That would be a big ass-diamond.
Please, people. Hyphens matter, here.
That’s the description of a potential marriage made in heaven, isn’t it? :dubious:
As long as DeBeers controls the diamond market, diamond values will continue to be high.
No, that would be a big ass-diamond.
Curse you, Jonathan Chance!
You misspelled “prices.”
Diamonds do have some quite interesting physical properties, and are sometimes sought for those properties. And while most such diamonds are ugly and muddy-colored, there are some industrial processes that really do require gem-quality diamonds. I saw a colloquium once where the speaker was talking about one such application, and she brought along one of the actual diamonds they use, as a visual aid. The thing was literally the size of a golf ball. That’s what going bespoke rather than mined can get you.
Nah, they’re only, like, third on the list.
Well thanks for the advice everyone, doesn’t look like I can skirt the system. There are a handful of interesting diamonds on Ebay but the market just isn’t awash in used gems, probably because anyone can just re-certify a stone and shove it back into the retail stream. And there does seem to be a slight advantage to lab grown diamonds but I’m not sure it’s worth buying something that expensive sight unseen over the internet. I wish there were more local options for those.
I’m going to look at some stones at a local dealer today. This is an upgrade to the (smallish) stone I put in my wife’s engagement ring way back when so it’s gotta be a diamond for historical reasons, unfortunately. Just needs to be bigger.
If I wanted someone to “get me a rock” it would be a monolith and I’d keep it in the backyard.
Value is dictated by the market. There is no intrinsic value; this is actually called the diamond-water paradox for the obvious reason. It goes right back to Adam Smith, as modified by the post-Smith idea of marginal utility.
Step 1: Get large lump of coal
Step 2: Find Superman and do him a favor…
Cubic zirconium … then lie …
Pedantic a bit?
iswydt
Feel free to check my posting history, and draw your own conclusions.
yes
Maybe in my next lifetime.
Step 1a: Make sure it’s Beautiful Clean Coal[tm], or else the diamond will end up all dirty and stuff.
Spending four figures… that’s so… quaint. 
My wife’s engagement ring is just under 4 carats total weight. 1.25 on the main stone and the rest are in the setting around the main stone. She also has 1.25 carat stones in each ear. Yes, I bought them for her. Not at the same time. The earrings were upon the birth of our first child. No, she did not require them but at a certain point in life a carat in an engagement ring does become assumed to some degree. It was also my 2nd marriage and in my 1st when I was very young and quite poor I could not provide a ring like this. So to some extent I was making up for times in my past when financially I could not provide what i wanted to provide.
It also really helped that I have a friend who is a diamond broker. I could not have afforded these items at retail price. So although objectively it was still a lot of money, it was less than what I would have paid.
Pawn shops are great places to get diamonds for startlingly low prices. Just sayin.
The best method to profit from diamonds is to inherit them and them sell.