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

Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

scmp.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 314 posts

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#231

Post by leot »

baldfat wrote: post #140
dmix wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what are some of the places we would start to see titanium if the prices dropped?

Cheap titanium bikes are high on my list but I think the killer application is titanium hinges. Springs will last a lifetime. Looks like this is starting to happen alreadt: https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/titanium-hinges.html $0.25 for a hinge Titanium is light, but my favorite thing is it is next to impossible to bend. So anything that shouldn't bend will be better with titanium.

Diamond-like carbon should be applied everywhere there's wear. It could allow drill bits, gears, bike chains, joints, etc to all last virtually forever.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#232

Post by dalbasal »

I'm not sure if this article refers to cubic zirconia, moissanite or some new flavour of human-made diamonds but in either case, this is has been going on for 40 years.

The market for diamonds isn't rational, so how it will behave is not predictable.

First, the idea that diamonds maintain value is nonsense. This isn't gold or some other mineral "currency." You can sell gold anywhere for close to its spot price. Diamonds OTOH, have buy-sell "spreads" more like antiques or collectible shoes.

So, the subtitle is already on the wrong path. Diamonds have never been good stores of wealth, that's why the earlier dowry traditions use gold, cattle, secret recipes or some other reliable asset.

With cubic zirconia & moissanite, the diamond industry learned to recognise the "fakes." They've had machines for a while, but the industry also invested a lot in jeweler training. The reason for this is perception. If only machines know the difference...

For the average buyer, they're encouraged to note differences in "brilliance" & "fire" which is kind of visible in certain light. Ironically, zirconia & moissanite are different from diamonds in opposite ways, one more and the other less fiery.

This is a pure pr fight. If people use terms like "fake diamonds" then de beers wins. "Blood diamonds," then they lose.

Curious side note: the CCP has influence on Chinese consumer culture that doesn't exist elsewhere. If they say manufactured diamonds are real, then they are. China doesn't mine diamonds, but they do manufacture them....

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#233

Post by __s »

icebraining wrote: post #126
Jedd wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly a key indicator of a quality SF idea / author -- how much closer we are to their universe a decade or two later. I've loved everything Neal's written, though I may begrudgingly agree with various critics that suggest he really doesn't do endings very well (REAMDE and Anathem are much, much better on this front). I've tried recommending various books of his to different friends, and I've concluded that I have…

Possibly a key indicator of a quality SF idea / author -- how much closer we are to their universe a decade or two later. I wholeheartedly disagree. As the great (and unfortunately late) Ursula Le Guin wrote, I write science fiction, and science fiction isn't about the future. I don't know any more about the future than you do, and very likely less. [1] Predictions are cute and all, and I enjoy reading them, but SF c…

Margaret Atwood claimed that if she could predict the future she wouldn't be an author, she'd be a stock trader

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#234

Post by Someone »

smoyer wrote: post #187

Good! ... The DeBeers cartel is monopolistic and exploitative. There's an interesting article that talks about how they initially created demand for diamonds as they weren't commonly associated with an engagement. I'm glad to hear there's a competitor that should at a minimum lead to a price correction.

In the USA, people don’t primarily buy diamonds for their looks or physical properties, but as a signal to a significant other that they are willing to invest in a relationship.

⇒ If there is a large price correction, something else will replace diamonds (what that something will be is anybody’s guess)

De Beers knows that, but wants to stay in the game, so they market “made by nature” as a pre of ‘real’ diamonds.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#235

Post by skybrian »

dalbasal wrote: post #232

I'm not sure if this article refers to cubic zirconia, moissanite or some new flavour of human-made diamonds but in either case, this is has been going on for 40 years. The market for diamonds isn't rational, so how it will behave is not predictable. First, the idea that diamonds maintain value is nonsense. This isn't gold or some other mineral "currency." You can sell gold anywhere for close to its spot price. Diamo…

The article is definitely not about cubic zirconia or moissanite, which are easier to distinguish. You don't need special machines for that.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#236

Post by dalbasal »

smoyer wrote: post #187

Good! ... The DeBeers cartel is monopolistic and exploitative. There's an interesting article that talks about how they initially created demand for diamonds as they weren't commonly associated with an engagement. I'm glad to hear there's a competitor that should at a minimum lead to a price correction.

This has to have been the greatest marketing ploy of all time.

They created an engagement ring tradition so strong & embedded people assume that it's traditional... Out of thin air. They were able to create a "suggested price" of 3 months salary! Can you think of anything else like that? They got Marilyn Monroe to sing their jingle, one of the most iconic pop songs ever. They were able to label all competition as "fake," or fraud. Truly amazing.

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#237

Post by denzil_correa »

smoyer wrote: post #187

Good! ... The DeBeers cartel is monopolistic and exploitative. There's an interesting article that talks about how they initially created demand for diamonds as they weren't commonly associated with an engagement. I'm glad to hear there's a competitor that should at a minimum lead to a price correction.

> There's an interesting article that talks about how they initially created demand for diamonds as they weren't commonly associated with an engagement.

One of my favorite Priceonomics Articles - "Diamonds a re Bullshit" [0]. Previous discussions on HN [1,2]. Also, previous discussion on "Lab-Grown Diamonds" [3].

There are some cheap alternatives to diamonds like Moissanite. Here's a nice overview [4]. Also, discussed previously on HN [5].

[0] https://priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bulls...

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5403988

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9251952

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11903409

[4] http://diamondssuck.com

[5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12944464

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#238

Post by dalbasal »

dalbasal wrote: post #232

I'm not sure if this article refers to cubic zirconia, moissanite or some new flavour of human-made diamonds but in either case, this is has been going on for 40 years. The market for diamonds isn't rational, so how it will behave is not predictable. First, the idea that diamonds maintain value is nonsense. This isn't gold or some other mineral "currency." You can sell gold anywhere for close to its spot price. Diamo…

Replying to myself with a conspiracy minded thought....

Now that I think of it, De Beers probably has a strong interest in "fraud" being a problem. If manufactured diamonds are sold as natural, this is fraud. There will be victims, trials, fraud prevention... All good reinforcement that these things, they're not really diamonds. Fake is debatable. Fraud is something that you can get a judge to say.

So, back toy initial question. What is this article talking about? Is this a new type of gem, or the ones that have already been available for decades. If not...

Re: Lab-grown diamonds threaten viability of the real gems

#239

Post by alchemism »

userbinator wrote: post #15

As the price of diamond continues dropping, I wonder if people will find more interesting applications of the material and it'll eventually become as mundane as things like steel and aluminium. Besides its hardness, it also has very high thermal conductivity. Diamond is still too expensive to be a bulk material, but I look forward to when things like this become cheap and commonplace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fi…

Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age examines, among other topics, the socio-economic impact of cheap plentiful diamonds produced by molecular nanotech.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age

Post reply on HN