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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

#81

Post by himinlomax »

goldcd wrote: post #58
Nursie wrote: post #35

Good for them. It's literally the same material, and we can now use scientific and engineering advances to remove the need for people to toil and die underground to get them. Hopefully the process is more environmentally friendly too. They are real diamonds. I find it hi-goddamned-larious that the moment these became viable, the industry switched from "Diamond purity is the be-all and end-all and you must have the cl…

The flip side though, is that you're making diamond miners unemployed. I suspect if they had alternate employment opportunities available that were more pleasant/better-paying, they'd have already taken them. So losers are the poor folks digging in the ground and winners are the companies who've just built themselves a lab. Maybe a way out of this, would be price up the grown diamonds to include a charitable donation…

> The flip side though, is that you're making diamond miners unemployed

I'm responsible for many unemployed miners as I've never bought a diamond. Also you're responsible for unemployment in smiths by not buying horsehoes.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#83

Post by dijit »

simonh wrote: post #71
Nursie wrote: post #35

Good for them. It's literally the same material, and we can now use scientific and engineering advances to remove the need for people to toil and die underground to get them. Hopefully the process is more environmentally friendly too. They are real diamonds. I find it hi-goddamned-larious that the moment these became viable, the industry switched from "Diamond purity is the be-all and end-all and you must have the cl…

If the best option available to people was diamond mining, by taking that away from them we’re by definition pushing them into an even worse option. That’s a big problem I have with a lot of the do-good commentary on developing world labour. Taking away options from people, even bad ones from our point of view, isn’t necessarily doing them any favours. None of these peoples options are going to look good to us. Actua…

> If the best option available to people was diamond mining, by taking that away from them we’re by definition pushing them into an even worse option.

If your business is to force people into slavery, then it is part of your business to remove other avenues for them to get out of slavery.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#84

Post by me_me_me »

goldcd wrote: post #58
Nursie wrote: post #35

Good for them. It's literally the same material, and we can now use scientific and engineering advances to remove the need for people to toil and die underground to get them. Hopefully the process is more environmentally friendly too. They are real diamonds. I find it hi-goddamned-larious that the moment these became viable, the industry switched from "Diamond purity is the be-all and end-all and you must have the cl…

The flip side though, is that you're making diamond miners unemployed. I suspect if they had alternate employment opportunities available that were more pleasant/better-paying, they'd have already taken them. So losers are the poor folks digging in the ground and winners are the companies who've just built themselves a lab. Maybe a way out of this, would be price up the grown diamonds to include a charitable donation…

If we let them slaves free how are they going to feed themselves?

See how similar that sound to what you are saying?

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#85

Post by wodenokoto »

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 remember reading some threads on slashdot about alternative materials for wedding rings accompanied with stories of why they were more romantic than gold and diamonds.

I really wish I could find them or similar discussion because I’d really like to make a push for a non-diamond ring.

But as other replies here mention - if she wants a diamond, it’s a diamond that she wants.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#86

Post by adwn »

simonh wrote: post #71
Nursie wrote: post #35

Good for them. It's literally the same material, and we can now use scientific and engineering advances to remove the need for people to toil and die underground to get them. Hopefully the process is more environmentally friendly too. They are real diamonds. I find it hi-goddamned-larious that the moment these became viable, the industry switched from "Diamond purity is the be-all and end-all and you must have the cl…

If the best option available to people was diamond mining, by taking that away from them we’re by definition pushing them into an even worse option. That’s a big problem I have with a lot of the do-good commentary on developing world labour. Taking away options from people, even bad ones from our point of view, isn’t necessarily doing them any favours. None of these peoples options are going to look good to us. Actua…

> If the best option available to people was diamond mining

The best option available to a person in the short term is not necessarily the best option for a society in the long term. In this case, it almost certainly isn't. Compare "resource curse" [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#88

Post by lotsofpulp »

lewisflude wrote: post #70
sharken wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as the concept "real diamond", as in mined the traditional way exists, then real change will be slow. It will be interesting to see if companies will try to market "real diamonds" and how the market will respond.

When you buy a mined diamond, you are paying for the story, of it being a finite thing, formed in the earth over a very long period of time. Lab grown diamonds don't have that story. Separately, the work that goes into cutting/finishing diamonds is incredible and there is a huge amount of variety between individual diamonds. They are very fascinating things.

>When you buy a mined diamond, you are paying for the story, of it being a finite thing, formed in the earth over a very long period of time. Lab grown diamonds don't have that story.

I do not know who the “you” is here, but I would bet most people that want to consume diamonds (especially mined) as an end user for display purposes want to do so to signal their (potential) purchasing power, especially amongst their network.

Although, in this day and age, diamond and jewelry in general are pretty poor status signals. In general, material objects are a poorer show of status than simply having vacation pictures from all over the world constantly showing leisure time (the more finite and expensive commodity).

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#90

Post by Nursie »

technics256 wrote: post #62

A bit off topic, but does anyone have a good reputable source for artificially made diamonds?

Sounds like you can ask at Pandora!

The article also mentions -

"The largest US producer, Diamond Foundry, says its process is "100% hydro-powered, meaning zero emissions"."

So they might be worth a look.

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