Poll: Diamonds! Are Worthless Little Chunks Of Worthless Rock...

[elvor0]

You can not actually be certain some of those diamonds in stores are not in fact conflict diamonds, they can not 100% guarantee such.

You can never be 100% sure of anything. Your cell phone may contain conflict-cobaltine from the Congo, the oil made into gas for your car may have funded Islamic terrorists, the particle board in your furniture may come from Siberian larch hewed by North Korean slave laborers. You never know.

Conflict-free diamonds are supposed to have documentation tracing back to their mine. Make sure to ask for it. Diamonds are far better kept track of than the above resources. Or just get one of those made-in-the-USA manufactured diamonds that've never been anywhere near a conflict zone.

I guess every law enforcement agency in the world is working with faulty information, perhaps you should contact them telling them all diamonds ever sold have legitimate documentation.

He did say supposed to have documentation, not that it was all above board or 100% legitimate. I mean if you read the first paragraph of his post, I would assumed that it was pretty obvious he wasn't assuming they're all legit.

While there are a large amount of blood/sweat shop items about, acting as if they're all blood items is just as naive as acting as if they're all legitimate, if you take the stance that all diamonds are blood diamonds, and won't buy any for that reason, why draw the line there? As matey said in his post, congo cobaltine, oil money for terrorists, slave labour wood, sweat shop clothes. They all exist and are used and sold on a regular basis.

 

[Zburator]

Diamonds are why children in Africa are forced to work in mines and have their hands chopped off by rival warlords as an object and abject lesson.

Diamonds can not be sniffed out by dogs and can be unidentifiable so they are the main staple for criminal organizations and terrorist groups.

The sooner diamonds are no longer highly sought after the sooner the world will be a better place. I will never buy diamonds, never.

Pretty sure when children's hands are chopped off by warlords, it's the fault of warlords.

People will always find value in things, and people will always find profit in providing said things. Where there is mass profit, there will always be the snakes to gather around it.

Bad people will do bad things to get profit, always been that way, always will.


My thoughts? People are willing to pay loads for diamonds, so 'loads' is what they are worth. That's all there is to it.

 

[4RM3D]

Suddenly I felt like sharing this link [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121011-diamond-planet-space-solar-system-astronomy-science/], for some reason.

"A thing is worth what someone else will pay for it."

That sums it up pretty much.

 

[trollnystan]

Meh, diamonds. I was so disappointed as a kid that diamond was my birthstone. Rather have something more colourful myself. Then I grew up and found out that as a female I'm supposed to love diamonds. BECAUSE ALL WOMEN ARE THE SAME LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Anyway, no. Unless the man I was asking to marry me was into diamonds for some reason, I wouldn't buy a ring with diamonds on it because I think dey boring yo. And if the man who was asking me to marry him got me a ring with diamonds in it I'd seriously wonder if he knew me at all.

Yes, if I'm getting engaged we're either BOTH wearing a damn ring or we go ringless.

Diamonds are only cool when they're acting as the hardest mineral on Earth. Hmm, maybe I should have a diamond ring just in case I need to cut some glass or something =P

 

[Pandabearparade]

Relative to other precious stones, diamonds aren't that rare and I don't think they're very pretty. I would have gotten my fiancee an emerald or sapphire ring, but I have a family ring with a diamond I used instead.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I'm not even bothered about being given a ring. I certainly don't want an expensive one.

When starting married life with someone, there are a lot more important things to spend money on than jewellery. If a guy really wants to prove his love using money, then he'd be better off contributing towards a deposit on a house.

Straying a bit from the topic, I'm not sure I'll ever be married anyway! I've already found the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with, and he's not very fond of marriage (and I'm not especially fussed either way). So I think we'll be staying as a "common law" couple for the time being.

So OP if you found a small bag of uncut diamonds you would throw them out and never think about it again? Or would you sell them?

If you read the post, the topic is actually about whether diamonds on engagement rings (and other pieces of precious jewellery) are essentially pointless if you never plan to sell them. The title is just an attention grabber, and the poll specifically asks if you expect to give/receive a diamond when you propose or are proposed to.

 

[Scarim Coral]

No I won't risk my life over a diamond and if I do purposed to my girlfriend with a ring, it probably be some other gem on the ring since afterall you can get ring with different gems on it (doesn't got to be diamond in my view).

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Wow, you just rationalised the shit out of that. In your face affectionate people!

Captcha is calling me a yellow belly, so I'll put it clearly.

If someone wants to get their lover a diamond ring, why shouldn't they? Some people want to show commitment, it's not always because their partner expects commitment.

Also the world is full of liars, there are a lot of people who will tell someone they love them, and then leave them when it suits them. These people like to use people. But giving someone something that shows investment is a reassuring gesture, and we all like to be reassured when it comes to relationships, because they can be so incredibly fickle.

And lastly, the very worse than can happen when you are rejected is you lose friends.

 

[Olas]

I don't know shit about love, but I know a little about economics.

It's called a Veblen good. A good people want BECAUSE of how expensive it is. With most Veblen goods like rare art and expensive luxury cars are bought to show off how rich you are, to flaunt wealth. You buy a diamond because it proves you're willing to give up a lot to make the other person happy. If diamonds were common and therefore cheap nobody would bother with them.


The fact that they're pretty is just the basis for which you're supposedly buying it for, but really it's the sentiment.
That's why other more common minerals that look identical to diamonds aren't valued as high and don't sell as well. Plus the proposee can then show it off to people as proof of how much you love them.

 

[Zhukov]

*mild facepalm*

Value and worth are collectively determined things. If enough people believe something has great worth then it does. Period. Everything else is irrelevant. It will even have worth to someone who regards it as worthless because it gives them leverage over the people who believe it has worth.

I bet if someone gifted you a whole suitcase full of completely legal, high grade diamonds you wouldn't say, "Oh, diamonds, these are so worthless, lol, I'm gonna chuck 'em in the bin." You'd say, "Fuck yeah, diamonds! These things are worth a packet!".

Also, status symbols are useful. You can ***** about how shallow it is until the cows come home, but if something raises you in the eyes of your peers then it is useful.

As for whether or not I'd use diamonds to propose... eh, never really given it any thought.

Actually, it just occurred to me, I'd probably prefer to use an opal. I just think they're prettier:

 

[Sneezeguard]

A whole thread about diamonds and nobody has posted diamonds are forever yet? Escapists I am disappointed.

But I guess that actually helps sell diamonds it's sort of symbolic the word comes from the ancient Greek adámas meaning "unbreakable" and I suppose thats what people want to think of their love at the time is "unbreakable" or forever. Personally I find them rather dull, they lack colour, (though you can get some colour diamonds I find them unimpressive in appearence) Sapphires are much more prettier.

 

[Doitpow]

<spoiler=diamonds>

You know what is real sad though? How freaking useful diamonds are outside of the jewelry context.

 

[Traun]

A diamond that you plan on keeping forever is a worthless piece of rock that some people might have even died for. A diamond that you plan on reselling some day is a needlessly risky investment. Discuss?

If something has a sentimental value then it does have worth, as someone said before "A thing is worth as much as people are willing to pay for it."

If we operate on purely necessity logic, everything past a one-room apartment with the barest of furniture is a waste.

 

[The Code]

When used as part of a tool, diamonds are indeed a useful and infinitely valuable material. When used cosmetically, I think it's kind of pointless and even risky. If it's a big enough rock, there's more than enough incentive to yank the stone from someone's neck and run like crazy. For me, I'd much rather have something of great personal value. I could hold a diamond the size of a baby's head on one hand and a hand-carved wooden cane from a good friend in the other, and the cane would have a more intimate value to me than a sparkly hunk of carbon. Humanity's fascination with sparkly things astounds and frightens me. If people strive so hard to get these useless baubles, then what's stopping them from killing me and looting my corpse if they mistake a piece of glass in my hand for something worth more money?

 

[repeating integers]

Actually, it just occurred to me, I'd probably prefer to use an opal. I just think they're prettier:

Yeah, the only thing I really feel like contributing to this thread is that those are stunningly beautiful.

 

[krazykidd]

Congratulations, you learned what the water-diamond paradox is and then put it on the net in the most condescending way possible.

No, a diamond has no value to it nor does gold, silver, dollar bills or anything else we base entire economies on. Humanity assigns that value for a variety of reasons from aesthetics to rarity. Once it's established it's nearly impossible to break (though the age of cyber-banking where millions of dollars/pounds exists as a few keystrokes will most likely eventually do just that).

So for the moment humanity as a whole has agreed diamonds are worth alot and if you want to show someone you care then society will most easily recognise that with a diamond ring/gemstone ring. Sure you can say 'I don't care what people think' but for the sake of some cash which, as discussed, also does not actually have any value to it beyond a grand social agreement, wouldn't it be easier just to do it and make your partner happy?

Thank you for saying what i came here to say. This post is full of so much win. It's so annoying when people learn something new in school and act like they discovered it .

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I'm a bad husband... I just asked if she wanted to get married and she said yes. No ring at all.
To be fair she prefers pink diamonds and those things are fucking expensive as hell.

 

[PatrickXD]

If I aim to become engaged with a (hell of a lucky) lady, I'll ask her to marry me, then sort out the ring business together. I would want her to have what she wants, and while there is something to be said for spontaneity, I don't want her just to have what I think she'll like when it could be costing me a pretty penny.
I personally don't care too much about engagement rings. Traditions have to start somewhere, so I'm certainly not put off by the fact that the idea of a diamond ring is hardly a century old if that. But at the end of the day, it's not just my choice. If I were to get engaged to a someone, it's as much about them as it is me.

 

[blackrave]

If I were to p

Do I expect one? No. I'm far more partial to personalised touches. If my girlfriend were to get me a silver and amethyst ring, that would be far more worthwhile to me than a diamond or gold. I just don't care for gold much.

Same her. If I ever propose to a girl I'd get a ring that matches the metal and stone that she likes most. If she likes diamonds, I'll get diamonds. If she likes emeralds or sapphires, I'll get her those.

A personalized gift will always have a greater impact, and meaning than a generic gift.

^this
"Classical" diamond-gold rings are for shallow people who doesn't care what another person really likes

My personal favorite are hard metal and mixed metal jewelry
Gold-platinum ring looks much better than plain gold ring with diamond in it

Also If you absolutely must get diamond, get colored diamond from Australia
At least it will look more interesting.

 

[Not Matt]

Hey, 2HF. Is I managed to dig up my ex's phone number, could you please tell her ?

And yeah basically you're right but the thing is. People, are idiots. And we don't want to give up the old belief that "shiny thing pretty, shiny thing most be worth more then YOU" we picked up when humans still could be called Neanderthals. And you mentioned rings. I think that is more to symbolize than to just look pretty.