Whenever I think about the diamond market I think about the episode of the Twilight Zone where gold becomes worthless in the future because it's manufacturable.
As evidence by the diamond market, even if we could manufacture gold (somehow) even higher in quality than the purest gold available naturally, people would still want the, objectively worse, natural stuff, because for some reason the human rights violations that go into getting it makes it more valuable.
TL;DR: it's the child labor that makes it special
Hehe yeah, "Sure, you could buy perfect diamonds grown in lab conditions that are way prettier than anything we could offer for way cheaper, or you could buy our authentically dirty or broken diamonds to -prove- you paid way more money to anyone that looks close enough to notice. Won't they be jealous of how rich you were".
The special ingredient is human suffering.
Yeah it's the same as the people who are being oppressed by the corporatocracy voting for an oppressor because they just want to feel powerful by stepping on someone else. The "Slugs for Salt" group doesn't care if they are salted as long as the snails beneath them get salted and they get to feel like it's them doing the salting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good
A Veblen good is a type of luxury good, named after American economist Thorstein Veblen, for which the demand increases as the price increases, in apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve. The higher prices of Veblen goods may make them desirable as a status symbol in the practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure. A product may be a Veblen good because it is a positional good, something few others can own.
You can make diamonds. The diamond companies convinced everyone they were inferior.
I do think the western world likes to support child labor. While else would your iPhone be so expensive? It is carefully assembled by child hands.
if we could manufacture gold (somehow)
What do you mean "somehow"? All you need is elephant nerves.
I meant (somehow) more pure than the gold we have, which is already pretty pure. Plus pure gold isn't very useful in fashion because of how soft it is.
If we were to manufacture pure gold, I think it would probably be more useful in practical applications, like dentistry or something.
Can you tell I'm not an expert?
people would still want the, objectively worse, natural stuff, because for some reason
It's not a mystery reason. Its advertising. Billions upon billions of dollars, millions of man hours, Gigawatts of energy, landfills of brouchers and fliers and billboards - all hammering into you that these luxury tokens are worth the six or seven figure price tag that a retailer has placed on them.
It's propaganda of the must vile sort. The painful irony of it all is the absurd volumes spent to coerce people into these purchases relative to the skinflint labor practices used to dig the stuff out and manufacture it.
Don’t marry women too materialistic to accept this, loving diamonds is a big red flag imo
Meh, I wouldn't say that, but loving diamonds after learning how that market works and the bullshit around it? Definitely an orange flag
Eh, I'm not sure I would say that. Someone can love/appr ciate and want something even knowing that procuring the thing has ethical problems. Desiring something isn't the same as being okay with the problems that come with acquiring it. It's the being okay with procuring a diamond despite the ethical problems and bullshit that would be a massive red flag to me.
For myself, I'd be having serious second thoughts about a relationship with a person who felt an expensive ring was somehow necessary. But merely wanting it, particularly if out of a sense of tradition or symbolism rather than as some silly signal of wealth, wouldn't perturb me.
Moissanite ftw
Moissanite is the absolute best.
I bought my mom two sets of moissanite jewelry for generic winter holiday times this year! Matching necklace and earrings!
Moissanite is extra sparkly compared to diamonds too
I remember watching a yt short comapring diamond and moissanite and the guy said at the end something along the lines of don't buy moissanite because idlf you heat it up and then cool it with ice it becomes fragile.
The best thing was that the comments were all hating on him for so obviously being a diamond industry shill becaue he displayed all the advantages of moissanite and then said to buy diamonds. He got ripped a new one.
You love to see it
Moissanite: chemical formula SiC, not pure carbon. 60/100
Lonsdaleite: chemical formula C, pure carbon, hexagonal crystal structure, naturally created by meteorite impacts, synthetic versions are harder than diamonds. Awesome/100.
Tough shit she still wants that drill bit for Christmas
Oh she'll get drilled for a bit, that's for sure
Am girl
Just grow em in a lab. Dirt diamonds are for boomers.
If you really love me, you’ll cut off a pound of flesh, cremate it, and use the ashes to make a diamond.
I don't think she does.
I took my now wife window shopping for rings when we were getting close to engagement time so that I'd know what she would want. It was clear that the answer was gonna be yes no matter what, but I knew she'd have a ring preference anyway. She saw prices and explicitly said that she'd like white sapphire on sterling silver. I found a bridal set that she adores which very much did not cost a month or two of salary.
Because we didn't blow a ton of money on engagement/wedding shit, we've had much more resources to support the marriage itself. I've heard of regular everyday people spending $3-4k on a fucking ring. We spent 9 days in a few different places in Spain for about that cost instead lol.
Nice. Congrats! Similar take here -- my fiancee and I recently found a vintage setting acquired from an estate sale, plus a stone of her choosing (Labradorite), at a local family-owned jeweler. We ended up with a much more substantial and unique piece, spent way less money, limited our involvement in a predatory trade, and we're gonna put that savings toward a nice experience together.
Just to be devil's advocate.
This is an act of terrorism against OP's wallet
impressive, very nice.
Exactly, just get her some lab grown ones. She won't know the difference. It's okay even if she does, because this website sells them pretty well.
This is cool. Is it legit?
Yep! Ecotricity and Dale Vince are doing a lot of good in this area
My wife's ring: Rose gold with moonstone inlays
My ring: Black ceramic with dyed dinosaur bone
Gold/diamond is so fucking old school boring, you know?
Sure, neither of us can ever resize our rings, but I have a dino bone ring so like, whatever
What dinosaur
Great question, I can't ever remember because my wife got it for me and I never saw the actual information about the thing, I could probably ask her to find the original blacksmiths shop and get the info
I think it's one of the b ones, it's a super common fossil to find in Wyoming or whatever state is known for shit tons of fossils everywhere, I'm very high rn and can't remember shit
There are a lot of cool minerals out there that don't make you go bankrupt if you purchase them.
"But diamonds are forever!" No they're not, in fact, they're actually flammable. *
*in an environment of pure oxygen
Someone watched NileRed
"ill buy you a diamond if you buy me an equally-expensive gaming pc"
"never mind"
Do you know how many different minerals and rocks they are in there? She will ask from the whole body set.
looks sadly at his angle grinder blade for concrete
In case anyone needs to hear it: big red flag for lots of reasons. Don’t put yourself through a relationship like that. Find someone who wants you for you.
Luckily my girlfriend is on board with this
Honestly, they are ugly too. Get a real stone, like charoite or iolite. Oh, maybe moonstone. Anything but basic removed clear rock.
Basic removed: Can use their murder rock to scratch glass, I guess.
Bad removed: Can evolve any Clefairy they come across at a moments notice.
Can't I just punch myself in the face to demonstrate my love and call it a proposal instead?
Use that money to improve the honeymoon instead of an artificially expensive rock?
No, because the wealth and status on display is exactly the point for some women. Especially with social media it becomes a competition to get the most. It's honestly not that far from how some men really like to show off their expensive car as a sign of success.
There are synthetic diamonds, also used as jewelry.
Just buy the fucking fake diamonds 90% the same, but less fucking slave labor and 1/100th of the price
They are actually better as they are more pure
Get her welsh gold instead
Give her some sugar cane and bananas.
You could convincing her well if enough gold carat. Plenty of ways to waste your money on materialism or invest into your family finance futur (depending how you see it.)
They are shiny though. Get some lab-grown ones.
Just microwave some ruby
Instructions unclear: Went too far and now have neutronium.
Instead, I will spend 10k on the equipment to make my own
