# Solid diamond ring **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372 "2015-01-20T11:25:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/1 "2015-01-20T11:25:47Z")
Real or [not real?](http://slowrobot.com/i/66427) I’m saying not real. There’s no cite on the website and it looks like somthing a teenager would make up. My niece is sure it’s real, so I need some back up here. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/2 "2015-01-20T11:33:20Z")
Bet it would be a real chore to get resized. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/3 "2015-01-20T11:46:15Z")
[Looks pretty real](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/diamond-ring-made-bling-150-carat-bauble-fetch-68m-article-1.1049818). ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/4 "2015-01-20T11:55:04Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > [Looks pretty real](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/diamond-ring-made-bling-150-carat-bauble-fetch-68m-article-1.1049818). Thank you for the link. Now I have to go tell my neice I was wrong. She’ll love that. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/5 "2015-01-20T16:09:17Z")
Wouldn’t that be really fragile? I though diamonds were hard but really brittle. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/6 "2015-01-20T16:47:13Z")
So the only real question now is which tasteless Russian oligarch will buy it for his current wife? Abramovich [(I like…I buy!)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iChIhcDItgQ)showed the necessary dubious sense of style when purchasing [this](http://www.extravaganzi.com/roman-abramovichs-eclipse-yacht-is-still-the-largest-in-the-world-but-2/) vanity bauble and even more so when splashing out on [this](http://www.footballwallpapers1.com/fernando-torres-chelsea-wallpaper-2/) equally useless and overpriced ornament. So he’s got to be in the running ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/7 "2015-01-21T18:13:05Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Wouldn’t that be really fragile? I though diamonds were hard but really brittle. That was my thought. It couldn’t actually be worn, it probably comes ina sealed box, with the warninf “Do Not Drop!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/8 "2018-11-26T16:51:54Z")
Amazing gemstones news item: > [@](#): > > Sir Jony Ive and Marc Newson Co-Design a Diamond Ring Created With a Water Jet and Laser Cutter > > Creating a ring-shaped diamond is no small feat; the diamond block will be faceted with several thousand facets, some of which are as small as several hundred micrometers. The interior ring will be cylindrically cut out for the desired smoothness using a micrometer thick water jet inside which a laser beam is cast. The finished ring will have between 2000-3000 facets which has never been seen before on a single piece." > > The ring, which is expected to sell for $150,000 to $250,000, will be produced by the \*\*Leonardo-Dicaprio-backed Diamond Foundry, \*\*a certified carbon neutral diamond producer. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/9 "2018-11-26T16:56:26Z")
I guess “a third of a millimeter” doesn’t sound as impressive as “several hundred micrometers”. And I’m not sure why you’d use a laser beam inside of your water jet. It seems to me that the water would do things you wouldn’t want to the laser beam. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/10 "2018-11-26T17:12:39Z")
Quite a price drop there. The one in the OP was supposed to sell for $70 million or so, while this new one is expected to sell for only a quarter-million. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/11 "2018-11-26T17:19:09Z")
The catch is it’s guaranteed to be full of imperfections and even in the picture looks terrible. I completely don’t buy into the artificially inflated “rarity” and “value” of diamonds, but a 1 carat flawless diamond costs more than a flawed 2 carat one, just because it looks prettier or more accurately, the public is told it looks prettier. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/12 "2018-11-26T17:21:26Z")
Wouldn’t a single large diamond be exponentially more valuable than one with a hole cut in it? ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/13 "2018-11-26T17:26:54Z")
I just finished reading Stoned by Aja Raden and she mentions this ring in her book. Most of the cost of a diamond isn’t the size but the amount of work into fashioning it into a sparkly object, also DeBeers brilliant marketing. Diamonds as a whole are not even remotely rare. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/14 "2018-11-26T17:27:12Z")
The value of diamonds, even very large ones, is driven almost entirely by marketing. You’ve heard of the one with the hole cut in it. You wouldn’t have heard of the one without the hole. Therefore, the one with the hole is better-marketed, and therefore more valuable. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/15 "2018-11-26T19:23:07Z")
In addition to what has been posted above, as I’ve posted, a big part of the artificial value of diamonds is the lack of imperfections. The center of the ring was probably full of major imperfections and the creator of the ring realized that could remove that section and make a ring out of the rest. All diamonds, even relatively large ones, like the one used to make the ring aren’t rare. A one caret flawless diamond is highly likely to be a very small section of a much larger flawed diamond (think cutting away the bad parts of a block of cheese, with maybe only one corner still good). I can’t think of the names of the diamond, but several years ago a very large diamond was found, but it had some flaws close to the middle. There were debates that went on for months or possibly years, about whether they should create one large diamond with obvious (to the experts) imperfections in the middle or cleave it into parts and make smaller ones that were near flawless (cutting away the bad parts). In the end they made one large diamond and one or two smaller ones. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/16 "2018-11-26T19:34:30Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Amazing gemstones news item: [Link](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/jony-ive-diamond-ring-sothebys-scli-intl/index.html) to a CNN story about this new diamond ring. Note that two rings are being talked about here; the one in the OP and the new one. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/17 "2018-11-26T19:40:32Z")
The catch (and the far lower cost) of the ring that Channing Idaho Banks posted about is from Diamond Foundry [https://materialdistrict.com/article/carbon-neutral-diamond-ring/](https://materialdistrict.com/article/carbon-neutral-diamond-ring/) which grows artificial diamonds which despite being nearly (if not actually) the same on a molecular leve as a real one, is worth far (in this case) far, far, far less. Compounded by the fact that it not a one-of-a-kind. BTW, the ring is real, though the news is from 2012: [https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/diamond-ring-made-bling-150-carat-bauble-fetch-68m-article-1.1049818](https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/diamond-ring-made-bling-150-carat-bauble-fetch-68m-article-1.1049818). Also note that this article, or any of the other articles I could find state whether the diamond is real (i.e. natural) or not. I suspect it’s real given the cost. ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/18 "2018-11-26T19:42:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The value of diamonds, even very large ones, is driven almost entirely by marketing. You’ve heard of the one with the hole cut in it. You wouldn’t have heard of the one without the hole. Therefore, the one with the hole is better-marketed, and therefore more valuable. I figured the answer would be something like that. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/19 "2018-11-26T22:17:19Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I can’t think of the names of the diamond, but several years ago a very large diamond was found, but it had some flaws close to the middle. There were debates that went on for months or possibly years, about whether they should create one large diamond with obvious (to the experts) imperfections in the middle or cleave it into parts and make smaller ones that were near flawless (cutting away the bad parts). In the end they made one large diamond and one or two smaller ones. The [Cullinan Diamond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullinan_Diamond) is the most famous case. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372/20 "2018-11-26T22:48:20Z")
More on DeBeers marketing… [Link](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/diamond-de-beers-marketing-campaign) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/solid-diamond-ring/710372.md?page=2)