# Are Diamonds worth it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094 "2020-06-05T12:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/1 "2020-06-05T12:21:51Z")
Their has been some discussion that diamonds are only really valuable because certain people wanted them to be and started a successful marketing campaign for them in 1938. Otherwise they would basically be worthless rocks except for certain industrial processes because of their hardness. Some articles: [What Makes Diamonds so Valuable and Expensive?](https://www.truefacet.com/guide/makes-diamonds-valuable/) [Are Diamonds Really Rare?](https://www.gemsociety.org/article/are-diamonds-really-rare/) [Diamonds are Bull\*\*\*\*](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/diamonds-are-bullshit_b_3708562) Now personally I’ve always liked gold better. It looks better. I get “gold fever” just touching it. And it can always be melted down and remade into something else. What do you all think? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/2 "2020-06-05T12:44:07Z")
Utterly a successful marketing con. (Hopefully, the production process will eventually become refined enough that artificial diamonds will come down to cents per caret like cz.) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/3 "2020-06-05T13:36:21Z")
They are lightweight, portable symbols of how well-off you are, or how much you think someone cares about you. That’s how they are worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/4 "2020-06-05T14:51:48Z")
Why is anything worth anything? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/5 "2020-06-05T15:28:14Z")
Gold is actually rare, diamonds are not. Furthermore,.gold can’t be made artificially like diamonds. Subjectively, gold is a lot prettier too. A diamond is ultimately just akin to sparkling glass in appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/6 "2020-06-05T15:34:19Z")
One of the most successful marketing programs of all time. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/7 "2020-06-05T15:48:06Z")
Worth it to whom? The miner? The bride? The mine owner? You? A lot of young people I know are moving away from diamonds for their wedding jewelry. Mostly due to human toll, horrific mining conditions, ecological damage, and manipulated pricing. Turns out, there’s lots of pretty stones! ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/8 "2020-06-05T15:46:06Z")
Worth it to whom? The miner? The bride? The mine owner? You? A lot of young people I know are moving away from diamonds for their wedding jewelry. Mostly due to human toll, horrific mining conditions, ecological damage, and manipulated pricing. Turns out, there’s lots of pretty stones! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/9 "2020-06-05T16:03:52Z")
Like others said - complete marketing BS - w/ horrific human costs. Unfortunately, my wife likes em. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/10 "2020-06-05T16:44:51Z")
No, they’re not. Kind of disgusting how people still think they are. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/11 "2020-06-05T16:58:10Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > (snip) A diamond is ultimately just akin to sparkling glass in appearance. This has always been my reaction when people gush over how beautiful a piece of diamond jewelry looks. Would it still be beautiful if I told you it was 50¢ worth of glass? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/12 "2020-06-05T18:30:42Z")
I’ve always preferred the look of rubies, sapphires and emeralds, personally. I don’t think diamonds are worthless (well, not any more than other gems), but they _are_ overpriced because the supply is kept artificially low. Also the diamond industry contributes to a lot of misery in Africa, so that’s a bad thing. But those issues are indicative of problems with the diamond _industry_ as it currently exists, not diamonds themselves. Which, after all, are just shiny rocks people like to make jewelry out of, not particularly different from any other gem. Now, start talking up the beauty of _chocolate_ diamonds and my eyes will roll back in my head 360 degrees or more. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/13 "2020-06-05T19:58:59Z")
The way I see it, diamonds are like Beanie Babies - they’re worth what a buyer is willing to pay for them. Then again, that’s pretty much true of anything, isn’t it? I don’t like them - never have. My mother loves 'em and has a bunch of 'em. I hope and pray she doesn’t bequeath any of them to me, but if she does, I’ll be selling them. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/14 "2020-06-05T20:00:50Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > The way I see it, diamonds are like Beanie Babies - they’re worth what a buyer is willing to pay for them. Then again, that’s pretty much true of anything, isn’t it? > > I don’t like them - never have. My mother loves 'em and has a bunch of 'em. I hope and pray she doesn’t bequeath any of them to me, but if she does, I’ll be selling them. Unfortunately, they’re not worth much on the resale market. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/15 "2020-06-05T20:07:22Z")
Large high quality diamonds are rare enough to be worth quite a bit, but still quite a bit less than what they sell for. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/16 "2020-06-05T20:48:04Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > A diamond is ultimately just akin to sparkling glass in appearance. Yeah, no. If you ever see a well-cut, well-mounted diamond you won’t mistake it for cut glass. They have a quality that is quite distinct. Are they worth what you have to pay for them? That’s a different question and one that everybody has to answer for themselves. I don’t think so. I prefer emeralds and so does my wife. You can bewail DeBeers all you want (and I have), but they and their marketing campaigns are the most successful in history. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/17 "2020-06-05T22:20:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yeah, no. If you ever see a well-cut, well-mounted diamond you won’t mistake it for cut glass. They have a quality that is quite distinct. And that quality is the refractive index. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/18 "2020-06-05T22:48:27Z")
If it was that easy to make large diamonds suitable for jewelry then people would be doing that. Overselling the “worthlessness” of diamonds is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/19 "2020-06-05T22:55:55Z")
Yup, and people do do that. But they’re not worth as much because the diamond industry has brainwashed a significant portion of the public into thinking that they “don’t count”. And the way you tell the difference is that the bespoke ones are higher quality than you can find in the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094/20 "2020-06-05T23:04:04Z")
read somewhere they got popular for engagement rings when Queen Elizabeth got one in 1947. (when was still a princess) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-diamonds-worth-it/855094.md?page=2)