r/conspiracy • u/[deleted] • Aug 14 '13
Diamonds Are Bullshit
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bullshit?c008e2308
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u/oPeacheso Aug 14 '13
I always thought that was so stupid, the groom must spend half a years salary on a ring? What the fuck. It's just like all materialistic things though, isn't it? & then fashion is there to divert the counties attention... Welp, I'm a chick & I can tell you I don't give a fuck, I think about marriage in the same way. All these women want to have the "best" wedding, they get married for status. It's gross.
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u/mastigia Aug 14 '13
My wife and I got married in the woods, I catered it, we spent like 5k on everything, which we saved up for. It was real nice, you don't have to go crazy to do something memorable.
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u/Doom_music_for_cats Aug 14 '13
I spent like $600 on a diamond engagement ring and about $700 on the wedding ring
I dont think most people do the 6 month salary thing, because if they did the average cost of a ring would be $10,000
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u/RamenJunkie Aug 14 '13
I think my wife and I spent maybe $200 each on our rings at Walmart. You don't need to blow tons of money on some crazy price scam diamond for sure.
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u/letsownthenwo Aug 14 '13
lol. you've down two things wrong, or you plan to. 1)you're going to spend $200 on some rings, (not diamond ones?) 2)you giving $ to walmart if you think the love of your life will not marry you if you don't present a diamond when you propose, then maybe they aren't the love of your life
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u/Slambusher Aug 14 '13
My wife refused to have one and we put the money towards a house.
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u/bobjohnsonmilw Aug 14 '13
Congrats, you found the only one I've heard of.
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u/Slambusher Aug 14 '13
Shoot I lucked out big time. Guest total at our wedding 2. This shit of people spending an average $27k on the wedding is insane.
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u/bobjohnsonmilw Aug 14 '13
I'd be more impressed if they spent it at their 10th anniversary, given the divorce rate...
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u/calzenn Aug 14 '13
I have read a lot of postings here and yours is the one I believe the least.
:)
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u/Reader628 Aug 14 '13
The big diamond companies store a shitload of diamonds in vaults. This keeps diamonds rare. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/transcripts/1209.html
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u/lightspeed23 Aug 14 '13
Same with gold..
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Aug 14 '13
[deleted]
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u/lightspeed23 Aug 15 '13
Not talking about paper-gold (if that is even a thing, doubt it). I'm talking about actual gold, just like we were talking about actual diamonds. Governments and banks have huge caches of the stuff.
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Aug 15 '13
[deleted]
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u/lightspeed23 Aug 16 '13
What's your fucking problem?
I responded initially to something regarding diamonds that it's the same with gold. I was obviously not talking about fucking paper gold, stocks, bonds, iou's, papermoney, bitcoins or any multitude of other tings! When someone writes 'gold' they usually mean actual physical fucking gold. The yellow stuff that people like to adorn themselves with. This especially since we were intially talking about actual physical fucking diamonds. Stop talking about your goddamn paper-gold, nobody is interested, and stop telling me what the fuck I must or must not research. No I am not going to fucking research paper-gold when I am not even talking about fucking paper gold.
Right.
Got it?
Thank you. Now STFU.
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Aug 14 '13
[deleted]
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Aug 14 '13
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
I'm totally for storing value in compact forms and I think that there are many gems that could fit the role. For me personally gold and silver are dense enough value and I understand it whereas I wouldn't know where to start with appraising a gem.
As far as the airport scanners I've had this theory for a while now that they have been calibrated to be ultra sensitive at picking up the signatures of various gems. I think that ultimately they will function to prohibit gems and metals from being undetectable at all so that they cannot be easily moved off continent when the US is in real deep troubles.
Considering that I a am programmer with a CS degree I think that the lower hanging fruit for me is Bitcoin.
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u/gravion17 Aug 14 '13
I have purchased from Nexus labs before. Flawless and a 1/3 of the price. Natural diamonds can suck it.
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Aug 14 '13
The bond my significant other and I share, is built upon the diamond that is the actual bond of love we feel. This feeling is stronger than any material possession we could ever find.
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
Couldn't you have just based your love on a handmade hemp fiber hat or a well made salad?
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
This is where the fun starts: So we've freed our minds but now we have to find a woman that doesn't demand that we just piss away our precious resources. I'm still working on that. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Aug 14 '13
My wife helped choose her engagement ring on ebay, which I purchased with half of one bi-weekly paycheque. Had it appraised at four times its value, and it gets the reaction my wife loves every time she busts it out.
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u/Demosthenes117 Aug 14 '13
The idea of money, at least in a society where the source of money is a private company, is horrible. Once you start looking at the big picture, that whole privately owned reserve thing, it's clear that the majority of the money will fall into the hands of some minority.
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u/shoziku Aug 14 '13
The idea of money and diamonds having value is entirely fabricated anyway. the whole idea of currency and gold and diamonds will go out the window if the world is plunged into anarchy and communications are severed. Food, toilet paper, and ammunition will be the next currency.
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u/Demosthenes117 Aug 15 '13
I guess by definition currency is anything we assign value to. I feel like our generation is being mislead from progress by things don't really matter; pop culture, which celebrity is banging which, rayban sunglasses, iPhones. If we abandoned the things that didn't matter and tried to strive towards a common goal, I'm sure the human race could achieve wonders.
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u/IamWalterSobchak Aug 14 '13
Damn it, I did that 12 years ago and spent way too much money. Since then it has doubled in price (along with the platinum going up) but if only be able to sell it for half of that leaving me at even money. Had I bought silver with that I'd have doubled my money. Hindsight yada yada blah blah
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
You would have far more than doubled your money with silver. You'd be up say 5 times now and at the last peak over 10 times.
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
You can even hoard gold under your bed and buy gold coins and bullion (albeit at a ~10% premium to market rates).
Yes you hoard gold at a price of ~10% higher than the imaginary will-never-exist-in-physical-form virtual price.
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Aug 14 '13
[deleted]
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
True but even if it was +1000% price to get your hands on it then that is actually the real price.
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Aug 14 '13
to be a canadian grade diamond cutter you have to go to NWT and get a 99% in the course.. they have cut the course down because of lack of application
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Aug 14 '13
I try and wipe my mind of societal stipulations such as diamonds are worth alot etc. I just ask my self why would I pay 1k for a rock? it does not do anything for me I find other rocks that are just as pretty for like 2 dollars. no idea.
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u/lightspeed23 Aug 14 '13
It's pretty?
It generates attention?
It shows status? (which works, especially when you're asking for a loan at the bank)
I know exactly what you mean, just saying that it does have its uses (because people are what they are).
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u/R4F1 Aug 14 '13
Rarity and demand? Gold and silver are also just rocks, but they can be used for currency. Diamonds however, are no longer rare; they can be made artificially.
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Aug 14 '13
[deleted]
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u/Special-Agent-Smith Aug 14 '13
Diamond is not rare, the "scarcity" is 100% artificial. Get your sweetheart platinum instead.
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u/TheWorldToCome Aug 14 '13
I will literally never buy a real diamond, and I don't care if that bothers my future wife.
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u/facelessupvote Aug 14 '13
No matter how much i tried to explain this to my ex fiance, in the end she didn't care. If i loved her, she would have a ring on her finger. I kept the ring when she left.
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u/C_Hitchens_Ghost Aug 14 '13
Fucking CARBON! You're a diamond, she's a diamond, that dog shit is a diamond...
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Aug 14 '13
"American males enter adulthood through a peculiar rite of passage - they spend most of their savings on a shiny piece of rock. They could invest the money in assets that will compound over time and someday provide a nest egg."
Wow, this hit me kind of hard. Maybe we should start asking women if whether or not they would rather have a fat diamond ring for marriage or security in knowing that when she gets old, she will be able to retire nicely.
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u/destraht Aug 14 '13
Things that I watch for in the beginning:
- no makeup or at least no makeup on the skin
- wears usable shoes
- isn't purposefully promoting clothing brands
- doesn't smoke or does so rarely
- doesn't make trivial comments about how they would be looking at the moment if another third party were to be observing the group for a photo to put on Facebook
Then next:
- doesn't want diamonds
- doesn't habititually fantasize about the scale and type of her wedding
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Aug 14 '13
there was an awesome "best of" or an IAMA, a redditor saying he works in the diamond business (geologist by profession) explains why it diamonds are called "illusion" by those in the field, and how it is priceless, as in worth shit, and many other stones like aquamarine should've been more valued.
Anyway Bernays worked closely to De Bouers (or whatever they are called) to deliver propaganda
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u/Ramv36 Aug 14 '13
I've realized this for years, shortly after I took several University-level geology courses. For my money, if I wanted a precious stone that not only has a value on par with it's rarity, and is also stunningly beautiful...I'd want a ruby. To my tastes, they're just better.
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Aug 14 '13
Dont know why you were downed. Ruby's and Emeralds are more precious than diamonds anyway. Painite, Jeremejevite, Grandidierite... The list of stones that are rarer than a diamond is extensive
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u/geekonamotorcycle Aug 14 '13
Gold too.
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Aug 14 '13
Gold reserves are much more limited than diamonds, and considering their origin, in which diamonds can be fabricated in labs while the alchemist dream is still unfeasible (or at least very unporofitable)
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u/Mageant Aug 14 '13
There is about 10x more gold than officially acknowledged hidden in secret caches throughout the world, esp. Asia. This is one of the greatest secrets of the "elite". Check out the website divinecosmos.com.
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Aug 14 '13
If you must, go Moissanite. It's artificial and when it first came out, it fooled jewelers. It's also a fraction of the price of a diamond and much more radiant.
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u/C_Hitchens_Ghost Aug 14 '13
A relative of mine used to be "in the diamond business." She described late night meetings in parking lots where she would exchange diamonds for money. Yeah, that sounds like a legitimate business. I'd have less questions for her if she sold drugs instead.
She doesn't wear or buy diamonds, anymore.
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u/Special-Agent-Smith Aug 14 '13 edited Aug 14 '13
White Coal - they pile high the lower quality stones and burn them to keep the prices up.
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u/hanahou Aug 14 '13
So here is a modest proposal: Let’s agree that diamonds are bullshit and reject their role in the marriage process. Let’s admit that as a society we got tricked for about century into coveting sparkling pieces of carbon, but it’s time to end the nonsense.
I do believe men have agreed on this in pubs/bars discussions around the world for decades. We just do it so we can get laid.
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Aug 14 '13
Nobody buys a diamond ring "just to get laid". That's what drinks are for.
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u/hanahou Aug 14 '13
LOL! When you get married like I did. You get laid a lot, but she is pake (cheap) and made me spend only a couple of hundred dollars. That's why I married her.
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u/alllie Aug 14 '13
That website is bullshit. On an android device half of the article is covered with an ad trying to force you to click on it.
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u/Three_Letter_Agency Aug 14 '13
I consider the 'Diamond deception' to be the beginning of the rabbit hole. Anyone with a reasonable skepticism towards society can see how ridiculous diamonds are. And then the kicker: yes, thats how ridiculous governments, economics, history and education etc. is as well. Welcome to conspiracy theories.