Like I said, I wasn’t talking about their roles as currency, but about their aesthetical evaluations, which are subjective. And as you say yourself, the value of dollars will plunge considerably when society breaks down. As Von Mises said, it all depends on how much you value what you have versus what someone else has. If a diamond is worth more to you than a dollar, you will exchange the dollar for the diamond. But if the diamond is worth the same as or less than your dollar to you, you will just keep your dollar.
Retail diamonds are just about the worst “investment” you can hold.
If you can buy them real wholesale, in bulk, some dudes consider them a good idea as they are so damn portable.
I say “real” wholesale as you can sometimes buy diamonds semi-retail/wholesale at gems shows and such, at about half the cost. Sure, that’s a nice discount but still it’s a crappy investment.
Gold coins are a fair investment if you like things that are pretty. Assuming the grade isn’t what make them valuable- in other words they are bullion coins- then you can even wear them as jewelry.
Exactly.
I’m not the least bit surprised that there is a chorus against all those horrible, silly, materialistic things- Dopers like to be indignant about things that are generally popular in our culture.
As I see it, if the couple can afford it and it makes them happy, why the hell not? Ok, blood diamonds- that’s a point I can certainly agree with, but I suppose I should just expand my point jewelery in general. YOU might see a big, expensive ring as useless, but I might look at a piece of art, a car, or some super computer you bought to play Spore on as equally useless. It’s ok to have something just because it’s pretty or fun, so long as it doesn’t put you in the poor house.
And for what it’s worth, I’m not against diamonds on appearance; what gets me is the blood diamond aspect. Ideally for me, I’d like a ring with a big, pretty, colored stone (sapphire perhaps), surrounded by little diamonds (hopefully gathered from antique jewelery that is already in my family’s possession).
Also, many have been quite vocal in regard to the ugliness of that ring. I think it’s gorgeous. It’s all a matter of taste after all and whether or not the person can pull off such a thing. I like to wear big, stupid, gaudy, fake jewelery-- someday I’d like it to be big, stupid, gaudy, REAL jewelery. 
For example, I think this is super pretty.
Wow, that is pretty. Almost majesterial.
Shush! I like black diamonds! Especially seeing as they’re cheap and “worthless!” They’re just so cool looking! (See here.)
Seriously, though, I hate diamonds. Not because they’re overpriced, and not because they cause war in Africa.
Because they’re fucking ugly. There, I said it. I hate colorless gems. Fuck them. If I’m going to have a gemstone (and I really dislike jewelry as a whole so that probably won’t happen any time soon) give me something with color and depth - or a black diamond, which is just cool looking in a silver setting.
I dislike gold, too. It’s ugly and weak. I much prefer silver, or really anything even remotely colored like silver. I don’t care if it’s real or fake, so long as it’s pretty.
~Tasha
Great “window” shopping!
I think that ring is stunning, too. And I’m not a jewelry person at all…didn’t want my husband to spend $$$ on an engagement ring for me, so we agreed on an aquamarine instead of a diamond (it’s both of our birthstones). I wouldn’t spend 15 grand on a ring, but if I were going to, Tiffany is definitely the place I’d go…I don’t think any of their stuff is tacky…it’s high quality and gorgeous.
The one you linked to is beautiful, as well.
But CZ and other substitute diamonds are every bit as pretty.
Exactly, but CZs are not as scarce, or perceived to be as scarce. As such, it is easy to see why diamonds are more valuable than CZs.
not to everybody.
Diamonds are [del]forever[/del] metastable.
Actually, they do have an intrinsic value – they’re the hardest natural substance, valuable in all sorts of industrial processes. But that does not equate to the overvaluation placed on jewelry diamonds.
*No one *can tell them apart by just looking at them- withouit special tools, loupes, etc.
depends. My dad could.
I always thought you could too, but I’m not a jeweler.
You quoted all the relevent parts of my post and completely skipped over their meaning. I said at the outset money is a medium of exchange, while diamonds are a consumer good. Money has value for what it represents, not for what it IS; diamonds are the other way around. When people trade money for goods and services the money represents the value that changed hands. It is not a valuable item in itself.
Your example of “Zimbabwean diamonds or Zimbabwean dollars” shows you really don’t understand this difference; it’s like asking which weighs more, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers. Diamonds are not money because their worth is artificially manipulated and inflated. Check out the posts by elucidator (#53), villa (#55) and Lemur866 (#60).
“Utility” and “enjoyment” are not synonymns, and neither are “utility” and “value.” That’s what makes diamonds a luxury good, not a necessity. The Mona Lisa is also a luxury good and always has been, as is all art that is created on commission or sold for a profit.
Point 1 - I’ll repeat again: Money is not a “good”; it is a medium of exchange. Obviously it is more convenient than barter, because it was invented to replace bartering. Diamonds have none of the advantages of money, because they are not a medium of exchange, and have no universally agreed upon value.
Point 2 - This is circular logic, bordering on stating the obvious. All you’re saying is that if something useful is rare it will be worth more than something that is useless. Well, no shit. Take a walk in the desert sometimes with a pound of diamonds and a pound of water. See which one seems more useful. Of course, when you’re in the middle of a city you still need water to survive, but you don’t “need” diamonds there anymore than you did in the desert.
And that’s the point of this thread.
Just a quick question… are diamonds really the problem or is it the princesses with a vomit-inducing sense of entitlement that demand them from their unfortunate suitors?
(I’ve been there – and it ended badly)
You married her? :eek:
I don’t care for diamonds personally, but I think the main thing is how sad it is that a marketing campaign (a very successful one, to be sure) has convinced women who might otherwise be reasonable and level-headed that the man with whom they are considering spending the rest of their life doesn’t love them if he won’t shell out thousands of dollars for a shiny bauble.
And those big stones are vunerable - if you wear it for everyday life you run the risk of hitting it on something just the wrong way and chipping it.
I was young and stupid. I spent $12K on her ring. She and her sorority friends would spend hours discussing their rings. I just refused to catch on.
I did divorce her a few years later.
I disagree with you a bit in that I’ve yet to see (not saying it doesn’t exist) a person who puts such a high value on something, to the point of choosing it over anything else (their mate’s peace of mind, in this instance), be at all level-headed or reasonable. I’ve known women (2) who dumped their would-be fiances because the ring was not up to the “standard.”