[LiquidTurbo]

Superb article about the diamond industry.

Granted, it's from the 1982s, but a fascinating piece to read.

Diamonds have terrible resale value considering they have NO UTILITY. They don't DO anything. You can't use them for any purpose.

Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? - Edward Jay Epstein - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/1/)

If you don't read, then skip the article.. it's long.

Interesting how our modern day societies have been manipulated into believing we should spend 1000s onto a shiny rock.

[StylinRed]

yeah its amazing what De Beers has created

but knowing the "truth" won't really matter women will still be women ;)

[Bender Unit]

http://dennisjudd.com/albums/funpics/diamonds.gif

[bing]

Superb article about the diamond industry.

Granted, it's from the 1982s, but a fascinating piece to read.

Diamonds have terrible resale value considering they have NO UTILITY. They don't DO anything. You can't use them for any purpose.

Interesting how our modern day societies have been manipulated into believing we should spend 1000s onto a shiny rock.

I do agree with you but I also think that this applies to many other commodities. In the end, everything is marketing nowadays.

[mr_chin]

I do agree with you but I also think that this applies to many other commodities. In the end, everything is marketing nowadays.

how so? gold has a purpose. so does silver, copper, tin, aluminum, etc. and the equivalent weight of a diamond to gold is more expensive.

[Timpo]

most people can't tell the difference between diamond and CZ anyways...if diamond's only purpose is as jewelry.

[SkinnyPupp]

yeah its amazing what De Beers has created

but knowing the "truth" won't really matter women will still be women ;)
Nope not at all... this is one thing we don't see eye to eye on at all.

[dinamix]

Purpose or not. Its only worth what people will pay. IE hockey cards, paintings, stupid overpriced jordans, ugly true religions, etc. Its all vanity.
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[bing]

how so? gold has a purpose. so does silver, copper, tin, aluminum, etc. and the equivalent weight of a diamond to gold is more expensive.

Was referring to all commodities that can be bought and sold on the market (understood in the abstract), not just metals as categorized per the stock market. My main point was point out that there are a lot of things that are overinflated in value because of advertizing and perception and diamonds are just one example of many.

[Yodamaster]

Diamonds only have such a high value because the companies that mine them purposely limit the supply vs. the demand. In reality, the real (stored) supply would drive the prices down to a point where diamonds would be like bulk candy at 7/11, if that supply were to be let loose in the market.

It's the same story with oil companies, the prices are bullshit, there is enough oil in the ground to supply cheap oil for a LONG time. They wouldn't make this kind of money if they supplied all of the oil they drilled for to the world.

Whenever you look at a high value item, you have to look at supply vs. demand as a main contributing factor to the price. Many commodities are purposely driven up in price because the companies that sell them know that they can make a huge profit, just by limiting the supply.

[bloodmack]

Well the main reason people make a business is to make money. So to assume that this kind of stuff doesn't happen with many items is foolish.

[Majestic12]

Diamonds have industrial uses (drill bits, etc).

But yes, the prices are definitely artificially jacked up.

[Jason00S2000]

Interesting how our modern day societies have been manipulated into believing we should spend 1000s onto a shiny rock.

Men and women have been manipulated into creating these formalities and rituals to give status to relationships. Many of these steps are outdated and they linger on because there's a huge economy behind it.

I know a few people involved with wedding planning and they make fucking bank!!!

[Jason00S2000]

Diamonds only have such a high value because the companies that mine them purposely limit the supply vs. the demand.


I used to party with a few diamond drillers with vacuum noses, and apparently the security is SUPER tight at the mines. According to this dude, they would dig up huge amounts of diamonds, and they were searched thoroughly when leaving the camps. A couple of them also mined uranium. The stories I heard about Fort Mac... Jesus.

The camps are dry, so they almost all smuggle drugs into the camp. They did it by bringing peanut butter with them. They dump out half the peanut butter out of a huge cosco-sized Skippy jar, put an O of weed all crushed up in a ziplock in the middle of the peanut butter jar, and then put the other half of the peanut butter back in to cover it.

Anyways, yeah, from my anecdotal experiences, diamonds are very plentiful. Who knows though, maybe they're all shit quality and the ones nice enough to cut into gemstones are rare?

[Graeme S]

Diamonds are plentiful. And for the most part, Industrial diamonds are artificial diamonds that are manufactured with a certain chemical pollutant which shows that it is artificial. I remember hearing an interview from one of the engineers who makes diamonds who says she's reported a ton of people for trying to bribe her to just leave out that polluting compound.

It boggles my mind to think how much people would pay to have real-fake (fake-real?) diamonds.

[AAnthony]

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[StylinRed]

I heard the Cz's are acutally more rare than diamonds, which I believe.
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cubic zirconia is synthetic