Why would buy a lab-grown engagement ring?

[Gustave5436]

Love isn't rational. Sometimes you have to do irrational things to show how crazy in love you are. Its not about what you can afford, its about what she deserves.

Women deserve industrial materials?

I see no reason why diamond and silver should be treated differently from iron or copper, aside from the rationing necessitated by their rarity, of course.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

This is why my wedding ring will be a simple, plain ring, because I would want nothing to do with a woman who demanded more than that.

Lucky for me, the girl I'm dating, whom I'm beginning to think might be it, would probably propose this sort of thing before I even got a chance to.

 

[cardgame]

Diamonds are not rare. If DeBeers released all of its diamonds they would be practically worthless. I'm talking $20 compared to thousands. They're only worth anything at all because they stockpile them and release a small fraction at a time.

 

[Kennigit]

I prefer my diamonds to have that little extra-special realness that comes from the slave labour that mines them. Anyways, serious answer: I would be a cheapstake. Or more accurately, I would rather not buy a ring. Because

<3 love is free <3

And i'm totally serious about that. But, I doubt most girls will be willing to agree to no rings.....so, I'd get the fake one or a simple one.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Diamonds are not rare. If DeBeers released all of its diamonds they would be practically worthless. I'm talking $20 compared to thousands. They're only worth anything at all because they stockpile them and release a small fraction at a time.

[citation needed]

 

[cardgame]

[citation needed]

Surprisingly, diamonds are not rare, whatsoever! This might come as a shock to a person who has just paid 1,000 dollars for a one-carat stone, but there are enough diamonds in the world to give every man, woman, and child in America a cupful. Although they have the best reputation, diamonds are not the most expensive gemstone, either. A top-quality ruby would be double the expense of a diamond of the same carat. A diamond’s expense comes from a human-imposed drought rather than a true drought. The whole theory of supply and demand plays very nicely here into the hands of the diamond-governing corporations!

Natural diamonds aren't particularly rare. In 2006, more than 75,000 pounds were produced worldwide. A diamond is a precious commodity because everyone thinks it's a precious commodity, the geological equivalent of a bouquet of red roses, elegant and alluring, a symbol of romance, but ultimately pretty ordinary.

-----
Credit for the modern cult of the diamond goes primarily to South Africa-based De Beers, the world's largest diamond producer. Before the 1940s, diamond rings were rarely given as engagement gifts. But De Beers' marketing campaigns established the idea that the gems are the supreme token of love and affection. Their "A Diamond Is Forever" slogan, first deployed in 1948, is considered one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time. Through a near total control of supply, De Beers held almost complete power over the diamond market for decades, carefully hoarding the gemstones to keep prices—and profits—high.

The truth is diamonds are not rare at all, they are quite plentiful. Prices are high because a cartel controlled by DeBeers, has managed to dominate the world market, hoarding these frankly common gems to keep prices artificially, and extraordinarily, inflated.

DeBeers has managed to create a false scarcity of a product, limiting distribution with an iron fist and multiplying profits several thousand fold.

for more citations, just google it.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...z=1R2GGLL_en&aq=0&aqi=g5&oq=diamonds+are+not+

 

[Formaldehyde]

Perhaps you should try "googling" this article instead:

DeBeers is now apparently a minority player, albeit still a substantial one:

De Beers and its subsidiaries own mines that produce some 40% of annual world diamond production. For most of the 20th century over 80% of the world's rough diamonds passed through De Beers,[60] but in the period 2001&#8211;2009 the figure has decreased to around 45%.[61] De Beers sold off the vast majority its diamond stockpile in the late 1990s &#8211; early 2000s[62] and the remainder largely represents working stock (diamonds that are being sorted before sale).[63] This was well documented in the press[64] but remains little known to the general public.

As a part of reducing its influence, De Beers withdrew from purchasing diamonds on the open market in 1999 and ceased, at the end of 2008, purchasing Russian diamonds mined by the largest Russian diamond company Alrosa.[65] Alrosa had to suspend their sales in October 2008 due to the global energy crisis and was expected to resume them in late 2009.[66] Apart from Alrosa, other important diamond mining companies include BHP Billiton, which is the world's largest mining company;[67] Rio Tinto Group, the owner of Argyle (100%), Diavik (60%), and Murowa (78%) diamond mines;[68] and Petra Diamonds, the owner of several major diamond mines in Africa.

It looks like you are going to need to find a new scapegoat to blame while trying to convince people that one of the rarest naturally occurring substances on the planet isn't actually rare.

And look at what has happened to the price of diamonds as a result of DeBeeers selling their stockpiles off! They have gone up dramatically in price until this year!

 

[Defiant47]

Perhaps you should try "googling" this article instead:

DeBeers is now apparently a minority player, albeit still a substantial one:

It looks like you are going to need to find a new scapegoat to blame, while trying to convince people that one of the rarest naturally occurring substances on the planet isn't actually rare.

And look at what has happened to the price of diamonds as a result!

And how is any of this relevant? OK, so people are placing blame on some scapegoat that is apparently out of date. That doesn't invalidate the abundance of diamonds.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Gem-grade diamonds simply aren't all that plentiful and they never have been. The represent a fraction of the number which are mined. Most natural diamonds are not gem quality and are only usable for commercial applications.

Approximately 130 million carats (26,000 kg (57,000 lb)) of diamonds are mined annually, with a total value of nearly US$9 billion, and about 100,000 kg (220,000 lb) are synthesized annually.[39]

$9B per year simply isn't all that much considering how large the commercial and retail diamond industry is. Even synthetics account for 4 times the weight each year.

While DeBeers deliberately restricted the number they put on the market for decades, they also controlled the prices. As you can see from the chart I just posted, they have not been exploiting the market as much as some people seem to think. Tripling your investment over the course of 40 years looks to be roughly equivalent to putting your money in a 10% interest bearing account. You could do much better than that by buying blue-chip stocks over the same period.

And now that DeBeers no longer controls the market anymore, the prices have actually gone up dramatically - at least until this past year.

 

[Abaddon]

This is why my wedding ring will be a simple, plain ring, because I would want nothing to do with a woman who demanded more than that.

Lucky for me, the girl I'm dating, whom I'm beginning to think might be it, would probably propose this sort of thing before I even got a chance to.

Its nothing to do with what she demands.. if she is demanding, its not a relationship!

Rather, you want to surprise her, an extravatant gesture to show just how important she is.

There are not many chance in life to make such gestures.

My gf would never expect a big ol diamond, it would still make me proud as punch to be able to buy her one.

 

[Gustave5436]

Its nothing to do with what she demands.. if she is demanding, its not a relationship!

Rather, you want to surprise her, an extravatant gesture to show just how important she is.

There are not many chance in life to make such gestures.

My gf would never expect a big ol diamond, it would still make me proud as punch to be able to buy her one.

I would prefer to appeal to a person's sense of logic, rather than some outdated bit of neural hardwiring, dating back to a time when natural selection actually had some meaningful affect on our species.

In other words, your desire to show off your social influence, your economic status, is an illogical mating display, similar in purpose to the ritual fights males of other species engage in.

 

[Abaddon]

Love isn't logical.

It makes both of us happy.

Having some smug outlook that you have "outsmarted" natural behaviour seems rather cold to me. I'm sure there are couples out there that enjoy to share a cynicism of other peoples happiness. Personally i'd prefere to be the oblivious happy person.

 

[civ_king]

Indeed



Agreed. I would say that my wife didn't want a diamond though, but a sapphire.

Smart Woman

 

[Kraznaya]

I'd get her a ruby.

 

[Traitorfish]

Love isn't logical.

It makes both of us happy.

Unless you consider the pursuit of happiness and companionship to be logical, of course, in which case it's quite easy to reconcile the two. There's an area, after all, between mindlessly emotive sentimentality and an unflinching adherence to mechanical "logic". There's enough strawmen kicking about without turning into them.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I'd get her a ruby.

I'd get her a Blue.

Wait, I think I did that wrong.

 

[Greizer85]

TvTropes is the lamest site in existence (well, close). Everything is a trope according to them, so why bother to list them?

There's different types of love (something that many people don't seem to get). There's mad and passionate, I'll-die-for-you! -type of love, there's I'll-buy-you-a-diamond-ring kinda love, there's let's-just-love-each-other-ok? kind of love, which is what Cheezy and some others seem to be talking about. It's not that some people need to "prove" their love; if you give gifts for that, then you're not really in love imo. It's about doing what your heart tells you to. Nothing else to it. Well, I suppose you could say that some people's hearts and brains have closer relations than others'.

This song sums up my opinions on jewelry, but then I'm a deeply superficial person. I'd get fake diamonds though, since you can't tell the difference... And that way, I can buy more of them! Well, truthfully I don't know what I'd really do. I haven't been in love in a very long time. But as my corrupted current self, I enjoy opulence and luxury.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iLqRAnXvRw

 

[Narz]

So would you buy this instead of the $3000 alternative?

If I was dead-set on a diamond ring for some reason, yes, why not?

 

[Narz]

I can't stand rings......


My wife may have to settle for me being all trashy and getting a ring tattoo.

Dude, I don't think that's trashy. I would do that if I got married. I mean a tattoo is pretty much forever (barring removal surgery), a ring you can slip in your pocket at opportune moments.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

Would you buy one of these as an engagement ring?

http://www.diamondnexuslabs.com/product_info.php?cPath=63_65&products_id=815

Its a 1.03 carat diamond for $225.

Its the exact same as a natural diamond except its lab-grown and not mined. Even jewelers can't tell the different and even the Gemological Institute of America acknowledges that they are indeed diamonds.

So would you buy this instead of the $3000 alternative?

I would buy whatever my fiancee wanted, for the following reasons:

* She's the one that has to wear it.
* Men generally don't know anything about women's fashion.

For the record, my wife doesn't even have an engagement ring. She refused to wear one on the grounds that the wedding band is expensive enough, and we'd rather save our money for more important things. So I never bought her one.

My advice is to propose without a ring, then tell your fiancee that you can come with her to shop for one of her choosing. Doing so is both practical and useful. You will not have to waste money on crap she'll hate, and if perchance she rejects you, you will have saved money. By offering to let her choose the ring that you buy, you enhance your reputation with her, as you are essentially buying things for her that she wants. It's the perfect crime.

PS. I would also add that this event offers a perfect chance to test your future wife. If she ends up picking the most ridiculously expensive ring knowing you cannot afford it, you will immediately realize exactly who you're marrying, and can decide to back out of the deal before it's too late.