# Diamond price question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2023, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701 "2023-03-27T06:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/41 "2023-04-01T16:28:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The completed puzzle is a QR Code. Oh, my gods, a jigsaw puzzle of nothing but black and white squiggles sounds like sheer hell to me. What’s next, a jigsaw of a clear blue sky? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/42 "2023-04-01T17:08:13Z")
I and **DesertWife** have successfully done a puzzle with no pattern at all, just red. Another time one was an astronomic photo of about 20-degrees of ski with just some of the brighter stars labeled and the constellation borders shown. This was at Christmas and a young nephew declared, “That’s impossible!” and we said no, it was only very difficult. I’ve never done one but there are square puzzles out there with the exact same picture on both sides. The fiends even cut them from both sides so a piece will have two down-cuts and two up-cuts on them. > **[World's Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle - Dalmatians (529 Pieces)](https://www.pdk.co.uk/products/worlds-most-difficult-jigsaw-puzzle-dalmatians-529-pieces)** > > World's Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle - Dalmatians is a quality 529 piece jigsaw puzzle from Paul Lamond Games. This brilliant jigsaw puzzle is double-sided, with the same artwork on both sides, making it the ultimate challenge for even the most... ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/43 "2023-04-01T18:00:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > bigger ones with the biggest being a million dollars. How could a million dollar prize work? Could a puzzle manufacturer sell enough copies of this game to make that money back? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/44 "2023-04-01T18:22:28Z")
It worked well enough that they have two million dollar prizes instead of just one in the current edition > **[The 2 Million Dollar Puzzle | StackSocial](https://stacksocial.com/sales/the-2-million-dollar-puzzle)** > > Just Complete This Puzzle, Scan the Code, & Win Up To One Million Dollars! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/45 "2023-04-01T18:37:37Z")
It’s not clear from reading the website, but my guess is that there’s no guarantee that they have to give the million dollars to anyone. For one thng, some percentage of customers will never complete the puzzle and therefore never enter. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/46 "2023-04-01T18:50:32Z")
That’s true but there are two different million dollar puzzles out there. So one or both of them could be like accidentally throwing away a lottery ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/47 "2023-04-01T19:07:23Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > What’s next, a jigsaw of a clear blue sky? > **[INCOMPLETE WHITE PUZZLE](https://yetch.store/products/incomplete-white-puzzle)** > > As soon as a piece goes missing, a puzzle loses all its value. This puzzle is intentionally incomplete, and therefore sold at full price. > We did this because we thought it would be funny.... ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/48 "2023-04-01T19:15:21Z")
Jesus on a pogo stick, @Charlie_Tan now that’s just inhumane. … make a helluva gag gift or White Elephant entry, though, which I suspect is a large part of their business. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/49 "2023-04-01T21:06:22Z")
Thanks for the link. One of the stacks of cash is conspicuously held together with masking tape, lol. Order now for ~~$30~~ $29.99 and save 0%. The rules page has some things spelled out: > **[Rules](https://www.twomillionpuzzle.com/pages/rules)** > > The TWO MILLION DOLLAR PUZZLE gives you the chance to win $1,000,000. Get yours now! There are about $4.8 million in prizes for what appears to be 600,000 chances. I think with retailers’ cuts, production costs, free shipping, taxes and overhead, the manufacturer would be very lucky to get half of the maximum puzzle revenue of (600k \* $30) $18M to put toward the prize pool and probably far less. Sure, some puzzles won’t be sold and lots of the winners probably won’t be redeemed. Still, I don’t know how they make that work. Prize (h) has a typo: > Two thousand (2,000) Eighth Place Prizes: $100 in 600,000 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/50 "2023-04-01T21:51:59Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Still, I don’t know how they make that work. I don’t either but the one with a single million dollar prize did well enough that they upped the ante. I think that there were smaller (but still large) ones before that. I tried to search for a new report on the previous winner and all I could find were news reports on the release of the puzzle itself. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/51 "2023-04-02T14:57:52Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > [World's Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle - Dalmatians (529 Pieces) – PDK](https://www.pdk.co.uk/products/worlds-most-difficult-jigsaw-puzzle-dalmatians-529-pieces) That puzzle made me think of the comedian’s line when the movie came out… “Jeez! Look at all the Dalmatians. there must be a hundred of them!” ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/52 "2023-04-03T02:00:29Z")
You are correct that it’s exponential, but the 1ct benchmark is desired by a certain “class”. A .95ct and a 1ct diamond have less then 2mm difference in size but the .95 will be about 2/3rds the price for equivalent quality. The importance of carat weight on the market is pretty detrimental because in many cases they will sacrifice quality when cutting to stay above the magic numbers. It all seems pretty dumb when you think about it, but in the reality of status symbols it’s “turtles all the way down”. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/53 "2023-04-04T18:56:10Z")
More than that - for something like that, it was all about prestige. I bought my wife’s engagement ring from Tiffany’s because years from now, it won’t be so much “how many carats?” as “This is from Tiffany’s”. There are times when the brand makes an impact. As we discussed, you can hear songs and movies and all sorts of stuff about the major brand names - Tiffany, Cartier, etc. Nobody ever made a movie “Breakfast at People’s Jewelers”. Funny story - also bought our wedding rings at Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store. I was quite preapred to pay the 15% luxury tax coming back into Canada. The customs lady asked what we bought, and we declared the rings. She asked “did you buy anything else?” We told her we bought a couple of souvenir T-shirts, so she wrote it down as clothing imports, no tax. (Must have been a romantic at heart, or else appreciated our honesty). ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701/54 "2023-04-04T19:03:38Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > The customs lady asked what we bought, and we declared the rings. She asked “did you buy anything else?” We told her we bought a couple of souvenir T-shirts, so she wrote it down as clothing imports, no tax. (Must have been a romantic at heart, or else appreciated our honesty). I wasn’t so lucky. I bought my wife earrings in the Diamond District years ago. I declared them and was required to send our friends in Ottawa their cut of the deal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamond-price-question/981701.md?page=2)