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Couples are swapping out natural diamonds in rings for larger, cheaper lab-made

• chiefalchemist 4y ago
  > Man-made diamonds look exactly the same as naturally occurring ones -- the only difference is the price tag. The appeal of diamonds (and gold, etc.) is they are unique and they are relatively rare. At the cultural level these properties manifest as a signal for "Look at me. Look at what I can afford" and "I've got something you can't have." When that signal becomes noisy and/or deluted eventually the appeal of diamonds - real or lab - will fall. That is, the appeal is the ability to make a statement. If the number of statements increases, price and appeal will fall. It might take a while but diamonds as social currency will eventually implode. Long to short I hope these diamond merchants have a Plan B, and these couples a good marriage counselor.