De Beers and The Diamond Invention

I understand women liking jewelry, that's fine and acceptable. I have a relatively plain silver necklace I was given as a gift and I'm pretty fond of it. Everyone's allowed to care about extra little things to make them look nice. I guess some women think that diamonds are the ultimate look-good jewelry stone. But the same look can be achieved with imitations and for such a fraction of the price, with most of the durability.

I know Tacori bands are quite the price, I was just using them as a brand name to put to the style. Platinum is a great precious metal and I think it looks quite fine, but I also like cheap-ish silver or coated metal just the same if it looks about identical.

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

That reminds me of one of my own personal values; do not spend money on things you can not sale later. It's a good rule to live by, it will keep you from smoking, being a drunk, pothead, or any other type of drugy.

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It will also keep you from eating, washing your hands and wiping your ass.

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On another note, if done by true tradition the girl's family is supose to pay for ALL of the wedding. Other than the ring, and maybe a tux rental, the future husband to be, and his family is not supose to pay anything.

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Ever have a wedding? There are books full of "true traditions" for weddings. Everything from the proper format of the text on invitations to the duties of the various members of the wedding party has a well documented purpose and significance in the ceremony. Do most people follow these "rules" in modern weddings? Hell no.

And the ceremony and reception don't have to cost an assload to be awesome. I've been to weddings with cakes that were $2000 more than my entire event - food, drinks, flowers and all - and weren't half as good at ten times the price.

Seriously. If you've never gotten engaged, planned and priced a wedding with a budget and paid off the bills you need to STFU about the whole thing. Becuase you *really* don't know what you're talking about.

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Originally Posted by Six

It will also keep you from eating, washing your hands and wiping your ass.

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Yes, and you can't sell labor, something that requires all the above things to be able to sell it later.

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Originally Posted by Six

Ever have a wedding? There are books full of "true traditions" for weddings. Everything from the proper format of the text on invitations to the duties of the various members of the wedding party has a well documented purpose and significance in the ceremony. Do most people follow these "rules" in modern weddings? Hell no.

And the ceremony and reception don't have to cost an assload to be awesome. I've been to weddings with cakes that were $2000 more than my entire event - food, drinks, flowers and all - and weren't half as good at ten times the price.

Seriously. If you've never gotten engaged, planned and priced a wedding with a budget and paid off the bills you need to STFU about the whole thing. Becuase you *really* don't know what you're talking about.

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lol

Wasn't this an Outrage of the Week last year? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by The_Meach

Wasn't this an Outrage of the Week last year? :rolleyes:

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Maybe, but we herbs here at TNL are just finding out about this stuff.

I am truely surprise by how few people knew about this. I thought this has been common knowledge for years. Maybe I was just made of aware of it because I have a minor in Econ.

I also am surprised how many people are upset by this. I know it's human nature to want as much as you can get for as little as you can, but it's just a rock. It's not like somebody has a monopoly on air or water.

Remember, a monopolist can't decide on both the price and the level of sales in the market. Whatever the price a monopolist charges for say Spider Monkeys ;), he cannot dictate how many customers will wish to purchase one. Even if Spider Monkeys were only $1 a piece, I still wouldn’t buy one. A monopolist is constrained by the demand curve, he can decide either the price or the quantity, but not both.

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Originally Posted by Videodrone

I also am surprised how many people are upset by this. I know it's human nature to want as much as you can get for as little as you can, but it's just a rock. It's not like somebody has a monopoly on air or water.

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Hehe, that's true. I wouldn't buy diamonds anyway, even if they were really cheap. 1) Ugly. 2) Girlfriend doesn't like them.

Note that girlfriend doesn't like anything that's expensive. I bought her a $30 fleece blanket from the Sanrio store with Chococat on it (she's Asian, they all love Hello Kitty) and she got mad at the price being too high. :)

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Originally Posted by Mike

Note that girlfriend doesn't like anything that's expensive. I bought her a $30 fleece blanket from the Sanrio store with Chococat on it (she's Asian, they all love Hello Kitty) and she got mad at the price being too high. :)

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Your a lucky man. :) :(

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Originally Posted by MVS

This is the best part of that article, which is very good, btw:

Can you see the new ads for De Beers now?

/cue classical music
/cue black and white slo-mo shot of man getting down on one knee
/cue woman's eyes widening in anticipation

"Diamonds. Nothing says I love you like bending over and taking it in the ass."

I smell money.

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:lol:

Any person who can justify paying thousands to that DeBeers cartel for a bit of carbon has gotten drunk one too many times. There are plenty of other genuine gemstones to get that don't cost near what a diamond does.

How do you spot the guy who bought his wife a real diamond? Well, that's all too easy- his stomach will be growling like the MGM lion.

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

That reminds me of one of my own personal values; do not spend money on things you can not sale later. It's a good rule to live by, it will keep you from smoking, being a drunk, pothead, or any other type of drugy.

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So you value material goods over priceless memories? I'd much rather spend money on traveling the world, going to concerts and stuff, and partying with friends than on a car or something. When you are lying on your death bed you aren't gonna be saying "I wish i spent more time and money on my anime collection."