CornBurrito
Member
I'm more surprised by people who swear that advertising doesn't effect them because a coca cola commercial doesn't want them to instantly run out and buy a coke. Advertising is far more subtle than that.
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Diamonds are bullshit (no, not literally, but...)
- Thread starter Kenka
- Start date
- Status
I'm more surprised by people who swear that advertising doesn't effect them because a coca cola commercial doesn't want them to instantly run out and buy a coke. Advertising is far more subtle than that.
perfectchaos007
Member
lol idk about that. It comes down to how your fiance sees it really.
I assume she'd like to continue being able to afford food and our rent.
I doubt most people are intensely aware about how diamonds are mined or how many products are made under slave like conditions. It doesn't mean everyone with a diamond ring are shallow and stupid. What is stupid is to characterize everyone like that and it is a bit hypocritical too considering almost nobody's hands are clean when it comes to buying shit that was made by exploiting people in poorer countries.
Yeah, don't go with what marketing dictates. Just do what you and your fiancee think is right.
CornBurrito
Member
The rent sure, but who needs food when you have the satisfying feeling of completeness that only a certified Kay(c) diamond can bring?
Do they? I have yet to meet one whose thoughts include having diamonds ...
Devolution
Member
Not all women are into diamonds.
I happen to be one that's not.
Fuck diamonds.
I happen to be one that's not.
Fuck diamonds.
CornBurrito
Member
I dunno if "diamonds diamonds diamonds" is as prevalent outside the US.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Even three months is a shock to me. I haven't watched much TV the last several years. For most of my life DeBeers ads said two months.
Ciastek3214
Junior Member
Society that is less than 250 years old.
CrunchyFrog
Member
I just think it's silly. If you're really measuring the sentimental value in $$, then why is it only $x instead of $x + $1600? If it's the hardness, brilliance, then why go with diamonds and not one of the dozens of other minerals which outplay it in both those aspects at a far lower price? It's completely fucking stupid, and I have to seriously question anyone who threatens a relationship based on dollar amount poured into a glorified piece of useless rock.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
It is.
In terms of hardness there aren't really any competitors, but other than that go wild. There's tons of beautiful stuff out there as I tried displaying in a previous post. For hardness, you just need to find something over 7 on the Mohs scale as any lower than that will sustain damage from dust in the long run.
milanbaros
Member?
With anecdotal evidence like that we can safely assume the industry will collapse then, and i'm happy.
It's not really a thing here in the UK.
If my Girlfriend told me I had to spend 3 months wages on a diamond for her, I'd probably not stop laughing for half an hour. Then, when i realised she was serious, i'd just dump her. Seriously, it's the very definition of spoiled and entitled.
milanbaros
Member?
I wish it wasn't but it really is a thing in the UK. Maybe not so expensive but I have not met a girl about to get married without a diamond ring.
I've met loads. I know people still have them, but it's not expected. And you certainly aren't required to spend 3 months wages on it.
charlequin
Banned
The rise in tipping norm is a diffuse process driven by a combination of increasingly crappy situations for working-class and service-industry employees and the increasing influence of affluent classes in big cities like NYC or SF on national trends. I don't think it's really super-comparable to diamond expectations (and the same cultural factors that are pushing up on tipping are actually pushing down on engagement ring pricing.)
Yep.
True. There are a million awful, fucked-up things happening in society and nobody can effectively respond to all of them. I think people have both a responsibility to question their own safe choices and push themselves to do better, and to forgive other people because ultimately we're all hypocritical at some level and just trying to get through the day. (I'm a vegetarian but not a vegan!)
My objection is to someone saying "yeah, I know this is wrong, but what will people think of me?!" It's hard to change long-term habits and no one can stop participating in every unjust societal process all at once, but "I don't want people to look at me funny" is putting responsibility on others for what is ultimately a personal choice.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
I'd like to see game devs subtly undermine the perceived value, by making diamond item drops more common than other gems and give them only medium exchange value in their games.
I doubt anyone would notice.
As a materials scientist specializing in metals, I'd love it if I had a significant other who was open to an unconventional engagement ring. I'd definitely come up with something cool.
Case not closed, since the underlying social conventions are subject to change, and 'spec list' type information could inform such a change.
Case not closed, since the underlying social conventions are subject to change, and 'spec list' type information could inform such a change.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Apparently the idea of three months only took hold some time during 2008, except in Japan, where DeBeers tried to sell them on that much earlier.
Got to honor those 5yo traditions.
Got to honor those 5yo traditions.
Oracle Dragon
Member
When I proposed to my wife we were both young and had no money, and the ring I could afford was quite a sad little thing. They said it had a diamond in it, but you'd be hard pressed to see it 
I felt a little guilty about that for a few years after, and I always told her that when things picked up we'd get her a "real" ring. I was sure she was embarrassed when friends and relatives saw it. But, as the years went by, she always insisted it didn't matter.
A few years later, a second trip through school, and we had the money to do such a thing like you were "supposed" to. Instead we took that money and invested it in an education fund for our children. Both of us still believe that was a much wiser decision.
Coming up on 19 years this December, and while a fancy ring for some reason seemed important at the start, we found we really did have more important (and more rewarding) things to put that money towards than a piece of rock whose only purpose is to impress other people.
I felt a little guilty about that for a few years after, and I always told her that when things picked up we'd get her a "real" ring. I was sure she was embarrassed when friends and relatives saw it. But, as the years went by, she always insisted it didn't matter.
A few years later, a second trip through school, and we had the money to do such a thing like you were "supposed" to. Instead we took that money and invested it in an education fund for our children. Both of us still believe that was a much wiser decision.
Coming up on 19 years this December, and while a fancy ring for some reason seemed important at the start, we found we really did have more important (and more rewarding) things to put that money towards than a piece of rock whose only purpose is to impress other people.
SillyEskimo
Member
I understand completely why certain people choose the diamond industry to get outraged over and not the industry that makes their shiny new electronic device or sneakers. One they feel compelled to buy by society and the others they just plain want. Fuck whoever because I want it. It is completely selective for obvious reasons.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
Possible, but at the same time that gives them more reason to actually do it as few people would complain. Marketing manufactured the perceived value and in the long run could help deflate it if enough people start assigning lesser value to it. A virtual downgrade is just one of the practically feasible venues for this.
Professor Renegade
Banned
Considering that diamonds are so common, then isn't De Beers using fraud (or something like that) to create high prices when common diamonds aren't rare in the first place?
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Electronics markup is low. (Except the Apple tax, lol. And to a lesser extent, the Titan.)
And electronics manufacturers aren't sitting on an enormous pile of stock to artificially create scarcity.
NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
I'll just do this shit.
"Baby, I wanted to get you a ring so goddamn pure, they had to make it in a lab and defy nature."
Of course, but judging people to be shallow or stupid just because they care about what society thinks is ridiculous and hypocritical.
If everybody suddenly realizes that diamonds are worthless pieces of carbon that are mined by slaves basically and they lose all of their value, something else would come along. If diamonds were cheap there would be no point in buying a diamond: the perceived exclusivity or effort is what you're essentially buying. There is no demand for cheap gems because cheap is the last thing you want in jewelry.
If engagement iPads became the norm, iPads would become more expensive so that people could brag about how much they spent getting that shiny iPad for their loved ones. You're buying a statement, not a rock. I agree it's 'bullshit' but so is everything else people do.
My girlfriend is a rockhound and is studying to be geologist. She hates De Beers with a passion, and doesn't even care for jewelry much. If we were to go and get her a ring, we'd probably go dig up the stone ourselves. More likely, I'd just buy her a new gaming PC. She'd get far more use out of it, and it would be about $25k cheaper than the '3 months salary' price range that De Beers suggests.
If buying (or receiving) a diamond makes you happy, then that's fine with me. Just be aware that a lot of suffering has gone into those stones.
If buying (or receiving) a diamond makes you happy, then that's fine with me. Just be aware that a lot of suffering has gone into those stones.
teruterubozu
Member
Everything we consume is because of successful marketing stunts. Even the fact that we use shampoo and soap everyday is a well-crafted marketing ploy from the 50s.
So what should I do about it?
Like I said value is perception. My wife likes it, I may have gotten 'ripped off' in that the diamond has no intrinsic value, but what can I, should I do now?
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Too bad there's no punchline.
SillyEskimo
Member
WascallyWabbit
Member
how do synthetic diamonds look? Are they indistinguishable to the naked eye?
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
I understand the part about diamonds being worthless, but aren't they mined in almost exactly the same circumstances as the material that is used in electronics? Doesnt owning a cell phone or laptop make you just as guilty?
they're diamonds. They're just made in a lab.
Devolution
Member
Depends on where you draw the line between "necessity" and "vanity."
True. And at least a diamond engagement ring will last a lifetime while people upgrade their phone every year.
Not that I want a diamond ring or think that's a particularly valuable custom, but it annoys me when people are judgmental of others' consumerist urges while completely ignoring their own ("my smartphone is too small and my iPad is too big, I need a Nexus 7!").
Dude. Thanks for this. That kind of stone sounds very special. I'm going to keep this in mind when I propose and all that stuff...
- Status