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> Isn't it amazing (and scary) how brainwashed people are about the "value" of diamonds, even though they're not actually worth that much? I've never understoo

by maaaats 10y ago

> Isn't it amazing (and scary) how brainwashed people are about the "value" of diamonds, even though they're not actually worth that much? I've never understood this argument. Aren't they worth what people are willing to pay?

onion2k 10y ago
Aren't they worth what people are willing to pay? Yes, but only as a function of their scarcity. Diamonds aren't actually rare. They're only made rare by diamond companies hoarding them and releasing tiny numbers of stones in order to maintain a high price. You certainly wouldn't buy diamonds as an investment, just in case a diamond company dumped their stockpile on to the market and the price collapsed.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Not just that. If you also count diamonds manufactured in the laboratory, then diamonds are pretty common and cheap items. That's why diamond companies put a lot of effort into convincing people that only "natural" diamonds count as proofs of love.
deleted 10y ago
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coding123 10y ago
Yes that is true, what he was saying is that if more people were educated about it, that worth would drop like a rock. Pun intended
mariuolo 10y ago
> I've never understood this argument. Aren't they worth what people are willing to pay? I think the parent's argument is that not many people know about their price being inflated by a combination of artificial scarcity and hype.
- kyle4211 10y ago
  But effectively all modern products have their prices inflated by hype (i.e. marketing) and many by artificial scarcity. Not many people think about this for any product, why should we expect them to think about it for diamonds?
  - mariuolo 10y ago
    There is another aspect: resale value. Much lower for diamonds.
Eric_WVGG 10y ago
There's a classic article from The Atlantic in 1982 that explains the bullshit. The article is astonishingly relevant, nothing has changed in the 35 years since. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you...

by maaaats 10y ago

onion2k 10y ago

Aren't they worth what people are willing to pay? Yes, but only as a function of their scarcity. Diamonds aren't actually rare. They're only made rare by diamond companies hoarding them and releasing tiny numbers of stones in order to maintain a high price. You certainly wouldn't buy diamonds as an investment, just in case a diamond company dumped their stockpile on to the market and the price collapsed.

TeMPOraL 10y ago
Not just that. If you also count diamonds manufactured in the laboratory, then diamonds are pretty common and cheap items. That's why diamond companies put a lot of effort into convincing people that only "natural" diamonds count as proofs of love.

deleted 10y ago

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coding123 10y ago

Yes that is true, what he was saying is that if more people were educated about it, that worth would drop like a rock. Pun intended

mariuolo 10y ago

> I've never understood this argument. Aren't they worth what people are willing to pay? I think the parent's argument is that not many people know about their price being inflated by a combination of artificial scarcity and hype.

kyle4211 10y ago
But effectively all modern products have their prices inflated by hype (i.e. marketing) and many by artificial scarcity. Not many people think about this for any product, why should we expect them to think about it for diamonds?
- mariuolo 10y ago
  There is another aspect: resale value. Much lower for diamonds.

Eric_WVGG 10y ago

There's a classic article from The Atlantic in 1982 that explains the bullshit. The article is astonishingly relevant, nothing has changed in the 35 years since. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you...