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> De Beers is fighting Chinese lab-grown diamonds And I hope they lose. https://priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bullshit https://priceonomics.c

by Jedd 9y ago

> De Beers is fighting Chinese lab-grown diamonds And I hope they lose. https://priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bullshit https://priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bulls... (and HN comments on original posting 2013-03-19 -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5403988 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5403988 )

hyper_reality 9y ago
I also highly recommend Edward Epstein's Atlantic article on this too: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-yo... One of the best pieces of long-form journalism ever published, without a doubt.
- jrs95 9y ago
  Why was De Beers called “The Syndicate” in Israel? Was that where they had their supervillain lair or something? Almost all of the other names are trying too hard to be inconspicuous, and then they go with “The Syndicate”?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - justherefortart 9y ago
    syn·di·cate noun noun: syndicate; plural noun: syndicates ˈsindikət/ 1. a group of individuals or organizations combined to promote some common interest.
    - jrs95 9y ago
      Of course the literal meaning of it isn't bad, but the connotation is pretty negative. Although perhaps it isn't there, it could just be the English translation that "sounds" that way.
      - justherefortart 9y ago
        Yeah, it's been used for "crime syndicate" for a while. But we call them organized crime. So shouldn't calling something an organized <blank> be negative as well? My goal for my Syndicate is like the old video game. Good times!
- arikrak 9y ago
  The Priceonomics post didn't really say much more than the Atlantic article, I don't think it discussed synthetic diamonds or the internet or anything. Cubic zirconia looks identical to diamonds but it's not chemically the same so people always considered it fake. Synthetic diamonds are chemically identical so De Beers need to invest millions in figuring out ways to distinguish them. Natural diamonds don't add anything more, but the whole purpose of them is that they're expensive.
  - CydeWeys 9y ago
    Cubic zirconia is significantly different from diamond in hardness, optical dispersion, and density. Moissanite is a much closer match, but is more expensive to manufacture.
- ce4 9y ago
  And HN comments from five years ago on that The Atlantic article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4535611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4535611
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
vanderZwan 9y ago
If you ever want a proof that the market can be utterly irrational, look no further than: > The arrival of lab-grown diamonds has challenged the widely-held assumption that diamond prices could only go up
- megaman22 9y ago
  I guess if there's no blood on your diamond, it isn't real...
  - aaron695 9y ago
    Just like a drawing done by a random child is exactly the same as a drawing done by your own child? Of course it isn't real if it's missing blood, a stupid cliche with a movie to boot, but I'll run with it. Yes where it comes from matters. How it's made matters. We are not children in philosophy 101. The history counts.
- pjc50 9y ago
  Someone should tell the bitcoin people.
  - lawlessone 9y ago
    But now we can make more diamonds :) there will never be more than 21 million bitcoin
    - adbachman 9y ago
      Until the next fork! Then there will never be more than 42 million bitcoin.
    - zhte415 9y ago
      ;) Until the nexr coin. And the next one. Etc...
    - tsaoyu 9y ago
      Great business idea. Here is the freshly made AD[1]. Curious to see if there is any business plan follow ups. [1](https://i.imgur.com/oD50taU.png https://i.imgur.com/oD50taU.png)
petre 9y ago
It is only in the last half decade that technology has advanced to a level that scientists at De Beers, itself a pioneer in lab-grown diamond production [..] Of course they have their own diamond growing lab and Deep Sea diamond mining rigs. I too hope are beaten by other market players. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/a-new-frontier-for-diamond-mining-the-ocean/2017/07/01/a04d5fbe-0e40-4508-894d-b3456a28f24c_story.html?utm_term=.5a2cfc16728d https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/a-new-frontier-f...
- lawlessone 9y ago
  >Deep Sea diamond mining rigs That's actually ridiculous, we're destroying the enviroment to mine something we can produce cheaper in a factory. Not to mention the issues with blood diamonds. child labour etc.
jseliger 9y ago
Me too. When I was in the diamond market I got some from Diamond Foundry: https://qz.com/630512/would-you-propose-with-a-diamond-grown-in-a-lab/ https://qz.com/630512/would-you-propose-with-a-diamond-grown... which I also learned about on HN! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13038912 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13038912 although I can't find which submission.

by Jedd 9y ago

hyper_reality 9y ago

I also highly recommend Edward Epstein's Atlantic article on this too: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-yo... One of the best pieces of long-form journalism ever published, without a doubt.

jrs95 9y ago
Why was De Beers called “The Syndicate” in Israel? Was that where they had their supervillain lair or something? Almost all of the other names are trying too hard to be inconspicuous, and then they go with “The Syndicate”?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- justherefortart 9y ago
  syn·di·cate noun noun: syndicate; plural noun: syndicates ˈsindikət/ 1. a group of individuals or organizations combined to promote some common interest.
  - jrs95 9y ago
    Of course the literal meaning of it isn't bad, but the connotation is pretty negative. Although perhaps it isn't there, it could just be the English translation that "sounds" that way.
    - justherefortart 9y ago
      Yeah, it's been used for "crime syndicate" for a while. But we call them organized crime. So shouldn't calling something an organized <blank> be negative as well? My goal for my Syndicate is like the old video game. Good times!
arikrak 9y ago
The Priceonomics post didn't really say much more than the Atlantic article, I don't think it discussed synthetic diamonds or the internet or anything. Cubic zirconia looks identical to diamonds but it's not chemically the same so people always considered it fake. Synthetic diamonds are chemically identical so De Beers need to invest millions in figuring out ways to distinguish them. Natural diamonds don't add anything more, but the whole purpose of them is that they're expensive.
- CydeWeys 9y ago
  Cubic zirconia is significantly different from diamond in hardness, optical dispersion, and density. Moissanite is a much closer match, but is more expensive to manufacture.
ce4 9y ago
And HN comments from five years ago on that The Atlantic article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4535611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4535611
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

vanderZwan 9y ago

If you ever want a proof that the market can be utterly irrational, look no further than: > The arrival of lab-grown diamonds has challenged the widely-held assumption that diamond prices could only go up

megaman22 9y ago
I guess if there's no blood on your diamond, it isn't real...
- aaron695 9y ago
  Just like a drawing done by a random child is exactly the same as a drawing done by your own child? Of course it isn't real if it's missing blood, a stupid cliche with a movie to boot, but I'll run with it. Yes where it comes from matters. How it's made matters. We are not children in philosophy 101. The history counts.
pjc50 9y ago
Someone should tell the bitcoin people.
- lawlessone 9y ago
  But now we can make more diamonds :) there will never be more than 21 million bitcoin
  - adbachman 9y ago
    Until the next fork! Then there will never be more than 42 million bitcoin.
  - zhte415 9y ago
    ;) Until the nexr coin. And the next one. Etc...
  - tsaoyu 9y ago
    Great business idea. Here is the freshly made AD[1]. Curious to see if there is any business plan follow ups. [1](https://i.imgur.com/oD50taU.png https://i.imgur.com/oD50taU.png)

petre 9y ago

It is only in the last half decade that technology has advanced to a level that scientists at De Beers, itself a pioneer in lab-grown diamond production [..] Of course they have their own diamond growing lab and Deep Sea diamond mining rigs. I too hope are beaten by other market players. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/a-new-frontier-for-diamond-mining-the-ocean/2017/07/01/a04d5fbe-0e40-4508-894d-b3456a28f24c_story.html?utm_term=.5a2cfc16728d https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/a-new-frontier-f...

lawlessone 9y ago
>Deep Sea diamond mining rigs That's actually ridiculous, we're destroying the enviroment to mine something we can produce cheaper in a factory. Not to mention the issues with blood diamonds. child labour etc.

jseliger 9y ago

Me too. When I was in the diamond market I got some from Diamond Foundry: https://qz.com/630512/would-you-propose-with-a-diamond-grown-in-a-lab/ https://qz.com/630512/would-you-propose-with-a-diamond-grown... which I also learned about on HN! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13038912 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13038912 although I can't find which submission.