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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-diamon

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
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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

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