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”.
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.
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.
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.
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 realistic because of how soft it is.
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.
people would still want the, objectively worse, natural stuff, because for some reason
It’s not a mystery reason. Its advertising. Billions upon billions of dollars, millions of man hours, Gigawatts of energy, landfills of brouchers and fliers and billboards - all hammering into you that these luxury tokens are worth the six or seven figure price tag that a retailer has placed on them.
It’s propaganda of the must vile sort. The painful irony of it all is the absurd volumes spent to coerce people into these purchases relative to the skinflint labor practices used to dig the stuff out and manufacture it.
Don’t marry women too materialistic to accept this, loving diamonds is a big red flag imo
Meh, I wouldn’t say that, but loving diamonds after learning how that market works and the bullshit around it? Definitely an orange flag
Eh, I’m not sure I would say that. Someone can love/appr ciate and want something even knowing that procuring the thing has ethical problems. Desiring something isn’t the same as being okay with the problems that come with acquiring it. It’s the being okay with procuring a diamond despite the ethical problems and bullshit that would be a massive red flag to me.
For myself, I’d be having serious second thoughts about a relationship with a person who felt an expensive ring was somehow necessary. But merely wanting it, particularly if out of a sense of tradition or symbolism rather than as some silly signal of wealth, wouldn’t perturb me.
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
Moissanite ftw
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
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.
Tough shit she still wants that drill bit for Christmas
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.
