[HN Gopher] What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?
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What's the case for naturally mined diamonds anymore?
Author : ramsj
Score : 20 points
Date : 2023-08-26 18:09 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.ft.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.ft.com)
| archo wrote:
| https://archive.is/O3D8o
| mcdirty wrote:
| Thank you. So many pay wall links these days.
| xhkkffbf wrote:
| I bought a pair of 7mm diamonds that are said to be made with
| chemical vapor deposition. They're very nice and very cheap, at
| least relative to the mined diamonds. If anything, they're too
| perfect. The natural ones are imperfect in the way that real wood
| siding is less perfect than vinyl siding on a house.
| mvnuweucxqokii wrote:
| > "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.
| sealeck wrote:
| At least there is some aesthetic difference between a Swiss
| watch and an Apple Watch.
| cjs_ac wrote:
| Here's one for PS15: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7627747
| tempestn wrote:
| 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.
| ramsj wrote:
| If people move on to some other form of signaling that is less
| exploitative (of people and the environment), great!
| yrwelikethis wrote:
| Potentially a fair point vis a vis the environment, but it's
| not really true of people as far as DeBeers is concerned. I
| know people that work for them in Botswana and I hear nothing
| but good things about them as an employer. On the
| environment, Kimberlites are pretty small and the
| environmental impact of primary diamond mining isn't really
| that great in the grand scheme of things. Take this with a
| pinch of salt from a guy on the internet sharing some
| anecdata etc etc.
| ramsj wrote:
| De Beers is only ~25% of total annual carats of diamonds
| mined.
| mvnuweucxqokii wrote:
| Fair point!
| mytailorisrich wrote:
| A diamond manufactured becomes a product like any other, an
| iPhone, a TV, whatever.
|
| There is something more profound with holding a stone that was
| forged deep in the Earth and somehow mined from there, too, even
| if chemically it's the exact same thing.
| ramsj wrote:
| I'm too utilitarian to see the distinction, but I guess that
| feeling is valid in others.
| boppo1 wrote:
| 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.
| brnt wrote:
| I exclusively hear this from US folks. Would love to see a
| breakdown of where DeBeers makes its money. Frankly I can't
| imagine anyone I know caring about this.
| sealeck wrote:
| 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".
| jiggawatts wrote:
| 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.
| Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote:
| Some people have been trying to make inclusions the new fetch
| which is stupid since if are so much better. Diamond does
| have superiority something like moassinite but the cost
| differential is way more than 3x for minor differences in
| wearability.
| aaron695 wrote:
| [dead]
| xhkkffbf wrote:
| 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.
| analog31 wrote:
| Glad I married a scientist. ;-)
| akomtu wrote:
| Diamonds are NFTs of the real world.
| ramsj wrote:
| I lol'd at this! Pretty accurate.
| yieldcrv wrote:
| Network effects from other women
|
| At least in the consumer world
|
| Glad to read thats changing
| more_corn wrote:
| None?
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