Excuse me, are we comparing da fake rarity of diamonds with da real value
Gold is valued for its rarity and conductivity. Diamonds are valued for their rarity, although the actual rarity can definitely be debated, due to the Debeers scam. However, I guarantee that nobody here has ever stumbled upon a naturally occurring VS diamond in the wilderness. So they are definitely more rare than a pinecone or a rock.Nah we aren't discussing that though. We got sidetracked. We are comparing the desirability of diamonds over moissanites to women. Diamonds win hands down. Moissanites are on the same level as CZs. Remember that diamonds are butter, not guns, gold chains are butter too.
No financial advisor is going to tell you to invest in cuban links for a great return.
but guess what, if you bought a cuban link in 2005-2006 and sold it now? exactly..
diamonds?
Are you even breaking even on a cuban from 2005-2006 with the markup/labor that you paid?
HELLZ YEA, hell profiting and making out like a bandit.
Polished diamond prices vary widely depending on a diamond's carat, color, clarity and cut, sometimes referred to as the 4 C's. In contrast to precious metals, there is no universal world price per gram for diamonds.
I doubt you doing much more than breaking even man. It would be different if you were just buying bullion but with that markup, idk.
Let's take an example.
http://danieljewelryinc.com/chains/10mm-miami-cuban-link-14k-chain.html
233g 14K cuban. Converts to 7.4911 troy ounces. 14/24 for amt of gold.
Gold prices have to go to $2200-$2300 just to break even after the dealer because you not going to get exactly spot price. The dealer is going to take his cut.
did you just see da chart i put, if you bought a chain back then you're getting everything you paid PLUS more.
if you paid 25k for a 2ct loose stone diamond you're gonna be lucky to get paid a THIRD of that back.
jewelers aren't gonna touch it unless they can get it cheaper then what they pay for diamonds wholesale.
[h1]The Greatest Story Ever Sold is a Fantasy Covered in Blood[/h1]
by
Lynn Truong on 4 January 2007
123 comments
Photo:
Warner Brothers
Happy New Year!
Want an easy way to save 3+ months' salary? Don't buy a diamond engagement ring. If your fiancée, friends and family scream hellfire, calmly explain:
(See also:
The Ethics of Free: Is it Wrong to Get Free Stuff?)
It's just marketing. The whole "A Diamond is Forever" and the idea of a diamond engagement ring is not an ancient tradition to be revered and followed. It is Sprite's "Obey Your Thirst." It is Nike's "Just Do It." It is Gary Dahl's "Pet Rock." Not only did De Beers understand it had to control supply (buying up and closing down any diamond mine discovered), they had to control demand. They had to make it sentimental. And Americans were the perfect suckers. They targeted the U.S. specifically for our marketability. This campaign is less than 70 years old yet has become so ingrained in our culture that the diamond engagement ring has become the ultimate symbol of
how much the relationship, the girl, and love itself is worth.
Diamonds aren't rare. Fine, using marketing tactics can't be blamed since that's part of the game of capitalism. But another part of the game is competition. It's all well and good if marketers can convince consumers to buy them instead of the competition based on a nice slogan, but the competition should be there to protect the consumer. All gems are valued based on their rarity (as are most things in life). But diamonds are abundant. De Beers has a huge vault where they keep most of the world's supply of diamonds. If it ever got released into the market, the way it would be if they weren't a monopoly, diamonds would be worth nothing. It's literally a pretty rock.
Diamonds have no resale value. The reason a "diamond is forever" is because you're basically stuck with it. You'll never be able to
resell it except to a pawn shop. Even a jeweler (the few who would be willing to buy it) would offer a fraction of what you paid.
Synthetic diamonds will flood the market. Synthetic or "cultured" diamonds are already being made and within the next few years, will be efficiently made for the mass market. These are real diamonds. They are made in a machine that replicates the environmental forces that make diamonds. The only difference is that they're better. They have less flaws. And they cost a fraction of the going rate. Want a 2-carat pink diamond? That'll be a few thousand dollars.
Moissanite looks just like a diamond. Jewelers had to upgrade their equipment to detect Moissanite from diamonds when it came into the market. It's undetectable with the naked eye. And it's actually more brilliant. A 1-carat ring is under $1000.
Who is the ring for, anyway? Seriously. As The Dilettante so poignantly put it,
"For women, comparing jewelry is our phallic posturing contest: look at how big MY dic….er, I mean, diamond is." It's fun to show off for about 30 seconds. After that there is little to show for the debt incurred for the shiny piece of rock. That money could have gone into furniture, an amazing trip (or many nice ones), your future kids' college funds!!
Are these reasons still not enough? Watch
Blood Diamond. It is high time Hollywood dared to broach the subject of diamonds, especially when they had a hand in marketing it to the public in the first place.
Blood Diamond, is an explicit example of the blood and war that has spanned the entire history of the De Beers' diamond cartel. The story of Sierra Leone isn't an isolated event, nor is the conflict over just because the movie says there's peace in Sierra Leone now.
What are conflict/blood diamonds? Conflict/blood diamonds are used by rebel groups to fuel conflict and civil wars, and by terrorist groups to finance their activities.
The Kimberley Process is just PR. It's an agreement that is supposed to prevent conflict diamonds from getting into the market but ended up being more of a PR stunt since it's based on a system of self-policing. The U.N. reported in October 2006 that due to poor enforcement of the Kimberley Process,
$23 million of conflict diamonds from Cote d'lvoire alone entered the legitimate market. Sure De Beers won't buy diamonds coming out of Cote d'lvoire, but they'll turn a blind eye to the
smuggling of diamonds from there through Ghana and Mali where they are certified as being conflict-free.
Percentage in the market. During the height of the diamond conflict in the 1990s, the diamond industry reported that no more than 4% of the diamonds in the market were conflict diamonds,
when in reality it has been shown to be closer to 15% .
Asking for conflict-free certificates is not enough. In April 2006 after a scathing report by Partnership Africa Canada about activities in Brazil, an internal review showed that
49 of 147 Kimberley Process certificates were fraudulent. Besides these fraudulent certificates, real certificates could still be issued if conflict diamonds were smuggled and mixed with legally traded ones before being certified.
Children in India are cutting and polishing the diamonds. Children in India can become "bonded" — forced to work to pay off the debts of their family.
These children end up working in the diamond factories.
Children in conflict zones are being used as soldiers. The images in
Blood Diamond with child soldiers are very real. They are drugged and brainwashed to handle the manslaughter they are forced to do.
Jennifer Connelly says in the movie
Blood Diamond,
"People back home would not buy a diamond if they knew it cost someone their hand." Now you know.
Additional Reources:
Have you ever tried to sell a diamond - Article from The Atlantic Monthly that chronicles the DeBeers marketing campaign
The New Diamond Age - Article from Wired magazine about the cultured diamond startups
Blood From Stones - LA Weekly
Diamonds? Not This Girl's Best Friend - Isabella On-Line Publication
Put a Stop to Blood Diamonds - Send a letter to the administration
The Truth About Diamonds - A Global Witness Report
The Kimberley Process At Risk - A Global Witness Report
Killing Kimberley? Conflict Diamonds and Paper Tigers - Partnership Africa Canada
The Kimberley Process update, November 13, 2006 - Global Witness
Conflict Diamonds Fact Sheet - Global Witness and Amnesty International
Blood Diamond/Clean Bracelet - Help raise awareness
The Diamond Invention
A History of the International Diamond Cartel
10 reasons why you should never accept a diamond ring - The Ultimate Field Guide to the U.S. Economy
Diamonds Suck! A personal essay on the virtures of Moissanite...
Child Slave Labor in India
http://www.wisebread.com/the-greatest-story-ever-sold-is-a-fantasy-covered-in-blood
@ what you'll
im happy with it
