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.
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.
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.
I think one of the most common talking points against lab grown is that they are too perfect. “It’s the imperfections that are beautiful” or something like that.
That sentiment they manufactured is exactly what I was, apparently inexpertly, lampooning.
In a certain way I even agree with the sentiment. Of the crystals I have grown myself, the perfect ones are kinda nice, but do look fake/more like plastic. Those that are nearly perfect but have visible impurities (not to much, not to little) are far more visually pleasing to me.
The big BUT is that this in no way is a reason to support blood diamonds. If aesthetic is more worthy to you than human rights, than you are a villain, it’s that simple.
That is just more propaganda. In the netflix program about it they show that they can’t tell the difference.
The whole natural diamond thing is they want to control the volume of diamonds on the market. If you can make them, then there will be such a high production the prices will plummet. The only reason the price is high, is that they keep production low.
Yeah, as of aesthetic imperfections can’t be grown in a lab.
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.
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?
I know very little of gold, minerals in general, or metal, so we’re on the same page there.
I was making a reference to the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. In it, the titular world is carried on the back of four elephants on the back of a turtle swimming through the cosmos. There used to be five elephants, but one fell off. The gravity of the world pulled it around in a circle and it crashed into the world, leaving the elephant’s innards embedded in the ground. Because the elephant supported one fifth of a whole world, its body parts, especially structural components, were not composed of normal organic materials; its bones were of iron and its nerves of gold. In the lore of Discworld, the dwarves essentially mine the body of the elephant for precious materials.
Discworld has complex lore and is a great read. Has nothing to do with the real world, of course; but if any of the above sounds appealing, I strongly suggest reading it.
edit: I apologize if I presented my original comment in a way that made it seem I was correcting you. I was just being nerdy.
Oh. I figured you were making some kind of joke but I honestly had no idea what.
No worries. In many circles, Terry Pratchett is pretty esoteric. I’ll never judge someone for not getting a reference.
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.
All this comment chain is telling me that everyone in this chain above me has a woman they want to redeem for her love of something questionable, lol. Your morals are soft cuz she gets you hard :p
I feel like we were saying the opposite? I am not in any sort of relationship presently.
Tough shit she still wants that drill bit for Christmas
Oh she’ll get drilled for a bit, that’s for sure
Moissanite ftw
Moissanite is extra sparkly compared to diamonds too
Those semi rare gems are the best.
As pretty as the ruby/diamond/emrald stones, but without the absurd costs.
Moissanite has better sparkle and fire than diamond. It literally looks better! And as the article says, it’s mostly about the setting more than the stone
Most of people are happy with shiny thing that won’t start to look cheap as they wear off. We can’t all of us be jeweler after all.
Ruby etc. is dirt cheap?
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 is the absolute best.
I bought my mom two sets of moissanite jewelry for generic winter holiday times this year! Matching necklace and earrings!
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.
Give her industrial diamonds. Something with a practical use.
Industrial drill bits are a girl’s best friend.
Anything is a dildo if you try hard enough?
drilldo
It takes you for a spin.
Trying so hard that they need diamonds
“Why this diamond dick so cloudy?!”
A million (bleep)ing diamonds!
Ooo, I would love some diamond sharpening stones for xmas.
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.
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
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
looks sadly at his angle grinder blade for concrete
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
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.
“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.
Luckily my girlfriend is on board with this
