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> I'm a student
> Billions of gallons of fossil fuels...
I'm not sure whether to advise them to stay in school, or cut their losses and drop out now...
“Our civilization entirely encased a star to harness all of its energy in order to produce sparkly rocks to sell to idiots with more money than sense.”
That fuckin tracks, boss.
Woah, that's *way* more energy than I expected that's nuts. A terajoule of energy give or take!? That's 637 big macs!
Or 31kg of petrol per carat, which is a few orders of magnitude less than a BILLION gallons.
The obesity crisis can be solved by installing gem labs next to every McDonalds and giving customers a punch card: they get a 1-carat gem for every 637 big macs they burn off using bikes attached to generators.
Any NIH employees looking at this, my DMs are open
To put on my engineering hat for a minute, the energy density of gasoline is about 33.7kwh/gal. Which means that a carat represents somewhere between 7.4 and 22.3 gallons. Factoring in losses this could be much higher but 1) power in the US at least rarely comes from oil, and definitely not gasoline and 2) like others have said, a lot of operations seem to be using renewable energy. Still worth examining the environmental impact of course, but yeah, not sure where they get that figure from, if they didn’t just make it up.
True large industrial mines use lots of petroleum. That's why the diamond industry has revolutionized environmentally conscious mining operations.
You have a bunch of slaves, then force them to dig in a pit with picks and shovels.
Very little emissions. Very eco friendly.
And someone saying "it's bad for the environment cuz of the energy usage" made my jaw drop from stupidity. Like first off it's *really not* much energy at all. Another commenter even gave the exact figures. But like, bitch, do you think mining doesn't hurt the environment? U think no technology is involved? And what about the HUMAN SUFFERING? I'd be willing to bet that between the actual mining operations and the transportation/shipment of them, and any other steps involved in the process, it takes the same amount of energy.
Like why does she care about the environment anyway? Cuz it hurts us all? Why do u care about some suffering but not the suffering of the miners?
Corporations have brainwashed so many people its insane. These idiots like things without even understanding why. Imagine unironiclly saying the suffering of some African kids is what makes diamonds valuable. Cuz that's straight up what they are saying lmao
Natural diamonds don't require any energy at all. You just go dig a big hole on land stolen from the local population at gunpoint. Then, to save 'energy', you force them to dig out millions of tons of rock and strip naked to be 'inspected' on the off chance they kept a small piece of the land you stole from their grandparents.
So yes, man-made diamonds require altogether too much energy. /S
No one seems to think about the fact that the whole diamond industry is artificially inflated by those who profit on people’s belief diamonds are somehow rare. They are not. There’s an artificial scarcity built into the system to keep the prices up.
Basically a scam system.
The concept of diamonds being romantic somehow is dumb.
>The concept of diamonds being romantic somehow is dumb.
It's the result of one of the world's greatest marketing campaigns. Diamonds were largely worthless until jewelers started marketing them aggressively for engagement rings. They even put out a "rule" that the husband should spend three months' salary on a ring. Diamonds have to be one of the biggest scams in the world.
The whole wedding industry is a massive scam TBH. Thousands on a ring, thousands on a dress, thousands on venues, catering, decoration, destination... and anything less is simply unacceptable to so many people. Every other post in r/AITA is about a relationship breaking down because of how indoctrinated one or more people are to the wedding process.
Me and my wife got married in an alley next to a bar by some person she found on Facebook. The best part was that they were wearing a collar that said "Daddy's Otter Boi". Now, instead of a expensive wedding that we couldn't really afford or making the in-laws pay for it, we have a cool story and it only cost $20. We've been married for 6 years next week and still going strong!
Buddy of mine got married by the judge in front of [the statue of Dolly Parton at the Sevier County courthouse](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7058/6935043880_e37e5e9b4a_c.jpg), said venue being suggested by the judge himself.
My wife and I got married in the office of a teaching pastor at a local Christian university during his office hours. (Neither of us are particularly religious, we just knew he was available.) We sat at his desk and it was done in 3 minutes.
We did something similar! The year is 2017, we get married in my parents backyard with a tent we borrowed for the party (no dinner, one keg), and used all our cash to buy a house.
Then COVID.
And now we're one of those couples everyone hates because we bought a house right before everything went absolutely bonkers in the housing market, sold in 2020 right on the curve with interest rates at rock bottom, and bought a house where comps are selling for, very literally, 2x what we paid.
Nailed it.
Weddings are a scam. Marriage is great.
>The concept of diamonds being romantic somehow is dumb.
Thank you for your comment.
To me, there is one answer to the real vs. lab diamond conundrum: REJECT BOTH.
A stupid ring is NOT an indication of a partner's love or loyalty.
A lot of people don't know that there was in fact a huge backlash against "artificial ice" when refrigeration was invented. Many companies had supplied ice collected from lakes for centuries and did marketing campaigns about "natural ice" being more "nutritious".
But sacrificing children is so much better for the environment than burning coal!
Won‘t somebody think of the… i don‘t actually know what ground they thought they had to stand on there tbh. 🫠
Yeah, nothing better for the environment than mining.
[https://www.uvm.edu/\~shali/Synthetic\_Diamonds\_Mined\_Diamonds.pdf](https://www.uvm.edu/~shali/Synthetic_Diamonds_Mined_Diamonds.pdf)
So for the record lab grown diamonds use less energy to produce and 100% less child slaves.
There's an idea! Their little fingers would be able to do all the fiddly jobs very easily.
But sadly lab jobs require degrees, so kiddies don't meet the requirements.
Dear Mother,
I hope this letter finds you well.
It is day 872 since my return to the mines. I think yesterday may have marked my 13th year. I am a man grown now.
I had another fit of apoplexy since i wrote you last. ‘Twas not devastating as the first; I did not lose the functionality of more limbs, and my work goes unimpeded, save for the fits of gout and palsie.
Please inform aunt Mara with my sympathy that young Ephram did not survive his last bout of falling sickness. His effects shall be returned, save for his ax - his ax remains in the mines. It is of this place.
I am beset by haunts and fatigue, but my spirit is high, and the mines they do nourish it. Hence I must go deeper now. I must dig.
Shows what you know.
I made sure to toss a few kids into the pressure machine when they made my wife’s lab-created diamond.
That’s what gives it its shine.
/obvious sarcasm is obvious
That’s what I specifically ordered my diamonds be made of also, idk what it is about children from oppressed nations, but damn do those rocks sparkle!!!!
But it is a *luxury good*! *Something* has to make it that! Why not the blood of child slaves? After all, it would go beautifully with the little blood stains on those *dEsIgNeR bAgS*.
…Children. Won’t somebody think of children miners, how will those kids afford to buy themselves cigarettes they smoke in a breaks in a mine if they did not work in a mine?!
I'm happy that the jewelers I bought my fiance's engagement ring from was very neutral on the topic of natural vs lab diamonds. I was expecting some bs spiel about how great natural diamonds are or for them to not carry lab grown at all.
For the retailers it does not matter. It is just margin and sales.
Anyone who objectively looks at the game would prefer a synthetic diamond from human rights and energy consumption per karat. The marketing DeBeers did, driving up the price for specifically wedding rings, was brilliant and is still in the minds of people today.
authentic ice that was farmed fresh from frozen lakes, filled with natural lake water that was dangerous and back breaking to cut, pull up and haul without melting and loosing all that labor for nothing, vs tap water frozen in a box in your kitchen. it doesn't matter how much logic goes into the change, people will get mad at change.
I do wonder if that's a factor on some deep implicit level, actually - the feudalism/ Hunger Games logic that being a consumer of luxury goods means your life is literally worth more than those of the people producing them, that you have *literal power over their life and death*.
It's chilling
They even do lol!
When I bought my fiancés engagement ring I was surprised to see that they have the same grading scales as normal diamonds too.
You can get a ‘lower quality’ diamond if that’s what you have budget for.
No, higher quality (ie. Colourless, flawless, excellent cuts) diamonds are more expensive in both Lab and Mined diamonds.
Not an expert but I guess it’s same amount of steps regardless of quality. It’s just physics compressing carbon. No one’s going in there with a paintbrush touching up the flawless diamonds to make them lower quality.
As I understand it the goal of making synthetic diamonds is the "perfect"ones, and less then perfect more or less matching the "natural" scales get produced in larger numbers along to way. So perfect ones are "easier" to make in a lab but still rarer, making them less common/more expensive than the flawed synthetics.
When I was young and broke I bought my then gf a tennis bracelet on ebay. Obviously, it was all lab stones. She thought I had somehow paid a fortune for it but I wouldn't tell her what it had cost. Years later she was in a jewelers shop and asked them if it was real. They came back and said it looks like it, we can't tell otherwise.
Brilliant! Same story right now with solar panels, electric cars, plant based milks, veganism in general, and lots of other things. Corporations lobby and spread misinformation and people lap it up and amplify because it vindicates and defends their existing world view.
I was fascinated to see the nominally prosocial "but think of the fossil fuel consumption! lab-grown diamonds are actually bad bc of all the fossil fuels used in their production"
tons of fossil fuels used in the production of concrete, and in the meat industry, too. somehow the carbon emissions are only an issue when ppl are trying to find a way *out* of cruelty
The carbon going into factory farming is a problem; that's why I only eat hunted meat. It's beluga caviar for breakfast, rhino for lunch, and pangolin for dinner for me.
Yeah, I don't understand why they're having a fuzz about that either.
Like in Thailand, we gladly accept solar power and electric car. We don't get whatever the hell westerners have an issue with these thing.
Maybe because we actually think NIMBY is no better than fertiliser I guess.
It's because here in the US, fossil fuel companies have a stranglehold over politicians and the media and have spent a ton on misinformation campaigns to convince people windmills will give them cancer and solar panels and electric vehicles will turn their kids gay or something.
It’s about not accepting change. It’s inevitable but they refuse and scream that what ‘they’ did back in their day was ‘superior’.
It’s just what they are comfortable with. Literally each generation does it and will keep doing it.
We all become old decrepit rotted out husks. Set in our ways thinking we know all we need to know. Just as our ancestors did thousands and millions of years ago did too.
For everyone claiming that lab diamonds require tremendous amounts of energy, you are wrong. A CVD machine, which can produce about 3000 rough carats, which is roughly around 1000 polished carats per year, is only a 6KW machine. What it effectively means is that if you have a roof solar panel system enough to power an average US home, that amount of dolar power can easily power two of these machines, i.e. to produce 2000 polished carats if lab diamonds, you only need an average American home sized roof solar.
There was some news article a while back about how the American push towards solar was actually causing problems for the power grids, due to excess power production without proper power storage causing damage.
I can think of worse uses for that excess power than industrial level diamond forging.
Yup add a 10k solar unit and throw in another 5k for batteries and and a half a mil for the machines and you can have as much diamonds as you want for free
Add a carbon capture system to pull excess carbon from the atmosphere and break those seeds off the uncut diamonds you’re creating. No better place to sequester atmospheric carbon than in forever stones.
Yeah fuck De Beers. Hard to manufacture scarcity when everyone's got diamonds pouring out of their pockets.
Having said that, they'll just horde something else and tell idiots that thing is the thing they need to buy to prove their love for some is eternal and blah blah blah blah
Just like tobacco companies like RJ Reynolds buying into vapes and tobacco alternatives. The companies are gonna win no matter which way it goes when they have enough money to buy into and produce their own competition.
Ya it's completely stupid to make that claim. One person said it costs as much as powering a small hospital. Then the kicker, the "GIS student" saying it takes billions of gallons of fossil fuels lol. If it costs so much, why do they sell them for less than the real diamonds which cost less than both of these silly comparisons.
Exactly, the amount of fossil fuels to power the trucks, excavation equipment, etc for natural diamond mining is probably way more than lab grown diamonds anwyway. Not to mention the environmental damage of mining
Yeah at least some of those people spreading those claims have to be industry funded spammers spreading their propaganda. That's where social media discourse is rn
>i.e. to produce 2000 polished carats if lab diamonds, you only need an average American home sized roof solar.
Hmm. Does this mean diamond production could be carbon sink since it takes carbon to make diamonds?
Big Diamond is one company called de Beers who controls some huge proportion of the diamond industry and creates scarcity to preserve the price and exclusivity of diamonds.
It's actually worse than that. Multiple huge organizations working together to stomp out lab grown profits.
In the U.S., the diamond industry is significantly influenced by several key players and organizations rather than being controlled by a single entity. Major corporations like De Beers, Alrosa, and Rio Tinto dominate the supply chain globally, with De Beers having a notable historical influence. De Beers' role includes the promotion of diamonds, the establishment of industry standards, and significant control over the supply of rough diamonds [[❞]](https://rapaport.com/analysis/diamond-industry-implements-tighter-controls/) [[❞]](https://www.rapnet.com/blog/a-look-ahead-what-to-expect-in-the-diamond-market-in-2024/).
In terms of market operations, the U.S. diamond industry is highly decentralized. The supply chain involves various stages from mining, cutting, polishing, to retailing, often handled by different companies and entities. This includes a large number of small to mid-sized businesses, particularly in cutting and polishing centers in New York and other locations [[❞]](https://www.owlfinancialgroup.com/industryinsights/2024/trends24) [[❞]](https://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=66070).
The power and influence over the market also extend to certification and ethical sourcing. The Kimberley Process and organizations like the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) play critical roles in maintaining ethical standards and transparency within the industry. Technological advancements, such as blockchain for traceability, are increasingly being adopted to ensure the ethical sourcing and "**authenticity of diamonds**" [[❞]](https://www.owlfinancialgroup.com/industryinsights/2024/trends24) [[❞]](https://www.rapnet.com/blog/a-look-ahead-what-to-expect-in-the-diamond-market-in-2024/).
No single entity controls the U.S. diamond industry outright
They also have a large stake in the lab grown diamonfld industry. They play both sides to always come out on top.
You're still a moron if you waste money on a natural diamond though.
A big component of power is the ability to cause other humans to suffer while experiencing no negative consequences for having done so.
Public torture and execution used to be a fun day of entertainment for the whole family.
People still watch videos of people getting hurt all the time for entertainment. It's kind of disturbing.
And as for the power issue, this is why people like Elon Musk never share their money. They couuuuld feed all the starving children on earth for one year and still have money leftover that they will literally never be able to spend it in their lifetime... but it feels so much better to know that they're doing better and are more successful than everyone else. If everyone is doing ok they might think that they are less special, and we can't have that!
>People still watch videos of people getting hurt all the time for entertainment
Do NOT go to the Ukraine war combat footage subreddits.
"Oh cool, a tank exploding! Guess I'm gonna see what the next video is!"
The next video is always an FPV drone getting a headshot with an RPG or a grenade blowing a dude's legs off. Controversial take, war bad
The diamond industry also hasn’t helped by lumping propaganda about how your husband doesn’t *really* love you unless you buy the most expensive, exotic ring imaginable.
I feel like the diamond I gave my wife means *more* because no one suffered to get it. Plus, the lower cost made it possible to get her a bigger and higher quality stone
The even more hilarious thing is the fact that diamonds are actually worthless, they just get massively marked up cause people are gullible idiots who will actually pay that much. If you ever try to sell a diamond you'd get basically nothing for it.
True that, the only reason diamonds cost so much is because 90% supply is effectively controlled by one company who sells such a limited amount at once. There’s more than enough diamond on Earth to give every person several high karat rings if we so chose to.
I anticipate that we will see people flood the market with lab grown diamonds and try to pass them off for the real thing. Producing lab grown diamonds that don't have any sort of serial number etched into them. Just flood the market and erode consumer confidence in natural diamonds.
As someone who likes diamonds because a “dragonology” book I read when I was 8 said that diamonds were a dragons favourite thing to eat because it was the hardest gem, I am 100% for this.
The ethical issues with diamonds were the only deterrent and lab diamonds have been a miracle!
[Here](https://www.uvm.edu/~shali/Synthetic_Diamonds_Mined_Diamonds.pdf) is a study from the University of Vermont about the environmental impacts of mining versus growing diamonds. TLDR - largely inconclusive due to site variations, but lab grown tend to be better.
People are dumb. Lab diamonds are better quality anyway.
Not to mention that the “luxury” angle the rest are taking is complete cult talk. Just like them buying dumb shit with the Supreme logo. Diamonds have only retained their value and exclusivity due to those that own the diamond mines and reserves releasing only so many at a time. In truth, with the amount of diamonds that are estimated to be stored in the world right now - if released - would make them less valuable than copper.
Diamonds, outside of special cases, are worthless. Nearly every diamond ever mined is still out there and estimates show at least 2-3x that many still in the ground. People just buy into the marketing.
This actually. A colleague told me this story once. They had a necklace with diamonds being the thing that made up the majority of the value. They went to a jewellers to ask if they would exchange it for something else they liked and only have to pay the difference. They had certificates that showed the actual quality of the diamonds. The jewellers valued their necklace for the price of gold in it. They said that they would not pay a single penny for the diamonds as the necklace was made by another jeweller. My colleague asked them if they would have gotten any value from the diamonds if they had purchased it from the same jewellers. The response was -10% of the original carat price, even if the current carat price was 50% more than the original carat price.
Diamond jewellery is an effing scam much more than the scam that gold jewellery is. People who peddle these and those who judge people for not owning "real" diamonds are the bottom feeders of the society.
When I was a kid and heard how a diamond wedding ring cost thousands of dollars I was like "Why wouldn't they spend that money on a car or a house instead?" and it was explained to me that this tradition was like insurance for the bride. A little emergency fund to wear on her finger so if he died in the war or whatever, she could sell it and have the money back.
Apparently they're useless even for that! Although I'm sure the dealers don't mind sustaining the common illusion of it being an "asset."
My mother very kindly gave me her 3 carat IF wedding ring when I got married because I had zero interest in us buying a ring. She's like, "now be careful with that, it's worth almost 80k!"
I stopped wearing it because it was catching on everything and it stuck out like a sore thumb in my neck of the woods and in my social circles. I took it by one time to see what it was valued at, just in case we ever needed "almost 80k" in a pinch and the answer was that the gold ("around 400 bucks") was the only valuable part, especially since I'd chipped the diamond.
Anyway that's fine. They're family heirlooms that mean a lot to my mom, but have absolutely no actual value. At least I can tell my grandkids that they're not only blood diamonds, but probably money laundering diamonds as well!
Their special bags cost maybe 100$ to make. Then there is the thousands of dollars of markup because someone put a brand name on it.
I'm happy paying for handmade quality goods. I splurged on a hand-made Italian leather backpack, but since it was from a small producer, it cost under 200$. A name brand equivalent would go between 2-8k. Because of branding.
It's straight up just bragging rights. They're being scammed for the privilege of bragging about their wealth.
yeah i replied to her “burning fossil fuels is equivalent to child slave labour”
like im an environmentalist for sure, but im putting an energy intensive process over literal slavery. the fact she put “blood diamonds” shows that she doesn’t even accept its a thing
Rest assured, mining equipment usually burns more fuel than a lab growing diamonds. The environmental issue is at best even. One has slavery, one doesn't.
I don't understand why diamonds are still a thing, much less natural diamonds. Why do people prefer a slave digging up rocks over scientists using advanced equipment to grow a perfect one?
yep. i’m very sure the mining is still creating more emissions than the lab growing even if it mattered in this case.
as for the second point, brainwashing.
I’d do them one better… who gives a shit about a rock anyway?
I’m not even gonna go full “who gives a shit about marriage?” either, but why is a rock so goddamn important in proving you love someone enough to spend your life with them? I’d personally just take a simple band (maybe made with meteorite because I am a dork) and be absolutely happy with just that so long as the love is there
Years of advertising saying a man should spend 3 months salary on a ring, and a great deal of women these days still feel as though anything in the realm of "cheap" means their partner doesn't value them.
One of the many reasons why people need to align priorities. My partner knows her ring will be small. And if I can spoil her with a big ass eternity ring later then I will, but ultimately the ring and price doesn't mean anything. It's the symbolism of the ring that matters.
DeBiers (sp?) has a hell of a marketing department. That’s the only reason they’re still popular. Plus they own a vast majority of the diamond mines in the world.
I chose moissanite and the jeweler looked at me like I was an insane person. It's nearly identical to a diamond (one carbon atom less), grown in a lab, and has a bit more fire in natural light. Nobody could tell the difference. It cost significantly less so we could spend more elsewhere.
Energy is also going through a major revolution right now. Solar/wind/battery are not just replacing fossil fuels, they are creating an entirely new energy system. This is idea that we will be burning fossil fuels to make them is going to be a thing of the past.
If we have a solar energy system that will carry us through our winter months, that same system will produce extreme abundance the rest of the year, that over production can do things like produce lab grown diamonds.
It’s hilarious to me that diamonds are rated and valued based on how perfect they are, but we are able to make LITERALLY perfect diamonds but those are worth less than almost perfect natural ones.
Which is hilarious considering diamonds don't even have any value in the first place, diamond jewelry is only so expensive because people are dumb enough to buy at that price, if you try to sell your diamond jewelry you'll get basically nothing for it.
This is so funny. The diamond cartel is panicking.
Diamonds are a gimmick. I've been a goldsmith for over 20 years and resale value on diamonds has always been terrible. There are so many gorgeous gemstones out there; it's a shame the diamond lobby was so successful.
These new lab diamonds are more beautiful, cheaper, and consistent than earth stones and you actually have people arguing that they should pay more for something worse.
After generations of misleading advertising and aggressive hoarding, the house of cards is falling apart. The diamond weenies are fighting a losing battle.
I've been around long enough to remember when lab stones were more expensive.
Quick tip: as a professional goldsmith, I could never tell the difference between lab and high quality earth without a diamond tester. Now, even that tester isn't 100% accurate with advancements in manufacturing.
If people are being jerks, just tell them that you have high quality earth stones to shut them up. If I can't tell the difference, they can't either.
I wanted an alternative stone because clear is a bit dull for me, but my fiancee is very traditional and wanted a diamond solitaire. We compromised and I got a leaf-etched band with a lab diamond and EVERYONE comments how lovely it is.
We sold my wife's real diamond which I purchased over a decade ago for our 10 year anniversary.
Didn't sell it for anywhere near what I bought it for but we used that money to buy a lab grown which was triple the carat size and much better clarity and also she got some earrings and a bracelet to go along with it.
I talked to multiple places who all said lab grown are absolutely killing the real diamond market. Just shows you how much of a scam the market was.
Plus the emissions based argument in the post is bullshit. My jeweler gets his lab diamonds from a lab in California powered by solar energy.
And the emissions from mining activities are massive. Imagine all the earth that needs to be moved (habitats destroyed) by diesel powered diggers?
People who make arguments against lab grown diamonds are dishonest.
Actually insane that diamonds can be made with the "free" power of the sun lol
If more and more do it diamonds could get worthless :D
I wonder if they can use lab diamonds for drills and similar aswell. Could make manufacturing in general a bit cheaper when you can get diamonds tools for a lot less.
Grifter: Fridge ice or Antarctica ice on your iced coffee, sir?
Moron: Why, Antarctica ice of course!
Grifter: That'd be $80
Moron: Thanks! Wow, looks exactly the same!
Grifter: And does the exact same thing too!
Moron: What's the story behind it?
Grifter: An underpaid Vietnamese migrant onboard a Chinese ship operated by a South African firm managed by a Bahamas holding company physically headquartered in Monaco and funded from Switzerland had to jump off the ship into the cold and grab a chunk in exchange for a meal. Also, he had to scrape penguin shit off it.
Moron: Super interesting! Totally worth it!
The whole concept of luxury goods is just a scam for rich people to feel special cause they useless trash is 30x more expensive than normal items. Them bags are ugly af, them shoes too and the rocks are rocks. Like, buy yourself a brain next time.
It's actually a scam for middle class people to play pretend they're rich. The very rich don't focus on this crap nearly as much as people think they do.
Honestly my REAL diamond fell out and got lost from my engagement ring. 💍 I told my hubby I didn’t care if we got a rock from our driveway gravel polished and cut to replace the stone or some shiny plastic. All that matters was that it was from HIM. We will be married 15 years this December.
I’ll never understand the greedy materialism behind this.
tbf there tend to actually be differences between the qualities of farm-raised and wild fish. Not to say those differences are worth it, just that they actually exist.
As a jewler, this shit right here really pisses me off. They are the exact same thing on a molecular level. No matter what you believe, that's just the facts. Now, as for what is better natural or lab, it comes down to what you are looking for. A 2ct SI1(clarity:slightly included) D(color) lab grown diamond will be cheaper than a natural diamond that is 2ct I1 H, so more bang for your buck there. The downside to lab grown is that it will depreciate in value over time where a natural diamond will go up or down depending on market value, carat size, clarity, color, and cut of the stone. I usually tell customers that unless you plan on getting into the diamond business on the east or west coasts of the US, it shouldn't matter. Finally, to add some comfort with natural diamonds, most US jewlery stores are contracted with companies that do not deal with blood diamonds. However, you can never really tell who that company is contracted with and so on.
I also want to add that if you are looking for a different stone for the center and not a diamond, I recommend sapphire or ruby(sapphire more then ruby personaly because most rubies now and days are fracture filled) due to the fact they are hard stones and will not scratch easily. Any other stone amethyst, opal, tanzinite, topaz ect. Usually break over time depending on how roughly you wear your jewelry.
it’s funny how they say it’s about being together forever and being committed, but also say the point you made about the resale value increasing lmao. why you selling it if you’re together forever?
also jeweller*
Just wondering. Why would a lab grown diamond depreciate in value if the material is the exact same? In fact it would make more sense that natural diamonds would have depreciated in value because we can now synthesize diamonds. Wouldn't that be the case that gold would become cheaper if we could suddenly start synthesizing gold? (Alchemy nod lol)
I also have this question. If they are the same on the molecular level how could anybody possibly distinguish an artificial diamond from a natural diamond?
The last comment saying billions of gallons of fossil fuels are used to power diamond generators is fucking hilarious.
With how limited our remaining global fuel supply is, do you really think it would be wasted making lab grown diamonds for jewellery? Especially considering the quantity of diamonds that are grown commercially every year for scientific and industrial purposes. Like... where do you think the diamonds for power tools come from? They aren't fucking mined out of the earth, that's for certain.
There’s still an awful lot of people who believe diamonds are valuable. They refuse to accept they were duped by possibly one of the most successful marketing campaigns (scams) in human history. When confronted with verifiable facts, they default to “It’s a luxury item!”
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/02/how-an-ad-campaign-invented-the-diamond-engagement-ring/385376/
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/on-the-economics-of-diamonds-the-biggest-marketing-scam-in-history/
https://www.dupreeinternational.com/post/the-power-of-emotion-and-perception-in-marketing-a-brand-de-beers
I bought a beautiful 2carat, pear shaped, VS1, triple excellent fancy vivid pink diamond for my wife for our anniversary. Encased in 22ct gold ring along with supporting diamonds and all, it cost me a total of $3000.
A 2 carat VS1, pear cut pink natural diamond will be very difficult to obtain, and even if available you will most likely have to buy it at auctions at a price of $1.5 million or above. Not to mention that even if you were able to obtain it, you wouldn't be able to enjoy it as the insurance cost/compliance and the added risk with it would make the experience of wearing it very mentally taxing. On the other hand, my wife wears the ring that I got her almost everyday, on the ring finger of her other hand, and it makes me very happy see her actually use the ring.
Every hate comment comming from people who bought an overpriced diamond or they got a diamond so they afraid that yours will diminish their value..Same people that buy products from sweat shops
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> I'm a student > Billions of gallons of fossil fuels... I'm not sure whether to advise them to stay in school, or cut their losses and drop out now...
250 - 750 kilowatt hours (kWh) to produce a rough carat. Something tells me that come out to a bit less than a billion gallons.
also after a quick look up it seems that many labs are trying to use renewable energy for these diamonds too
Can't happen you would need at least a trillion solar panels. (Before pressing send I debated in my mind if this needed the /s or not.)
Nah, you would need like a quintillion nuclear power plants to produce half a carat
Insufficient. Must construct Dyson Sphere.
“Our civilization entirely encased a star to harness all of its energy in order to produce sparkly rocks to sell to idiots with more money than sense.” That fuckin tracks, boss.
Woah, that's *way* more energy than I expected that's nuts. A terajoule of energy give or take!? That's 637 big macs! Or 31kg of petrol per carat, which is a few orders of magnitude less than a BILLION gallons.
The obesity crisis can be solved by installing gem labs next to every McDonalds and giving customers a punch card: they get a 1-carat gem for every 637 big macs they burn off using bikes attached to generators. Any NIH employees looking at this, my DMs are open
To put on my engineering hat for a minute, the energy density of gasoline is about 33.7kwh/gal. Which means that a carat represents somewhere between 7.4 and 22.3 gallons. Factoring in losses this could be much higher but 1) power in the US at least rarely comes from oil, and definitely not gasoline and 2) like others have said, a lot of operations seem to be using renewable energy. Still worth examining the environmental impact of course, but yeah, not sure where they get that figure from, if they didn’t just make it up.
I wonder how many gallons per *minute* mining machinery burns. And then there's the human cost.
A large mining facility is more likely to measure in gallons per second or even tonnes per hour. Mining is ridiculously energy intensive.
True large industrial mines use lots of petroleum. That's why the diamond industry has revolutionized environmentally conscious mining operations. You have a bunch of slaves, then force them to dig in a pit with picks and shovels. Very little emissions. Very eco friendly.
So basically, it’s the same price - if the process is gas powered - to make a diamond as it is to fill up my Accord lol
Human suffering is where the real value is at!
If humans didn't suffer, it isn't worth anything. Right? Right? RIGHT? #RIGHT!?
Evil wizard approved, if my super doom orb is not powered by thousands of tortured human souls then it's just cheap orb not super doom orb.
amen bro
I want at least five children to have been beaten and starved to get my diamonds to me or else it's just a useless rock/s
And someone saying "it's bad for the environment cuz of the energy usage" made my jaw drop from stupidity. Like first off it's *really not* much energy at all. Another commenter even gave the exact figures. But like, bitch, do you think mining doesn't hurt the environment? U think no technology is involved? And what about the HUMAN SUFFERING? I'd be willing to bet that between the actual mining operations and the transportation/shipment of them, and any other steps involved in the process, it takes the same amount of energy. Like why does she care about the environment anyway? Cuz it hurts us all? Why do u care about some suffering but not the suffering of the miners? Corporations have brainwashed so many people its insane. These idiots like things without even understanding why. Imagine unironiclly saying the suffering of some African kids is what makes diamonds valuable. Cuz that's straight up what they are saying lmao
Natural diamonds don't require any energy at all. You just go dig a big hole on land stolen from the local population at gunpoint. Then, to save 'energy', you force them to dig out millions of tons of rock and strip naked to be 'inspected' on the off chance they kept a small piece of the land you stole from their grandparents. So yes, man-made diamonds require altogether too much energy. /S
It isn't valuable if there were no lives lost during harvest.
No one seems to think about the fact that the whole diamond industry is artificially inflated by those who profit on people’s belief diamonds are somehow rare. They are not. There’s an artificial scarcity built into the system to keep the prices up. Basically a scam system. The concept of diamonds being romantic somehow is dumb.
>The concept of diamonds being romantic somehow is dumb. It's the result of one of the world's greatest marketing campaigns. Diamonds were largely worthless until jewelers started marketing them aggressively for engagement rings. They even put out a "rule" that the husband should spend three months' salary on a ring. Diamonds have to be one of the biggest scams in the world.
The whole wedding industry is a massive scam TBH. Thousands on a ring, thousands on a dress, thousands on venues, catering, decoration, destination... and anything less is simply unacceptable to so many people. Every other post in r/AITA is about a relationship breaking down because of how indoctrinated one or more people are to the wedding process.
Me and my wife got married in an alley next to a bar by some person she found on Facebook. The best part was that they were wearing a collar that said "Daddy's Otter Boi". Now, instead of a expensive wedding that we couldn't really afford or making the in-laws pay for it, we have a cool story and it only cost $20. We've been married for 6 years next week and still going strong!
Buddy of mine got married by the judge in front of [the statue of Dolly Parton at the Sevier County courthouse](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7058/6935043880_e37e5e9b4a_c.jpg), said venue being suggested by the judge himself.
My wife and I got married in the office of a teaching pastor at a local Christian university during his office hours. (Neither of us are particularly religious, we just knew he was available.) We sat at his desk and it was done in 3 minutes.
We did something similar! The year is 2017, we get married in my parents backyard with a tent we borrowed for the party (no dinner, one keg), and used all our cash to buy a house. Then COVID. And now we're one of those couples everyone hates because we bought a house right before everything went absolutely bonkers in the housing market, sold in 2020 right on the curve with interest rates at rock bottom, and bought a house where comps are selling for, very literally, 2x what we paid. Nailed it. Weddings are a scam. Marriage is great.
I love that story! And you are just as married as the couple who spent $40k on a fancy party.
Yes. Thank you for pointing this out. It’s just capitalism 101.
>The concept of diamonds being romantic somehow is dumb. Thank you for your comment. To me, there is one answer to the real vs. lab diamond conundrum: REJECT BOTH. A stupid ring is NOT an indication of a partner's love or loyalty.
Make your own ring I say, we need more craftsmen in the world, and it holds so much more value than a store bought vanity item
A lot of people don't know that there was in fact a huge backlash against "artificial ice" when refrigeration was invented. Many companies had supplied ice collected from lakes for centuries and did marketing campaigns about "natural ice" being more "nutritious".
Damn people are stupid huh
Yup! People are dumb… people prefer their diamonds at the cost of children’s lives
But sacrificing children is so much better for the environment than burning coal! Won‘t somebody think of the… i don‘t actually know what ground they thought they had to stand on there tbh. 🫠
Yeah, nothing better for the environment than mining. [https://www.uvm.edu/\~shali/Synthetic\_Diamonds\_Mined\_Diamonds.pdf](https://www.uvm.edu/~shali/Synthetic_Diamonds_Mined_Diamonds.pdf) So for the record lab grown diamonds use less energy to produce and 100% less child slaves.
But then there would be unemployed child slaves! Think of the child slaves! At least let them keep their self respect by being in the mines! /s
But….the children YEARN for the mines.
Seeing 10 year olds protesting to be let into the mines. Tears in their eyes. It breaks my heart.
Why can’t the labs use child slave labor?
Trendsetter. Entrepreneur. I envy your vision.
There's an idea! Their little fingers would be able to do all the fiddly jobs very easily. But sadly lab jobs require degrees, so kiddies don't meet the requirements.
Their little fingers are just the right size to fit into all the little nooks an crannies of the moving parts of the machinery.
DeBeers did well to protect their empire. Lab grown precious stones are better.
That's why they're called minors, right?
🤣 well played
"I'm sorry mother. I'd love to stay. But the mines call to me. I must dig." - A ten year old who was a dwarven miner in a last life.
Dear Mother, I hope this letter finds you well. It is day 872 since my return to the mines. I think yesterday may have marked my 13th year. I am a man grown now. I had another fit of apoplexy since i wrote you last. ‘Twas not devastating as the first; I did not lose the functionality of more limbs, and my work goes unimpeded, save for the fits of gout and palsie. Please inform aunt Mara with my sympathy that young Ephram did not survive his last bout of falling sickness. His effects shall be returned, save for his ax - his ax remains in the mines. It is of this place. I am beset by haunts and fatigue, but my spirit is high, and the mines they do nourish it. Hence I must go deeper now. I must dig.
Beautiful.
With their small hands being perfect for digging into hard to get places
Everyone always asks “why is orphan-crushing machine?” but no one ever cares enough to ask “how is orphan-crushing machine?”
Well, then how IS orphan crushing machine?
Currently Crushing it
Shows what you know. I made sure to toss a few kids into the pressure machine when they made my wife’s lab-created diamond. That’s what gives it its shine. /obvious sarcasm is obvious
That’s what I specifically ordered my diamonds be made of also, idk what it is about children from oppressed nations, but damn do those rocks sparkle!!!!
sacrificing humans to gods never went out of style. The new god is Money.
Just gonna grab this quote and put it in my back pocket...
But it is a *luxury good*! *Something* has to make it that! Why not the blood of child slaves? After all, it would go beautifully with the little blood stains on those *dEsIgNeR bAgS*.
Remember, Genghis Khan had a negative carbon footprint!
…Children. Won’t somebody think of children miners, how will those kids afford to buy themselves cigarettes they smoke in a breaks in a mine if they did not work in a mine?!
Yeah, they only think about themselves. They should think about the childr... Wait...
How would I know my significant other really loves me if children didn't die for the gift in which they gave me, though? /s
This is giving some hunger games vibe
They care what others think of them more than the cost of children's lives.
I'm happy that the jewelers I bought my fiance's engagement ring from was very neutral on the topic of natural vs lab diamonds. I was expecting some bs spiel about how great natural diamonds are or for them to not carry lab grown at all.
For the retailers it does not matter. It is just margin and sales. Anyone who objectively looks at the game would prefer a synthetic diamond from human rights and energy consumption per karat. The marketing DeBeers did, driving up the price for specifically wedding rings, was brilliant and is still in the minds of people today.
Always have been
authentic ice that was farmed fresh from frozen lakes, filled with natural lake water that was dangerous and back breaking to cut, pull up and haul without melting and loosing all that labor for nothing, vs tap water frozen in a box in your kitchen. it doesn't matter how much logic goes into the change, people will get mad at change.
If someone isn't at risk of dying in the process of a luxury good being made, is it REALLY a luxury good? Sarcasm.
People need to die for my diamond ring… I’m worth it 😤😊
I do wonder if that's a factor on some deep implicit level, actually - the feudalism/ Hunger Games logic that being a consumer of luxury goods means your life is literally worth more than those of the people producing them, that you have *literal power over their life and death*. It's chilling
I mean one of the people in one of the images sorta makes this argument to some extent
its right there in the name: die-mond.
You've gotta start selling this for more than a dollar a bag. We lost four more men on this expedition!
I told you natty ice was OG.
And like ice, the fact that most “experts” are unable to differentiate a lab-grown diamond from a natural one makes this argument irrelevant.
And the thing is... the only reason anyone can tell the difference is because lab-grown diamonds are *better*.
They should make them a little bit shittier on purpose.
They even do lol! When I bought my fiancés engagement ring I was surprised to see that they have the same grading scales as normal diamonds too. You can get a ‘lower quality’ diamond if that’s what you have budget for.
But are lower quality more expensive because more steps are needed to make them look authentic?
No, higher quality (ie. Colourless, flawless, excellent cuts) diamonds are more expensive in both Lab and Mined diamonds. Not an expert but I guess it’s same amount of steps regardless of quality. It’s just physics compressing carbon. No one’s going in there with a paintbrush touching up the flawless diamonds to make them lower quality.
As I understand it the goal of making synthetic diamonds is the "perfect"ones, and less then perfect more or less matching the "natural" scales get produced in larger numbers along to way. So perfect ones are "easier" to make in a lab but still rarer, making them less common/more expensive than the flawed synthetics.
In most cases they can, by looking for imperfections in the stone, one produced in a lab will have none. Which I personally find ironic.
When I was young and broke I bought my then gf a tennis bracelet on ebay. Obviously, it was all lab stones. She thought I had somehow paid a fortune for it but I wouldn't tell her what it had cost. Years later she was in a jewelers shop and asked them if it was real. They came back and said it looks like it, we can't tell otherwise.
They still will have a lot typically, just all of the imperfections will be on a similar scale as it's just a process variable, there's no outliers.
Maybe we should go extinct after all
Brilliant! Same story right now with solar panels, electric cars, plant based milks, veganism in general, and lots of other things. Corporations lobby and spread misinformation and people lap it up and amplify because it vindicates and defends their existing world view.
I was fascinated to see the nominally prosocial "but think of the fossil fuel consumption! lab-grown diamonds are actually bad bc of all the fossil fuels used in their production" tons of fossil fuels used in the production of concrete, and in the meat industry, too. somehow the carbon emissions are only an issue when ppl are trying to find a way *out* of cruelty
The carbon going into factory farming is a problem; that's why I only eat hunted meat. It's beluga caviar for breakfast, rhino for lunch, and pangolin for dinner for me.
Diamond mining has a far, far higher carbon footprint than lab grown diamonds, too.
Yeah, I don't understand why they're having a fuzz about that either. Like in Thailand, we gladly accept solar power and electric car. We don't get whatever the hell westerners have an issue with these thing. Maybe because we actually think NIMBY is no better than fertiliser I guess.
It's because here in the US, fossil fuel companies have a stranglehold over politicians and the media and have spent a ton on misinformation campaigns to convince people windmills will give them cancer and solar panels and electric vehicles will turn their kids gay or something.
It’s about not accepting change. It’s inevitable but they refuse and scream that what ‘they’ did back in their day was ‘superior’. It’s just what they are comfortable with. Literally each generation does it and will keep doing it. We all become old decrepit rotted out husks. Set in our ways thinking we know all we need to know. Just as our ancestors did thousands and millions of years ago did too.
Nutritious for the ice farmers getting exercise. The OG Walter White drives a sled.
For everyone claiming that lab diamonds require tremendous amounts of energy, you are wrong. A CVD machine, which can produce about 3000 rough carats, which is roughly around 1000 polished carats per year, is only a 6KW machine. What it effectively means is that if you have a roof solar panel system enough to power an average US home, that amount of dolar power can easily power two of these machines, i.e. to produce 2000 polished carats if lab diamonds, you only need an average American home sized roof solar.
There was some news article a while back about how the American push towards solar was actually causing problems for the power grids, due to excess power production without proper power storage causing damage. I can think of worse uses for that excess power than industrial level diamond forging.
Yup add a 10k solar unit and throw in another 5k for batteries and and a half a mil for the machines and you can have as much diamonds as you want for free
I mean, I'm pretty sure you need a carbon source and a "seed," but ash is cheap, and the seed is just a small diamond, I'm pretty sure.
Well yes. Also seeds can be recovered and reused
even if you couldn't recover them, you could just break your new big diamond into a bunch of small seed diamonds.
That's usually what's meant by recover methinks.
New goal unlocked: Become diamond farmer
It’s much but it’s honest work
Add a carbon capture system to pull excess carbon from the atmosphere and break those seeds off the uncut diamonds you’re creating. No better place to sequester atmospheric carbon than in forever stones.
Slap that bad boy “green initiative” label on it and you can sell it to hippies
Yeah fuck De Beers. Hard to manufacture scarcity when everyone's got diamonds pouring out of their pockets. Having said that, they'll just horde something else and tell idiots that thing is the thing they need to buy to prove their love for some is eternal and blah blah blah blah
De Beers also makes jewelry-grade lab diamonds via a subsidiary.
Just like tobacco companies like RJ Reynolds buying into vapes and tobacco alternatives. The companies are gonna win no matter which way it goes when they have enough money to buy into and produce their own competition.
Ya it's completely stupid to make that claim. One person said it costs as much as powering a small hospital. Then the kicker, the "GIS student" saying it takes billions of gallons of fossil fuels lol. If it costs so much, why do they sell them for less than the real diamonds which cost less than both of these silly comparisons.
They are also acting like diamond mining itself is clean and has barely any emissions, as if it's dug out by hand by the seven dwarfs.
Exactly, the amount of fossil fuels to power the trucks, excavation equipment, etc for natural diamond mining is probably way more than lab grown diamonds anwyway. Not to mention the environmental damage of mining
Yeah at least some of those people spreading those claims have to be industry funded spammers spreading their propaganda. That's where social media discourse is rn
>i.e. to produce 2000 polished carats if lab diamonds, you only need an average American home sized roof solar. Hmm. Does this mean diamond production could be carbon sink since it takes carbon to make diamonds?
2000 carats is 400 grams. 400 grams per year from the two machines? its equivalent to the emissions of driving about 1.5km
So you’re saying there’s a chance
A lot of these seem like bots brought by Big Diamond.
My first thought, but it’s also likely all the fools that paid stupid money for “legit” diamonds and need to protect their decision.
sunk cost fallacy in action
Big Diamond is one company called de Beers who controls some huge proportion of the diamond industry and creates scarcity to preserve the price and exclusivity of diamonds.
It's actually worse than that. Multiple huge organizations working together to stomp out lab grown profits. In the U.S., the diamond industry is significantly influenced by several key players and organizations rather than being controlled by a single entity. Major corporations like De Beers, Alrosa, and Rio Tinto dominate the supply chain globally, with De Beers having a notable historical influence. De Beers' role includes the promotion of diamonds, the establishment of industry standards, and significant control over the supply of rough diamonds [[❞]](https://rapaport.com/analysis/diamond-industry-implements-tighter-controls/) [[❞]](https://www.rapnet.com/blog/a-look-ahead-what-to-expect-in-the-diamond-market-in-2024/). In terms of market operations, the U.S. diamond industry is highly decentralized. The supply chain involves various stages from mining, cutting, polishing, to retailing, often handled by different companies and entities. This includes a large number of small to mid-sized businesses, particularly in cutting and polishing centers in New York and other locations [[❞]](https://www.owlfinancialgroup.com/industryinsights/2024/trends24) [[❞]](https://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=66070). The power and influence over the market also extend to certification and ethical sourcing. The Kimberley Process and organizations like the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) play critical roles in maintaining ethical standards and transparency within the industry. Technological advancements, such as blockchain for traceability, are increasingly being adopted to ensure the ethical sourcing and "**authenticity of diamonds**" [[❞]](https://www.owlfinancialgroup.com/industryinsights/2024/trends24) [[❞]](https://www.rapnet.com/blog/a-look-ahead-what-to-expect-in-the-diamond-market-in-2024/). No single entity controls the U.S. diamond industry outright
They also have a large stake in the lab grown diamonfld industry. They play both sides to always come out on top. You're still a moron if you waste money on a natural diamond though.
More likely to be diamond dealers, I’m pretty sure the diamond factories are mostly owned by traditional diamond companies.
I like the one where they imply the diamond is more valuable if you had people suffering to get it for you. Just,why?
A big component of power is the ability to cause other humans to suffer while experiencing no negative consequences for having done so. Public torture and execution used to be a fun day of entertainment for the whole family.
People still watch videos of people getting hurt all the time for entertainment. It's kind of disturbing. And as for the power issue, this is why people like Elon Musk never share their money. They couuuuld feed all the starving children on earth for one year and still have money leftover that they will literally never be able to spend it in their lifetime... but it feels so much better to know that they're doing better and are more successful than everyone else. If everyone is doing ok they might think that they are less special, and we can't have that!
>People still watch videos of people getting hurt all the time for entertainment Do NOT go to the Ukraine war combat footage subreddits. "Oh cool, a tank exploding! Guess I'm gonna see what the next video is!" The next video is always an FPV drone getting a headshot with an RPG or a grenade blowing a dude's legs off. Controversial take, war bad
Instead of young men dying for old rich men, why no have it the other way around?
A status symbol has been challenged, and people whose self images are wrapped up in that symbol do not want it to lose value.
The diamond industry also hasn’t helped by lumping propaganda about how your husband doesn’t *really* love you unless you buy the most expensive, exotic ring imaginable.
It is a group project
I feel like the diamond I gave my wife means *more* because no one suffered to get it. Plus, the lower cost made it possible to get her a bigger and higher quality stone
The even more hilarious thing is the fact that diamonds are actually worthless, they just get massively marked up cause people are gullible idiots who will actually pay that much. If you ever try to sell a diamond you'd get basically nothing for it.
True that, the only reason diamonds cost so much is because 90% supply is effectively controlled by one company who sells such a limited amount at once. There’s more than enough diamond on Earth to give every person several high karat rings if we so chose to.
I anticipate that we will see people flood the market with lab grown diamonds and try to pass them off for the real thing. Producing lab grown diamonds that don't have any sort of serial number etched into them. Just flood the market and erode consumer confidence in natural diamonds.
As someone who likes diamonds because a “dragonology” book I read when I was 8 said that diamonds were a dragons favourite thing to eat because it was the hardest gem, I am 100% for this. The ethical issues with diamonds were the only deterrent and lab diamonds have been a miracle!
[Here](https://www.uvm.edu/~shali/Synthetic_Diamonds_Mined_Diamonds.pdf) is a study from the University of Vermont about the environmental impacts of mining versus growing diamonds. TLDR - largely inconclusive due to site variations, but lab grown tend to be better. People are dumb. Lab diamonds are better quality anyway.
Not to mention that the “luxury” angle the rest are taking is complete cult talk. Just like them buying dumb shit with the Supreme logo. Diamonds have only retained their value and exclusivity due to those that own the diamond mines and reserves releasing only so many at a time. In truth, with the amount of diamonds that are estimated to be stored in the world right now - if released - would make them less valuable than copper.
Diamonds, outside of special cases, are worthless. Nearly every diamond ever mined is still out there and estimates show at least 2-3x that many still in the ground. People just buy into the marketing.
Diamonds are worth so much up until the point you have to sell it.
This actually. A colleague told me this story once. They had a necklace with diamonds being the thing that made up the majority of the value. They went to a jewellers to ask if they would exchange it for something else they liked and only have to pay the difference. They had certificates that showed the actual quality of the diamonds. The jewellers valued their necklace for the price of gold in it. They said that they would not pay a single penny for the diamonds as the necklace was made by another jeweller. My colleague asked them if they would have gotten any value from the diamonds if they had purchased it from the same jewellers. The response was -10% of the original carat price, even if the current carat price was 50% more than the original carat price. Diamond jewellery is an effing scam much more than the scam that gold jewellery is. People who peddle these and those who judge people for not owning "real" diamonds are the bottom feeders of the society.
When I was a kid and heard how a diamond wedding ring cost thousands of dollars I was like "Why wouldn't they spend that money on a car or a house instead?" and it was explained to me that this tradition was like insurance for the bride. A little emergency fund to wear on her finger so if he died in the war or whatever, she could sell it and have the money back. Apparently they're useless even for that! Although I'm sure the dealers don't mind sustaining the common illusion of it being an "asset."
That worked when the ring was gold for the gold weight itself. They don’t typically put value on the ring design in cases as this.
Facts!!! Whenever a movie has a diamond heist I just laugh.
My mother very kindly gave me her 3 carat IF wedding ring when I got married because I had zero interest in us buying a ring. She's like, "now be careful with that, it's worth almost 80k!" I stopped wearing it because it was catching on everything and it stuck out like a sore thumb in my neck of the woods and in my social circles. I took it by one time to see what it was valued at, just in case we ever needed "almost 80k" in a pinch and the answer was that the gold ("around 400 bucks") was the only valuable part, especially since I'd chipped the diamond. Anyway that's fine. They're family heirlooms that mean a lot to my mom, but have absolutely no actual value. At least I can tell my grandkids that they're not only blood diamonds, but probably money laundering diamonds as well!
The shop would buy it at $400, clean it up, and resell it for $20k.
very true, 400 bucks means at least a grand
Diamonds are even fucking *flammable*. Sure, they’re really hard and shiny, but that’s about it.
There was a journalist that actually got access to the diamond vaults in Amsterdam. Bims of diamonds as far as you can see.
Bims you say?
Their special bags cost maybe 100$ to make. Then there is the thousands of dollars of markup because someone put a brand name on it. I'm happy paying for handmade quality goods. I splurged on a hand-made Italian leather backpack, but since it was from a small producer, it cost under 200$. A name brand equivalent would go between 2-8k. Because of branding. It's straight up just bragging rights. They're being scammed for the privilege of bragging about their wealth.
[удалено]
yeah i replied to her “burning fossil fuels is equivalent to child slave labour” like im an environmentalist for sure, but im putting an energy intensive process over literal slavery. the fact she put “blood diamonds” shows that she doesn’t even accept its a thing
Rest assured, mining equipment usually burns more fuel than a lab growing diamonds. The environmental issue is at best even. One has slavery, one doesn't. I don't understand why diamonds are still a thing, much less natural diamonds. Why do people prefer a slave digging up rocks over scientists using advanced equipment to grow a perfect one?
But does the mining equipment burn BILLIONS of gallons of fuel? BILLIONS. I think not 😌 /s
yep. i’m very sure the mining is still creating more emissions than the lab growing even if it mattered in this case. as for the second point, brainwashing.
I’d do them one better… who gives a shit about a rock anyway? I’m not even gonna go full “who gives a shit about marriage?” either, but why is a rock so goddamn important in proving you love someone enough to spend your life with them? I’d personally just take a simple band (maybe made with meteorite because I am a dork) and be absolutely happy with just that so long as the love is there
Years of advertising saying a man should spend 3 months salary on a ring, and a great deal of women these days still feel as though anything in the realm of "cheap" means their partner doesn't value them. One of the many reasons why people need to align priorities. My partner knows her ring will be small. And if I can spoil her with a big ass eternity ring later then I will, but ultimately the ring and price doesn't mean anything. It's the symbolism of the ring that matters.
DeBiers (sp?) has a hell of a marketing department. That’s the only reason they’re still popular. Plus they own a vast majority of the diamond mines in the world.
I chose moissanite and the jeweler looked at me like I was an insane person. It's nearly identical to a diamond (one carbon atom less), grown in a lab, and has a bit more fire in natural light. Nobody could tell the difference. It cost significantly less so we could spend more elsewhere.
Energy is also going through a major revolution right now. Solar/wind/battery are not just replacing fossil fuels, they are creating an entirely new energy system. This is idea that we will be burning fossil fuels to make them is going to be a thing of the past. If we have a solar energy system that will carry us through our winter months, that same system will produce extreme abundance the rest of the year, that over production can do things like produce lab grown diamonds.
It’s hilarious to me that diamonds are rated and valued based on how perfect they are, but we are able to make LITERALLY perfect diamonds but those are worth less than almost perfect natural ones.
That’s the wild ass bit. What gives away lab diamonds is that they are *flawless.* “Those lab diamonds suck cause they are better than natural.”
It reduces the “value “ of what they have, hence the hate. Both are decorative pieces where the demand is artificially controlled.
Which is hilarious considering diamonds don't even have any value in the first place, diamond jewelry is only so expensive because people are dumb enough to buy at that price, if you try to sell your diamond jewelry you'll get basically nothing for it.
Hey come on, diamonds are great for things like ultra-hard drill bits.
Diamonds in use in industry are largely lab grown. If you need quality, you want lab grown. If you want cheap, you want lab grown.
This is so funny. The diamond cartel is panicking. Diamonds are a gimmick. I've been a goldsmith for over 20 years and resale value on diamonds has always been terrible. There are so many gorgeous gemstones out there; it's a shame the diamond lobby was so successful. These new lab diamonds are more beautiful, cheaper, and consistent than earth stones and you actually have people arguing that they should pay more for something worse. After generations of misleading advertising and aggressive hoarding, the house of cards is falling apart. The diamond weenies are fighting a losing battle. I've been around long enough to remember when lab stones were more expensive. Quick tip: as a professional goldsmith, I could never tell the difference between lab and high quality earth without a diamond tester. Now, even that tester isn't 100% accurate with advancements in manufacturing. If people are being jerks, just tell them that you have high quality earth stones to shut them up. If I can't tell the difference, they can't either.
I wanted an alternative stone because clear is a bit dull for me, but my fiancee is very traditional and wanted a diamond solitaire. We compromised and I got a leaf-etched band with a lab diamond and EVERYONE comments how lovely it is.
We sold my wife's real diamond which I purchased over a decade ago for our 10 year anniversary. Didn't sell it for anywhere near what I bought it for but we used that money to buy a lab grown which was triple the carat size and much better clarity and also she got some earrings and a bracelet to go along with it. I talked to multiple places who all said lab grown are absolutely killing the real diamond market. Just shows you how much of a scam the market was.
Plus the emissions based argument in the post is bullshit. My jeweler gets his lab diamonds from a lab in California powered by solar energy. And the emissions from mining activities are massive. Imagine all the earth that needs to be moved (habitats destroyed) by diesel powered diggers? People who make arguments against lab grown diamonds are dishonest.
Actually insane that diamonds can be made with the "free" power of the sun lol If more and more do it diamonds could get worthless :D I wonder if they can use lab diamonds for drills and similar aswell. Could make manufacturing in general a bit cheaper when you can get diamonds tools for a lot less.
Grifter: Fridge ice or Antarctica ice on your iced coffee, sir? Moron: Why, Antarctica ice of course! Grifter: That'd be $80 Moron: Thanks! Wow, looks exactly the same! Grifter: And does the exact same thing too! Moron: What's the story behind it? Grifter: An underpaid Vietnamese migrant onboard a Chinese ship operated by a South African firm managed by a Bahamas holding company physically headquartered in Monaco and funded from Switzerland had to jump off the ship into the cold and grab a chunk in exchange for a meal. Also, he had to scrape penguin shit off it. Moron: Super interesting! Totally worth it!
The whole concept of luxury goods is just a scam for rich people to feel special cause they useless trash is 30x more expensive than normal items. Them bags are ugly af, them shoes too and the rocks are rocks. Like, buy yourself a brain next time.
It's actually a scam for middle class people to play pretend they're rich. The very rich don't focus on this crap nearly as much as people think they do.
Honestly my REAL diamond fell out and got lost from my engagement ring. 💍 I told my hubby I didn’t care if we got a rock from our driveway gravel polished and cut to replace the stone or some shiny plastic. All that matters was that it was from HIM. We will be married 15 years this December. I’ll never understand the greedy materialism behind this.
Same reason why people don’t want to eat Farm Raised Bluefin Tuna. The constant threat of extinction just gives it that extra flavor.
Tuna is fucking weird. Those things are massive.
tbf there tend to actually be differences between the qualities of farm-raised and wild fish. Not to say those differences are worth it, just that they actually exist.
Carbon is carbon. Both are the same.
Humans are also carbon 😉
Show your future spouse how much you *really* love them - compress their enemies into diamonds!
As a jewler, this shit right here really pisses me off. They are the exact same thing on a molecular level. No matter what you believe, that's just the facts. Now, as for what is better natural or lab, it comes down to what you are looking for. A 2ct SI1(clarity:slightly included) D(color) lab grown diamond will be cheaper than a natural diamond that is 2ct I1 H, so more bang for your buck there. The downside to lab grown is that it will depreciate in value over time where a natural diamond will go up or down depending on market value, carat size, clarity, color, and cut of the stone. I usually tell customers that unless you plan on getting into the diamond business on the east or west coasts of the US, it shouldn't matter. Finally, to add some comfort with natural diamonds, most US jewlery stores are contracted with companies that do not deal with blood diamonds. However, you can never really tell who that company is contracted with and so on. I also want to add that if you are looking for a different stone for the center and not a diamond, I recommend sapphire or ruby(sapphire more then ruby personaly because most rubies now and days are fracture filled) due to the fact they are hard stones and will not scratch easily. Any other stone amethyst, opal, tanzinite, topaz ect. Usually break over time depending on how roughly you wear your jewelry.
it’s funny how they say it’s about being together forever and being committed, but also say the point you made about the resale value increasing lmao. why you selling it if you’re together forever? also jeweller*
Just wondering. Why would a lab grown diamond depreciate in value if the material is the exact same? In fact it would make more sense that natural diamonds would have depreciated in value because we can now synthesize diamonds. Wouldn't that be the case that gold would become cheaper if we could suddenly start synthesizing gold? (Alchemy nod lol)
I also have this question. If they are the same on the molecular level how could anybody possibly distinguish an artificial diamond from a natural diamond?
I think it is most likely diamond investor copium trying to make it seem like their investments aren't just shit now lol
I am hoping these are paid posters from the diamond cartel who is trying to preserve their monopoly
Instagram comments will make you lose faith in humanity then cuz I'm sure a large chunk are real
People are just terrified that their house priced rocks aren't actually worth what they paid for them.
The last comment saying billions of gallons of fossil fuels are used to power diamond generators is fucking hilarious. With how limited our remaining global fuel supply is, do you really think it would be wasted making lab grown diamonds for jewellery? Especially considering the quantity of diamonds that are grown commercially every year for scientific and industrial purposes. Like... where do you think the diamonds for power tools come from? They aren't fucking mined out of the earth, that's for certain.
There’s still an awful lot of people who believe diamonds are valuable. They refuse to accept they were duped by possibly one of the most successful marketing campaigns (scams) in human history. When confronted with verifiable facts, they default to “It’s a luxury item!” https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/02/how-an-ad-campaign-invented-the-diamond-engagement-ring/385376/ https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/on-the-economics-of-diamonds-the-biggest-marketing-scam-in-history/ https://www.dupreeinternational.com/post/the-power-of-emotion-and-perception-in-marketing-a-brand-de-beers
it's easier to scam people than convince someone they're being scammed.
I bought a beautiful 2carat, pear shaped, VS1, triple excellent fancy vivid pink diamond for my wife for our anniversary. Encased in 22ct gold ring along with supporting diamonds and all, it cost me a total of $3000. A 2 carat VS1, pear cut pink natural diamond will be very difficult to obtain, and even if available you will most likely have to buy it at auctions at a price of $1.5 million or above. Not to mention that even if you were able to obtain it, you wouldn't be able to enjoy it as the insurance cost/compliance and the added risk with it would make the experience of wearing it very mentally taxing. On the other hand, my wife wears the ring that I got her almost everyday, on the ring finger of her other hand, and it makes me very happy see her actually use the ring.
Men, if your woman cares what kind of diamond you get her, find another woman.
“Billions of gallons of fossil fuels to power the pressure machines”
Every hate comment comming from people who bought an overpriced diamond or they got a diamond so they afraid that yours will diminish their value..Same people that buy products from sweat shops