this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
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Uplifting News

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[–] Reality_Suit@lemmy.world 160 points 1 week ago

Good. Fuck rich people.

[–] paequ2@lemmy.today 129 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Lab-grown rocks

When I was getting married a few years ago, I remember thinking fuck real diamonds lab-grown are literally the same thing. I remember getting some push back from some weirdos about how "real" diamonds are some how better or how people will think I'm a cheapskate or how people will feel bad for my wife...

Well, fast forward a few years and literally nobody cares, thinks about, or has said anything negative about my wife's ring. We are both 1000000% happy and satisfied with the decision to buy lab grown.

[–] RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 59 points 1 week ago (5 children)

We said fuck diamonds entirely, even lab grown, and even had to go out of our way to find something that didnt have diamonds on it somehow

[–] paequ2@lemmy.today 41 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Fucking noice, dude. 👏 Honestly, yeah, why even diamonds. They brainwashed us good.

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 46 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Women love diamonds for their wide range of industrial applications.

[–] knexcar@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Like making pickaxes and mining obsidian?

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[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 week ago

Mostly because they dont get scratched. Theyre pretty neat. Not blood diamonds though, those are a crime against humanity.

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[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 week ago (6 children)

When it's time for children I recommend lab grown as well!

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[–] Obelix@feddit.org 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

We decided on some cheap silver rings. We really didn't want to carry around something extremely valuable everywhere. Go swimming and lose 5000€ in the lake? Do some yard work and lose your diamond ring there? Getting mugged and the robber is getting something really expensive? No, thank you.

Expensive wedding rings & jewelery did make sense in the past when women were not allowed their own money, bank accounts etc. as a way to escape an abusive husband. Pawn your expensive wedding ring, get cash for the getaway. But we're not living in the 50s, my wife has her own bank account, is earning her own money, so no need for something like that.

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[–] blakenong@lemmings.world 84 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Diamonds are worthless outside of industrial uses.

[–] TehWorld@lemmy.world 47 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I disagree. They ARE pretty. Just not as pretty as a rose or a sunset and yeah best used as industrial tooling.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago (8 children)

I would rate them above roses personally. Below a good sunset though; nearly nothing manmade beats those

[–] froh42@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

Good sunsets are frequently man-made too, the most beautiful red glowing ones own their look to dust - air pollution.

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[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The same can be said for precious metals as well except precious metals can't be manufactured. Their natural scarcity gives them some value beyond their utility.

Diamonds however are not scarce.

[–] knexcar@lemmy.world 77 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Thank goodness, maybe I’ll finally be able to buy a diamond pickaxe for what few emeralds I have. I’ve been having to use stone tools in this economy and I’d really like some obsidian for a nether portal.

if you want to go to hell, just wait.

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[–] yournamehere@lemm.ee 54 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (8 children)

i never understood why a mined diamond has a bigger value than an artificially made one when the only difference is the suffering of the workers. ppl who like diamonds are stupid.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The suffering is the point

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago (4 children)

There is this idea that seems to be really pervasive that natural is always better. And it's not true so often. A common example I like to give is that natural almond extract contains cyanide and artificial almond extract does not. No, it isn't enough cyanide to kill you, but I would say no cyanide is better than some cyanide.

And a lot of those "natural is always better" people would happily take fentanyl over willow bark if they were in agony.

[–] nonfuinoncuro@lemm.ee 13 points 1 week ago

I think a better analogy would be oxycodone or hydromorphone over opium but your point stands

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[–] DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Same reason diamonds are valued in the first place. Marketing campaigns tricking the gullible majority and most of the rest conforming to not stand out and cause issues for themselves.

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 52 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Prices are so bad that De Beers is for sale?! Wild.

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[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I respect jewelers and stonesetters as an art, but the rock itself has negative value in my eyes.

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 40 points 1 week ago (4 children)

There's nothing wrong with orderly carbon. There's more than a few things wrong with Debeers

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[–] Wogi@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The rock is quite useful as an industrial tool. It's when you cut it in to a fancy shape and wear it that it's pretty useless.

We use diamonds to test the hardness of materials, grind really hard things smaller, orient and locate specialized cutting tools, and cut through really hard things. Hell we sell garnet by the barrel to help cut through regular materials. Orderly carbon or, in many cases orderly aluminum oxide, is something we need a lot of. The price going down on those is actually good for manufacturing.

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[–] AtariDump@lemmy.world 49 points 1 week ago

Fuck De Beers.

[–] a9cx34udP4ZZ0@lemmy.world 44 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Bottom falls out on commodity made artifically rare through imperailism and corruption. Is this the part where I'm supposed to feel bad for De Beers?

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

To be fair, diamonds are indeed rare on earth. But what made diamond price come crashing is because we now managed to synthesise the diamonds. These "fake" diamonds flooded the market. This is good news so that we don't have to rely on exploitative extraction of the mineral.

[–] TurtleSoup@lemmy.zip 12 points 1 week ago

Also because newer generations just aren't sold on diamonds being a luxury item anymore. Your average Joe just isn't paying their rent or more on a diamond engagement/wedding ring like they used to because, well, that's their rent payment or mortgage for something that's gonna lose value the second they walk out of the store.

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[–] Emotional_Series7814@kbin.melroy.org 43 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Geoffrey Farrow at Raphael, a jeweller on the other side of the street, can only just bring himself to sell lab-grown diamonds. “They are synthetic,” he said. “Lab-grown sounds exotic, but it’s created – they make it by the buckets. There’s no history to it. The price is going to go down further and further.”

I find that a very interesting perspective. I prefer the idea of something we made with human ingenuity as opposed to some thing you dug out of the dirt, probably with a shoddily-hidden special history of slavery and tears, and before that, just sitting in the ground like a bunch of other boring things. The history of a lab-grown is entirely mine and my hypothetical partner's to create.

If I was a diamond person anyways. I'd be more worried about losing the expensive ring somehow and worrying over it, and would much rather buy the cheapest thing that can still socially function as "look, I am married, don't hit on me!" without having to wear some ugly shirt that says that. Ideally both me and my hypothetical partner would just forgo expensive rings (and don't get me wrong, I'm adamantly not a T-shirt and jeans person, I like to dress up, I have just never been a ring person) and spend it on something else we would both like.

For those who do not share my opinions on wedding rings, which is valid, I am also glad to hear lab-grown prices are down so people can still get that ring they love without breaking the bank and without supporting De Beers.

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[–] Etterra 41 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Artificially expensive shiny rocks less valuable than advertised.

Fun fact, reputable pawn shops don't pay for gemstones because they're effectively worthless. They only pay for previous metals. If you sell a wedding ring they'll only pay you what the metals are worth.

[–] fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not really. They will pay you as little as they can get away with. Often that's the value of the metals.

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[–] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 38 points 1 week ago

Finally, rocks might be worth what rocks are worth.

[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 37 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] heavydust@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Fucking young people and their... lack of money!

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[–] isles@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago

Now this is my kind of uplifting news!

[–] Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca 33 points 1 week ago

I'd buy more diamonds, but I spent all my money on avocado toast.

[–] Loce@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago (4 children)

You know, it must be that food and rent are a bit higher priority than the pressure stones... especially when more and more people cant afford those... food and rent i mean.

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[–] RangerJosey@lemmy.ml 29 points 1 week ago

Good. Hope the whole industry goes bust.

[–] Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

Paying overprice for a lump of carbon is insane.

[–] ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

My mother was always bitter that an anniversary ring my father gave her turned out to be synthetic, but I think back in the 80s lab grown diamonds went cloudy after a while.

She could also have been complaining about anything and Everything my father had done 24/7 once the separation and inevitable divorce were in effect.

[–] Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

The longer I live, the clearer I see that the beliefs of my youth were just capitalist lies.

[–] BigBenis@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

All essentials are going up but at least some useless luxury items are coming down.

[–] captain_coldcake@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I bet there still over priced.

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[–] Saltycracker@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Good should never be so high. Artificially inflated prices. Due to one company holding the diamonds

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