# Could you make a ring out of diamond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039 "2012-05-16T00:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039/21 "2012-05-16T20:58:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve seen gem-quality synthetic diamonds larger than that before, and without any real security, so they can’t be all _that_ expensive. We had a colloquium speaker last year who was doing experiments that required them, and halfway through the talk she reached into her pocket and took out one of the diamonds she uses to show us. Natural ones wouldn’t be expensive either except for the de Beers monopoly. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039/22 "2012-05-16T23:36:42Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I think you mean isotopically, right? Indeed I do–good catch. I read/write the word anisotropic a few dozen times per day so my fingers really want to insert that extra r… ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039/23 "2012-05-16T23:56:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Natural ones wouldn’t be expensive either except for the de Beers monopoly. They would not be _as_ expensive. It’s still a buttload of work to get the damn things out of the ground. Can anyone find any research about how much of diamond pricing is scarcity-based, or what the labor costs actually are? My immediate reaction is that the stones would be cheaper by half or more, but I’m totally making that up. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039/24 "2012-05-17T20:31:49Z")
I suspect that, even without the cartel, a single gem-quality natural diamond big enough to carve a ring out of would still be ungodly expensive. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039/25 "2012-05-17T23:31:46Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > \ > When I was talking to a friend about synthetic diamonds she immediately said she would be disappointed if her boyfriend proposed with a synthetic diamond ring. > > For them to become desirable you’d need to get a name like _pure_ diamond (because they often have less impurities / flaws than natural diamonds) or _bespoke_ diamond, say. Well, I guess some lucky guy will never ever be able to make her happy unless they are able to pony up the bucks.I purchased my wife a man made diamond for both her engagement ring and for a tennis bracelet. Not has anyone once ever noticed it wasn’t a mined diamond, not even the jeweler who cleaned it last month. The man made diamonds are beautiful, sparkling and shining as good a anything most of us could afford. She knew I was going to get her man made and agreed that we would rather have money in the bank than lost buying a worthless stone. Yes, practically worthless. Pay 5 grand for a diamond and take it back a few weeks later and see what they will give you for it. Suddenly, that one of a kind valuable stone isn’t worth a third of what you paid for it. But wait, they are so rare! Really? If they are so rare then why does every jewelery store have hundreds of them? The sad truth is that DeBeers has done a masterful job convincing women of the value of a stupid rock. They have convinced women that their man doesn’t love them unless he shells out three months party for one of their trinkets. They got rich and those foolish enough to fall for the slick advertising got to make payments for the next few years on an asset that is worth a fraction of what they paid for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-make-a-ring-out-of-diamond/622039.md?page=1)