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I'd be curious to know why jewelers wouldn't buy these diamonds and reset them. Is there some chain of custody that they want to maintain or something?

varikin 7y ago
Some do. I have a friend who is a jeweler. Almost all of the gems she buys, diamond or other, are either lab-made or recycled gems. But she is an exception to the rule. She buys from a supplier that specializes in this sort of thing for small artistic custom jewelers.
toomuchtodo 7y ago
It goes against the entire idea of monetary sacrifice as a signaling mechanism for the buyer. Cheap diamonds are an antithesis to the signaling. When my partner and I were married over 10 years ago, I bought her a ring and diamond for ~$7k. We were younger, and not so wise. With time comes wisdom. It now sits in a fire safe to be made into a pendant for our daughter; my partner now wears a $20 platinum band from Amazon, and I (occasionally) wear the $10 tungsten ring we bought when we were married (which is bookmarked for easy replacement if damaged or lost). Life is short, don't expend effort on something that doesn't matter. Take a trip together you'll both remember for a lifetime instead.
- ncmncm 7y ago
  Speaking of tungsten... It's impossible to find actual tungsten rings. Every search turns up tungsten carbide labeled as tungsten. It matters because, besides being immeasurably cool on its own merits, it's denser than gold. The only way I have found to search for pure tungsten is "elemental tungsten", although there's hardly anything to find. The best of those is a pure tungsten cube on a stand, 3 cm cubed, that is shockingly heavy.
JoeAltmaier 7y ago
Because they're in cahoots with the big diamond consortiums, to push new diamonds.
- bluedevil2k 7y ago
  No, they're not. Jewelers prefer to buy new diamonds from the cutters/polishers in India because the price is good and they can set up long-term supply contracts so that they can plan ahead knowing their supply is constant. It'd be like saying "why doesn't Southwest buy their kerosene from the local farm supply stores?"

varikin 7y ago

Some do. I have a friend who is a jeweler. Almost all of the gems she buys, diamond or other, are either lab-made or recycled gems. But she is an exception to the rule. She buys from a supplier that specializes in this sort of thing for small artistic custom jewelers.

toomuchtodo 7y ago

It goes against the entire idea of monetary sacrifice as a signaling mechanism for the buyer. Cheap diamonds are an antithesis to the signaling. When my partner and I were married over 10 years ago, I bought her a ring and diamond for ~$7k. We were younger, and not so wise. With time comes wisdom. It now sits in a fire safe to be made into a pendant for our daughter; my partner now wears a $20 platinum band from Amazon, and I (occasionally) wear the $10 tungsten ring we bought when we were married (which is bookmarked for easy replacement if damaged or lost). Life is short, don't expend effort on something that doesn't matter. Take a trip together you'll both remember for a lifetime instead.

ncmncm 7y ago
Speaking of tungsten... It's impossible to find actual tungsten rings. Every search turns up tungsten carbide labeled as tungsten. It matters because, besides being immeasurably cool on its own merits, it's denser than gold. The only way I have found to search for pure tungsten is "elemental tungsten", although there's hardly anything to find. The best of those is a pure tungsten cube on a stand, 3 cm cubed, that is shockingly heavy.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago

Because they're in cahoots with the big diamond consortiums, to push new diamonds.

bluedevil2k 7y ago
No, they're not. Jewelers prefer to buy new diamonds from the cutters/polishers in India because the price is good and they can set up long-term supply contracts so that they can plan ahead knowing their supply is constant. It'd be like saying "why doesn't Southwest buy their kerosene from the local farm supply stores?"