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

What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

ft.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 52 posts

Re: What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

#31

Post by aradox66 »

tempestn wrote: post #24
mvnuweucxqokii wrote: post #9

> “People don’t buy Swiss watches to tell the time,” he said. “Apple probably sells more watches than the entire Swiss watch industry but does that matter if they’ve grown during that period?” Exactly. That diamonds are expensive is almost the entire point. If it becomes possible to buy artificial diamond rings for like $50, the tradition will disappear entirely. People will find some other signaling act.

There's bias even in that wording though. They're not "artificial" diamonds. They're real diamonds, grown in a lab instead of in the ground. Agreed with your broader point though. IIRC there's an economics term for this—goods that don't follow the standard supply/demand price curve, but where increasing price actually increases demand over some range. Ah, "Veblen" goods, apparently.

Artificial means "made by humans" in addition to meaning "sham"

Re: What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

#32

Post by ravenstine »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #16
boppo1 wrote: post #5

The DeBeers marketing is still effective and most (US at least) women still want them for their romantic authenticity. I suspect this will be unpopular, but I know many of my married buddies would likely not be if they had insisted and held firm that a lab grown diamond is just as good. Doctors, lawyers, tech guys.

A smart woman would realize that every dollar spent on a diamond is a dollar that can't be spent on home improvements, cars, clothing etc.

This describes next to no women I've ever known. If a man wants to pass off his genes, then waiting for a "smart" woman is a gamble. Even if he finds one, the parents in law will cast shame for him not getting her a real diamond. That's how deep the marketing goes.

Re: What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

#33

Post by jiggawatts »

tuatoru wrote: post #27
jiggawatts wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that’s an easy thing to say. Try saying that to the love of your life and see how that works out for you.

That's a red flag for the relationship right there. If "not wasting money" is a core value for you, but "status" is more important for your partner, things will go sour sooner or later. Of course it's very difficult to be rational in limerence.

Seeking high social status in a male partner is a good reproductive strategy for human females. That’s why so many women like Veblen goods and why ugly billionaires have gorgeous wives.

Pretending that normal human behaviour is a “red flag” is a path towards conflict and unhappiness.

Sure, you can find outliers that don’t care about such things, but not everyone can marry only a minority of women.

Re: What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

#35

Post by ChainOfFools »

jiggawatts wrote: post #25
sealeck wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not marry anyone who given the option of buying thing A @ X units of currency/kg and a chemically identical version of thing A @ 3X units of currency/kg would pick the option which is 3 times more expensive for the sole reason of "status".

Yeah, that’s an easy thing to say. Try saying that to the love of your life and see how that works out for you.

As someone who passed up getting married several times, not specifically because of disagreements about diamonds but with women who would certainly have responded to such a disagreement as a huge red flag if not a deal breaker, stories like this remind me why it was worth wading through 20 years of heartbreak and occasional loneliness until I stumbled into someone who - in addition to checking all the usual boxes and then some - could not care less about "authentic" chunks of rock. at. all.

Ironically her degree and academic research career are both very much concerned with authenticating the provenence of ancient stuff dug out of the ground. Just not lizard-brain shiny rocks.

Re: What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

#39

Post by firecall »

redkinght99 wrote: post #34

If you marry the wrong husband, it's helpful to have a items you can sell in order to rebuild. The costs of lab grown diamond vs. natural is like a 60% difference. I understand wanting a real diamond for such an odd contract as marriage.

Used commodity jewellery is worth a small fraction of the original purchase price.

Re: What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?

#40

Post by lucubratory »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #16
boppo1 wrote: post #5

The DeBeers marketing is still effective and most (US at least) women still want them for their romantic authenticity. I suspect this will be unpopular, but I know many of my married buddies would likely not be if they had insisted and held firm that a lab grown diamond is just as good. Doctors, lawyers, tech guys.

A smart woman would realize that every dollar spent on a diamond is a dollar that can't be spent on home improvements, cars, clothing etc.

Thank you. I literally told my husband I didn't even want a diamond, I just want something that communicates the "I'm married" social signal to minimise annoyances from men, fits my aesthetic tastes, and is soft enough that there's low risk of a degloving accident without being so soft that I can't do any work with my hands. I'm not immune to the psychology and marketing - I'd still feel weird if he had wanted to get me like, costume jewellery for a wedding ring, but I'm perfectly happy with moissanite.
Post reply on HN