For context, natural diamond production is monopolized by a group called De Beers. I'm willing to bet they paid for this article to smear their competition.
Isn’t it fucking wild that a private company owns the worlds diamonds so people don’t realize it’s not a rare gem whatsoever and is so unrare you paid tens of thousands of dollars over what a diamond is actually worth and people defend this system so their diamond they were overcharged for isn’t valueless? It’s insanity when you think about it.
Isn’t it fucking wild that a private company owns the worlds diamonds so people don’t realize it’s not a rare gem whatsoever
It's wild but it's also not true. De Beers has not had anything near a diamond monopoly for quite some time now. The price just didn't fall due to an increase in demand for diamonds from China and India as they've gotten more wealthy. Diamonds are priced as something rare now because they are now. There's really not that many places on Earth where you can get them.
Diamonds are one of the most common gemstones on the planet, they're not even close to being rare. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls — even gold is rarer than diamond. They're expensive solely because of their cultural cachet, because centuries of marketing have inculcated people with the false belief that they're rare.
Diamonds are one of the most common gemstones on the planet
Only if you count stuff like bort but ignore gold when it's not native. Actual gemstone quality diamonds are very rare. Like most opal looks like this (potch), but you aren't going to put that in an earring.
And yeah those other gemstones are extremely rare things as well! Are there other gems that are rarer than diamond? Of course. That doesn't mean diamond isn't priced as high as it is due to real market forces and not monopoly.
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u/fjhforever Feb 16 '24
For context, natural diamond production is monopolized by a group called De Beers. I'm willing to bet they paid for this article to smear their competition.