5 ms·

The campaign is simple: natural diamonds are for winners, lab grown are for chumps. They can probably even start charging more for them to make up for the loss

The campaign is simple: natural diamonds are for winners, lab grown are for chumps. They can probably even start charging more for them to make up for the loss of revenue. It's the same thing as buying a brand vs generic or lesser known brand, even if the latter is the same or better. Rich people pay enormous sums for vanity plates, this is no different.

tempestn 10y ago
Well, the one difference is that they're completely indistinguishable to the naked eye, so even if you're entirely driven by vanity, you could just buy a synthetic diamond (or Moissanite) and let people think it's a massive natural diamond. That said, I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks synthetic is cooler than natural. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR38h4xPfVo#t=1m10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR38h4xPfVo#t=1m10s
wlesieutre 10y ago
Except someone else can see your vanity plate. Is anybody going to know whether you have natural or lab grown diamonds without asking to look at your ring under a microscope? I guess some people still enjoy showing it off and proclaiming how expensive it was, but you might as well brag about having flushed a thousand dollars down the toilet for all the effect it will have on your life.
- JetSpiegel 10y ago
  Everyone will know, because you just won't shut up about it.
kingnothing 10y ago
Vanity plates, at least where I live in the US, are all of an extra $20 or so per year on top of the cost of a normal plate. This is a company telling you an alternative is inferior -- more like Verizon advertising that because their network is bigger it must be better than their competition.
dwaltrip 10y ago
If no one can tell the difference, outside of a super high tech lab, then how will anyone know the diamonds are natural, and not lab grown? When they are indistinguishable, and people get used to the idea, most will start buying lab grown. Especially with the ethical angle (conflict free and what not)
zeveb 10y ago
> The campaign is simple: natural diamonds are for winners, lab grown are for chumps. Honestly, I'd rather have a stone which was formed over geologic ages in the bowels of the Earth than one which was formed over the last month in a garage in Hoboken. But I'd also prefer not to subsidise genocide, civil war or De Beers. And I'm cheap. I can see spending extra on a real diamond for something special, but not for something run-of-the-mill. The thing is, how many of the traditional uses for jewelry-grade diamonds fall into the category of 'run-of-the-mill'? I think the engagement-ring business is probably secure for a long time. Earrings and other small jewelry? Probably not so much. The sort of things given for important anniversaries and occasions? Probably decently secure.
- morganvachon 10y ago
  > Honestly, I'd rather have a stone which was formed over geologic ages in the bowels of the Earth than one which was formed over the last month in a garage in Hoboken. Can you elaborate on why you feel this way? The products are indistinguishable without an electron microscope, and you stated you don't want to contribute to the evils of the natural diamond trade. So what makes a "real" diamond so fucking desirable? The psychology of that baffles me.
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    Couldn't you understand why someone would want a real meteorite, that had actually fallen from the sky, rather than a regular rock, even if they were indistinguishable to the untrained eye?
    - morganvachon 10y ago
      Certainly, but compared to native rocks, meteorites are astonishingly rare. Natural diamonds are not at all rare; their scarcity is controlled by DeBeers, and this has been common knowledge for decades. Saying "I want a real diamond because it's rare" is about as juvenile a sentiment as one can have. Edit: Let me put it another way. Preferring a natural diamond to a lab-grown diamond when you know how they are obtained is tacit approval of murder, theft, and war, atrocities committed to ensure you get that "real" diamond on your finger. It's appalling that any sane, compassionate human being would be so flippant about the lives lost and families torn apart by the diamond trade.

tempestn 10y ago

Well, the one difference is that they're completely indistinguishable to the naked eye, so even if you're entirely driven by vanity, you could just buy a synthetic diamond (or Moissanite) and let people think it's a massive natural diamond. That said, I suspect I'm not the only one who thinks synthetic is cooler than natural. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR38h4xPfVo#t=1m10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR38h4xPfVo#t=1m10s

wlesieutre 10y ago

Except someone else can see your vanity plate. Is anybody going to know whether you have natural or lab grown diamonds without asking to look at your ring under a microscope? I guess some people still enjoy showing it off and proclaiming how expensive it was, but you might as well brag about having flushed a thousand dollars down the toilet for all the effect it will have on your life.

JetSpiegel 10y ago
Everyone will know, because you just won't shut up about it.

kingnothing 10y ago

Vanity plates, at least where I live in the US, are all of an extra $20 or so per year on top of the cost of a normal plate. This is a company telling you an alternative is inferior -- more like Verizon advertising that because their network is bigger it must be better than their competition.

dwaltrip 10y ago

If no one can tell the difference, outside of a super high tech lab, then how will anyone know the diamonds are natural, and not lab grown? When they are indistinguishable, and people get used to the idea, most will start buying lab grown. Especially with the ethical angle (conflict free and what not)

zeveb 10y ago

> The campaign is simple: natural diamonds are for winners, lab grown are for chumps. Honestly, I'd rather have a stone which was formed over geologic ages in the bowels of the Earth than one which was formed over the last month in a garage in Hoboken. But I'd also prefer not to subsidise genocide, civil war or De Beers. And I'm cheap. I can see spending extra on a real diamond for something special, but not for something run-of-the-mill. The thing is, how many of the traditional uses for jewelry-grade diamonds fall into the category of 'run-of-the-mill'? I think the engagement-ring business is probably secure for a long time. Earrings and other small jewelry? Probably not so much. The sort of things given for important anniversaries and occasions? Probably decently secure.

morganvachon 10y ago
> Honestly, I'd rather have a stone which was formed over geologic ages in the bowels of the Earth than one which was formed over the last month in a garage in Hoboken. Can you elaborate on why you feel this way? The products are indistinguishable without an electron microscope, and you stated you don't want to contribute to the evils of the natural diamond trade. So what makes a "real" diamond so fucking desirable? The psychology of that baffles me.
- jessriedel 10y ago
  Couldn't you understand why someone would want a real meteorite, that had actually fallen from the sky, rather than a regular rock, even if they were indistinguishable to the untrained eye?
  - morganvachon 10y ago
    Certainly, but compared to native rocks, meteorites are astonishingly rare. Natural diamonds are not at all rare; their scarcity is controlled by DeBeers, and this has been common knowledge for decades. Saying "I want a real diamond because it's rare" is about as juvenile a sentiment as one can have. Edit: Let me put it another way. Preferring a natural diamond to a lab-grown diamond when you know how they are obtained is tacit approval of murder, theft, and war, atrocities committed to ensure you get that "real" diamond on your finger. It's appalling that any sane, compassionate human being would be so flippant about the lives lost and families torn apart by the diamond trade.