamonds had been falling, whereas natural hasn’t as much, so…

Go with moissanite. Vastly cheaper. Looks better.

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

#158

Post by OkayPhysicist »

Fezzik wrote: post #154
bluedevil2k wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same can be said of BMWs, Philip Patek, Louis Vuitton, and dozens of other luxury brands. People like buying status signals, but it doesn’t signal how “non-advanced” we are. It’s how society has always worked and will always work.

Surely it does - the fact that most people—or large numbers of people—are still incapable of distinguishing between when they are exchanging their dollars for something that has no value beyond the hype behind it and making good financial decisions shows we, as a society, have a long ways to go in improving how we teach ourselves and others to value stuff. It’s one of many things we have to improve on, but rocks purc…

Status symbols are just that. Status symbols. If you look through nature, you see very similar behaviors everywhere: the "frivolous" use of resources to demonstrate an individual's status in the group, and their desirability as a mate.

Peacock's feathers, caribou antlers, those absolutely kickin' nests that some birds assemble, penguins with their shiny rock collections, humans with our shiny rock collections.

It's a bit of a prisoner's dilemma, in that one's unwillingness to engage in such demonstrations of status will be interpreted as an inability to do so, but to the individual its still an optimal play. At least it gives us an excuse to acquire pretty things. Can you imagine how ugly the world would be if no one was building architectural marvels or designing elaborate cars or jewelry because they could poor concrete into cubes more cheaply?

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

#159

Post by willis936 »

downWidOutaFite wrote: post #134
typest wrote: post #104

I just got engaged. When we looked at rings, the jeweler asked my fiancé if she wanted natural or synthetic, and she responded “I don’t want a blood diamond!!” Of course, mined diamonds aren’t blood diamonds, but her impression was still they were a little ickier. The jeweler told me that one reason to get a natural diamond was that the prices of lab grown diamonds had been falling, whereas natural hasn’t as much, so…

Interesting that your salesperson used the same line as DeBeers does at the end of the article about lab diamonds being too cheap. It must be a sales talking point that comes from on top. It's seems crazy that Debeers is actually trying to drive lab prices down to make them seem too cheap for bridal use. Their strategy is to try to retain the higher-end luxury market while giving up the more mainstream market where t…

I mean, the whole thing is a soulless marketing trick.

https://youtu.be/N5kWu1ifBGU?si=icEExKO1WRazcybP

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

#160

Post by RandallBrown »

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?

Humans assign value to tradition and history.

While a lab grown diamond might be technically superior, there's something sort of romantic and interesting with the fact that it has been in the earth for a billion years and somehow made its way into your ring.

That said, my wife has a lab grown diamond in her engagement ring.

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