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

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

#221
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because all of us want stupid shit? Unless you’re willing to bundle everything beyond pure Buddha-tier equanimity as “character flaws.” it’s unfair to draw the line between “useless thing you were socialized to spend money on” and “useless thing someone else was socialized to spend money on.”

Eh… stupidly expensive, unethically sourced, low store of value, easily substituted by superior cheaper alternatives feels like the height of “bad” materialism if there is such a thing.

Yeah well that’s society for ya. If you go with lab grown make sure you only go for a size that’s actually achievable in natural-diamond prices for your income level. The signaling game (silly as it is) is good at outing “that’s an excessively large diamond for his/her income, must be lab-grown” versus “that’s a large diamond for his/her income, that’s an indicator of priority.”

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

#222
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It's not really bullshit, it is a physical manifestation of the commitment that is supposed to accompany a marriage. People are human, the stone is both a reminder of the vows that they took as well as a sacrifice the husband made to demonstrate love and commitment for that particular spouse. Yes of course it doesn't have to be a diamond per se, but that's basically what the entire world has agreed upon for this part…

You should read that article about how y’all got duped into buying diamonds as tokens of your love. It’s enlightening. And… I mean… we have (thank Satan) done away with swearing on bibles in all nations and all but a few backwater states in the US where politicians that sexually abuse children are viewed as champions of the people. Also, I’d wager a good chunk of my savings that most of the 50% of marriages that dissolve involve diamond rings. So clearly those physical manifestations are rather ephemeral.

Edit: grammar

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

#223
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…

Sorry to be negative, but I think the conventions around marriage needs to be redone alongside all the other changes around marriage. To wit, the ability of a woman to divorce you and receive alimony and child support for basically the rest of her life. It's not clear to me what reason a rational person has for NOT getting divorced after enough time has elapsed that alimony is possible. Roughly 50% of marriages end i…

> Be smart and split everything down the middle

That only works if both partners have similar income, similar working times, and also split household work equally.

Most relationships are not like that, especially when kids are involved, but often even before that. So you often have one partner work more while the other takes care of most of the household. This leads to a situation where one partner is financially dependent on the other.

Marriage laws are supposed to protect the dependent partner in that case.

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

#224
post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems supremely othering. Do you have people in your life that you value over humans you don't know? What are the people you know, over the people that you don't, other than them being a meat bag that you know stories about, vs a meat bag that you don't?

At least people can tell their story I suppose, while a diamond cannot really once mounted on a ring (I guess you can get some certificate that tells a story, but it is not something obvious when looking at the ring). Note: my engagement ring cost $12.00 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/TIGRADE-Titanium-Polished-Wedding-Com...

For traceability, cut diamonds are laser enscribed with serial number or makers mark visible by inspection with jewelers magnifying loupe.

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

#225
post #183
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm, almost 5x the thermal conductivity of copper. Since this is HN.. let's say we were actually to build such a pan, is it practical? My first thought is that the high conductivity doesn't necessarily mean it won't, being loose and hand-wavey with terminology because I don't know it, fracture with thermal shock, like non-borosilicate glassware (don't change the temp. too quickly) say, or ceramics (don't introduce too…

Aren't diamonds quite brittle? I feel hitting banging the diamond pan against the burner slightly too hard will cause it to shatter. Or using a metal spatula too roughly.

Yes, they are.

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

#226
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…

> Of course, mined diamonds aren’t blood diamonds, but her impression was still they were a little ickier For all intents and purposes, they are. The voluntary processes the diamond cartels adopted to supposedly reduce diamonds coming out of "conflict areas" are a joke. Most diamonds are mined under exploitive conditions, often with severe ecological impact, and the owners are almost without exception "blood on their…

Here you go, a 100% guaranteed conflict free blood red diamond

https://www.australiandiamondvalley.com.au/products/10ct-aut...

https://www.solidgold.com.au/argyle-red-diamonds.html

If you object to the mine owners (rio tinto) "blood on their hands" (from > 2,000 years of mining since Roman occupied Spain) then get rid of all your steel products as they're a major supplier of raw high grade iron ore (and copper, and ...)

https://www.riotinto.com/en/operations/australia/argyle

(NB: If you're going to downvote at least provide a comment as to why)

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

#227
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…

This gets me wondering if anyone's made lab grown diamonds with real, ideally their own, blood. Maybe stuart semple.

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

#229
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…

Sorry to be negative, but I think the conventions around marriage needs to be redone alongside all the other changes around marriage. To wit, the ability of a woman to divorce you and receive alimony and child support for basically the rest of her life. It's not clear to me what reason a rational person has for NOT getting divorced after enough time has elapsed that alimony is possible. Roughly 50% of marriages end i…

> To wit, the ability of a woman to divorce you and receive alimony and child support for basically the rest of her life.

Child support doesn't last that long — just until the child reaches 18. And alimony stops if the spouse ever gets remarried (though of course some people dodge that by not technically getting married to a new partner).

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

#230
post #183
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm, almost 5x the thermal conductivity of copper. Since this is HN.. let's say we were actually to build such a pan, is it practical? My first thought is that the high conductivity doesn't necessarily mean it won't, being loose and hand-wavey with terminology because I don't know it, fracture with thermal shock, like non-borosilicate glassware (don't change the temp. too quickly) say, or ceramics (don't introduce too…

Aren't diamonds quite brittle? I feel hitting banging the diamond pan against the burner slightly too hard will cause it to shatter. Or using a metal spatula too roughly.

I assume that wouldn't be as aggressive as tempered glass or something, but it's funny to imagine your pan shattering followed by every other piece of glass/ceramic in the room when the fragments hit them.
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