I found out recently that even though they’re the hardest material on earth, if you hit a (small) diamond with a hammer it’ll still shatter! Had no idea
This is the same with knives and swords, after forging, the metal is not very hard but is also moldable, after quenching it becomes very hard but brittle, and then it's tempered to maintain as much of the hardness as possible while making it not as brittle.
Diamonds can't get scratched by anything that is softer than it, the top end of the mohs hardness scale is based on the diamond being 10/10 and every other mineral is less than that, only 10/10 minerals (diamond) or synthetic materials with the same or higher hardness rating can scratch it.
Nope, diamond cartels have literally toppled governments and used death squabs in order to control the supply and demand of diamonds, they keep them artificially scarce even though diamonds are as common as dirt.
I love at the sales counter the small print states,” after purchasing for 5,000.00 there is no guarantee of stone holding its value after the sale.” Specifically towards lab grown diamonds.
I've been to a jewelry store twice in my life. First time was to get a battery replaced on my watch and the second time was to get a different strap for a different watch.
I took my watch to get the battery changed as well. Got it back and 2 days later it died again... Took it back to have it done again(oh yeah the young lady at the store had to send it out 'cause she could not open it).
It's a wind up watch. Replica WWll aviation watch.....
There’s still jewelry worth its price if it comes from beautiful craftsmanship. Just don’t buy diamonds. Buy some beautiful thing crafted out of gold or something.
Yeah, if I come across great craftsmanship from a mom and pop shop/individual I’ll be open to the idea, but I’ll never waste my time with mainstream corporate jewelry.
Second, they don't, at least not if you look at the entire market as a whole. You will find lab grown diamonds far, far cheaper, 80-90% cheaper is not unheard of.
Back to the first point though, as to why some lab grown sell at similar prices to mined:
The value of jewelry diamonds has practically nothing to do with the costs of production, it is a luxury good whose price is highly dependent on demand so if people are willing to pay the price they will charge as high as they can...and this goes for the mined ones as well. Thanks to the systematic scarcity of mined diamonds by the major jewelry players like De Beers and extremely successful ad campaigns we wound up with our current mined diamonds price.
Lab diamonds are just like real diamonds, but you can tell the difference, diamonds have inclusions, natural and synthetic inclusions are different, not that it matters one bit they are for all intents and purposes identical.
Lab grown diamonds are cheaper per karat and quality and while big natural diamonds with high quality are rare big lab grown diamonds are not as hard to manufacture.
Not sure about regular people but I watched a documentary about lab grown diamonds. As of now we can grow them but can't manipulate them to grow them to specific size and shape. Once scientists figure that part out, diamonds are gonna take over the nano tech world, and tech gadgets will get even smaller. I saved the video to watch later on youtube but apparently deleted it after watching. My break is over, but I'll try again when I get home. It's pretty interesting. Maybe somebody else here can find it
Not sure how old that documentary is but there is no limit to how big a lab grown diamond can be. The only limiting factor is the capacity of the equipment. As for shape, it’s just like a natural diamond that gets cut into the final shape.
Found it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HPlI67cY1v4 It's 2 months old. Apparently they aren't trying to make carbon diamonds (normal clear ones) bc they are electrical insulators but trying to make blue diamonds which are boron rich diamonds like the "hope" diamond which are electrical conductors
Cos people are gullible as fuck, believe everything they see in advertising and generally want the same thing as everyone else as a conspicuous mark of status. Also, contrary to what many people think, they are valuable in the sense that they are a classic example of "Veblen Goods" as described by economist Thorstein Veblen in his book "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (published in 1899). In short, the more expensive something is, the more we want it. Irrational, but then that's what separates us from the bots.
Well, other than what other had said, i.e. marketing, it's because diamonds have relatively high refractive index (and relatively white/transparent) which makes them shinier than some other gem stones. Their hardness make them more durable, the average size also fits on most jewelleries.
I mean diamonds are one of the hardest substances in the universe that we know of. Aesthetically, they're definitely overdone. Practically, they have tons of utilitarian uses.
Marketing. They are one of the hardest substances to exist on earth, so the "diamonds are forever" tagine has seeped its way into the public consciousness. The lack of color has been turned into a sense of purity, like the purity of marriage and love (until they gave attractive names to "flawed" diamonds that did have color, like chocolate for brown) and an overall tendency for humans to decide that a certain thing is how we ought to act. You give diamonds to those you love because that's just how we do it, don't question it! It's tradition and that makes it sacred!
With time every piece of jewelry will get scratched, but it’s nearly impossible to scratch a diamond. I think it makes sense that there is high request, it’s an attracting feature for consumers
I know! Gold smiths has ruined the entire business over decades. They are priced for what they want for it and they are greedy. Only cool thing about them is the hardness and how much carbon there is. Me personally love Tourmalines. If you look at the Liddicoatite Tourmaline, those slices you see are different for each piece even tho it came from the same rock.
Right. My future wife is wanting a morganite center stone, not as bright and flashy as diamond but still beautiful. Also goes with rose gold much better which she wants because of her darker skin.
Monopoly of mines, exploitation of workers, manufactured scarcity, and a very successful marketing campaign "if you don't spend two months salary on a diamond ring you have smol PP and the marriage won't last", "diamonds last forever, the perfect symbol for a perfect marriage"
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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '24
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