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[–]sadpanda341∆ 207 points208 points


This is pretty much the way I thought for a long time until I got my fiancée an engagement ring. After doing lots of research I am extremely happy with my purchase of a diamond engagement ring.

There are several reasons why to buy a diamond

1) The cartel has broken.

You expressed some concern saying “I think that diamonds are a sham. They aren't rare, they are just strategically kept out of the market.” While that still is true to a certain extent the big cartel player (De Beers) has finally been broken. In 2000 producers in Russia, Canada and Australia decided to cut off channels to De Beers due to the negative publicity of “blood diamonds” and De Beers has been losing market share. De Beers’ market share fell from as high as 90% in the 1980s to less than 40% in 2012. In 2011 the Oppenheimer family announced their intention to sell the entirety of their 40% share. Price manipulation is now far more difficult. You could argue at this point in 2013, there is no manipulation and it is simply the market.

2) You’re not buying the rough diamond, you’re buying the art.

Diamonds are expensive. I mean wtf they are just shiny hard pieces of carbon, I mean hell so is my ass. So why are they so expensive? It’s because of the art and skill it takes to cut a polish a rough diamond. These are skilled professionals who take years of training and experience to cut a rough diamond and actually make it look fantastic. Cut, the most important quality in my opinion, is almost entirely dependent on the skill of the diamond cutter. And even the carat is dependent on the diamond cutter not cutting too much. What this means of course is no diamond is the same. That may sound lame but it’s true. Small differences in facet pattern can produce large differences in the pattern of light that is reflected off the stone. Every diamond has its own “fire and brilliance” pattern.

3) The expense per day of use is very small.

But diamonds are still expensive. I spent around $5000 for my engagement ring I gave to my fiancée, a lot right now, but she wears it every. single. day. And if we stay together for 50 years (perfectly reasonable considering our age) this means that the per day usage is $0.27!

4) There are alternatives to mined diamonds.

Now you still may not like a mined diamond who knows maybe the store or website is lying and it is a blood diamond. I considered buying a synthetic diamond from a place like here. They use large pressure cookers to form real diamonds which are a little less expensive. I didn’t buy from them because they didn’t have the shape and style I was looking for and they aren’t that great at producing pure colorless yet. But they appear to be getting better and better. Of course they are about the same price for freaking carbon, but that’s because these diamonds still need to be cut by the same artists who cut earth-grown diamonds. Furthermore you could argue that the technology needed to make these is an art in itself.

5) You get enjoyment researching and every day she wears it.

Finally it was fun looking all this up knowing that she will wear what I pick every single day. Sometimes I see the sparkle of the facet pattern when we are out at a restaurant and think of how I may know the facet pattern better than she does; I know why I chose a “modified brilliant cut” over an “old mine cut” and how it suits her and her personality. Sometimes while driving her I see some shimmer on the celling of the car and think about what that means; this stone, this diamond, on my fiancée’s finger, grew in the earth for perhaps millions of years at 1800 degrees to one day be blasted out of the earth through a volcano, to then be found, mined, cut, polished and finally purchased by me and given to my fiancée. Sometimes while on the couch with her, I see some reflection on the wall and I think of the sacrifice it took to mine, produce, and ship and the cost to me and I think that she is worth it.

You get to be reminded almost every day what this person means to you and at $0.27 a day it’s a steal.

[–]sousuke 28 points29 points


It seems like your argument boils down to 1. diamonds aren't that expensive if you look at it over a long time period, 2. its art, and 3. you'll remember it.

Nothing here gives a particularly strong reason as to you should spend your money on a diamond specifically. A vacation is also something you can also spend a lot of money on and remember for the rest of your life. And honestly, I don't think the majority of people will care that the diamond is "art". I think the enjoyment that comes from a vacation would easily outweigh whatever enjoyment you might have from the artistry of a diamond, especially since you can always appreciate the beauty of even nicer diamonds in a museum.

[–]sadpanda341∆ 0 points1 point


The actual purpose of an engagement ring in general is to symbolize the love and affection you feel to your significant other. If you can do that with a lifetime subscription to Netflix -more power to you. However that is not symbolic of my relationship to my fiancée. I suppose one could say, “Why do you need a symbol?” And you don’t. You can, of course, marry someone without an engagement ring or even a tangible symbol of your love (and spend the money on a vacation); however symbols are a near universal human condition. Most people like symbols. We see thousands every day, so I along with many others want one to symbolize our relationships.

[–]sousuke 5 points6 points


Yes, I understand that symbols are powerful and important for many people, but why does the symbol of love have to be diamonds? I feel like people are just swallowing the diamond industry's marketing pitch wholesale. You could make the symbol anything that's meaningful to both you and your spouse: a love letter, a present, heck even just a plain old rock from a nice vacation or something. The fact that many people seem to think that it HAS to be a diamond says to me that it's not necessarily a matter of symbolism but rather of romanticism and tradition.