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> there's little to no difference in quality between the two Lab grown can be way better quality. To me it was a no-brainer considering the ethical concerns, t

> there's little to no difference in quality between the two Lab grown can be way better quality. To me it was a no-brainer considering the ethical concerns, then add in the cost difference. The only argument I've heard for natural is "I like the imperfections". Sounds like brainwashing to me. They're chemically identical The mining industry should die

kstrauser 29d ago
I personally find lab grown much more beautiful, in that they’re an amazing accomplishment of mankind’s science and technology. So a tree got squeezed underground until it turned into a crystal? Cool, I guess, but big deal. Humans learned enough about how matter works to recreate those conditions at industrial scale? That’s amazing! I’d much rather wear a monument to our cleverness than a dinosaur mashed under a rock.
- andrewflnr 29d ago
  This is a more honest and realistic take than most on the thread. Note that either way it's the provenance behind the gem that you find attractive, much more than any instantaneous quality of it like chemistry, lack/presence of defects, etc. It's the story.
  - kstrauser 29d ago
    It’s not only that. Lab diamonds are superior in every way I’ve heard of. The emotional appeal of their provenance is the sole remaining reason I’ve heard people claim that slave diamonds are superior. I contend that they’re worse there, too. In fact, the only reason I can imagine someone preferring mined diamonds is that they genuinely value the human suffering that goes into them.
    - Skunkleton 29d ago
      If you ignore the ethical issues, and you shouldn't (!!!), there is an appeal to mined diamonds, and it is exactly what you say above. The idea that some dinosaur or tree or whatever got mushed down is really interesting too.
      - sudo_cowsay 29d ago
        All depends on perspective I guess. Smushed dino or human smarts.
      - disdegeneration 28d ago
        [dead]
    - andrewflnr 28d ago
      I think it's more ignorance, only sometimes willful, than actually enjoying human suffering. Then again, voluntary human suffering is part of the story that sells art, so there might be some of that in there too.
- burnished 29d ago
  Duder the tree thing is also pretty cool - but yeah also requiring a certain level of clarity after that just feels like gacha bullshit
- msisk6 29d ago
  I've never been that interested in gemstones of any sort, but my understanding (from geology classes decades ago) is that natural diamonds on the surface of the earth result from some rather exotic processes. First, they form deep down in the mantle around 100 miles down. The only way they get up here is through rare and violent high velocity eruption events that bring mantle material up to the surface. Most are very old, too; greater than a billion years old. I don't recall the source of the carbon they're made from, but it's certainly not any sort of organic material like coal or dinosaurs. ;) Or I could be totally wrong. I really have no interest in these things beyond the geology behind them and it's possible the science has uncovered new stuff since I last studied them. Likewise, I have no idea how these synthetic diamonds are being made nowadays, but I bet that's pretty cool, too.
  - ammo1662 28d ago
    [dead]
- lawlorino 28d ago
  > So a tree got squeezed underground until it turned into a crystal? Cool, I guess, but big deal. In fairness, this is actually pretty cool
eagerpace 29d ago
Which is absolutely hilarious given they spent decades "teaching" consumers about imperfections and how you can pay more to avoid them!
JKCalhoun 29d ago
Maybe the lab enshittifiers can add imperfections! Win, win!
- hbarka 29d ago
  Kintsugi diamonds!
metalman 28d ago
China. A recent look on alibaba showed a warehouse with row after row of new diamond foundrys, big ugly and cheap ones, but that has no effect on the quality of diamonds and other precsios stones they are making. As to the mining industry, it is dying, again, China. Electric mining equipment is bieng introduced at a ferocios rate, and has contributed the largest share to Chinas astonishing 9% reduction in oil use so far this year, and an equaly astonishing reduction in CO2, in spite of an increase in overall energy use.Mad, fully fucking mad good news. Here in Canada the copper mine in Sudbury just went all electric, and a significant amount of the steel in the electric mining equipment is carbon free through a Volvo subsidiary. There is talk now that electrification/solar is pushing ahead so fast that we have actualy passed peak oil durring this episode in the oil wars and that oil will experience a demand collapse.

kstrauser 29d ago

I personally find lab grown much more beautiful, in that they’re an amazing accomplishment of mankind’s science and technology. So a tree got squeezed underground until it turned into a crystal? Cool, I guess, but big deal. Humans learned enough about how matter works to recreate those conditions at industrial scale? That’s amazing! I’d much rather wear a monument to our cleverness than a dinosaur mashed under a rock.

andrewflnr 29d ago
This is a more honest and realistic take than most on the thread. Note that either way it's the provenance behind the gem that you find attractive, much more than any instantaneous quality of it like chemistry, lack/presence of defects, etc. It's the story.
- kstrauser 29d ago
  It’s not only that. Lab diamonds are superior in every way I’ve heard of. The emotional appeal of their provenance is the sole remaining reason I’ve heard people claim that slave diamonds are superior. I contend that they’re worse there, too. In fact, the only reason I can imagine someone preferring mined diamonds is that they genuinely value the human suffering that goes into them.
  - Skunkleton 29d ago
    If you ignore the ethical issues, and you shouldn't (!!!), there is an appeal to mined diamonds, and it is exactly what you say above. The idea that some dinosaur or tree or whatever got mushed down is really interesting too.
    - sudo_cowsay 29d ago
      All depends on perspective I guess. Smushed dino or human smarts.
    - disdegeneration 28d ago
      [dead]
  - andrewflnr 28d ago
    I think it's more ignorance, only sometimes willful, than actually enjoying human suffering. Then again, voluntary human suffering is part of the story that sells art, so there might be some of that in there too.
burnished 29d ago
Duder the tree thing is also pretty cool - but yeah also requiring a certain level of clarity after that just feels like gacha bullshit
msisk6 29d ago
I've never been that interested in gemstones of any sort, but my understanding (from geology classes decades ago) is that natural diamonds on the surface of the earth result from some rather exotic processes. First, they form deep down in the mantle around 100 miles down. The only way they get up here is through rare and violent high velocity eruption events that bring mantle material up to the surface. Most are very old, too; greater than a billion years old. I don't recall the source of the carbon they're made from, but it's certainly not any sort of organic material like coal or dinosaurs. ;) Or I could be totally wrong. I really have no interest in these things beyond the geology behind them and it's possible the science has uncovered new stuff since I last studied them. Likewise, I have no idea how these synthetic diamonds are being made nowadays, but I bet that's pretty cool, too.
- ammo1662 28d ago
  [dead]
lawlorino 28d ago
> So a tree got squeezed underground until it turned into a crystal? Cool, I guess, but big deal. In fairness, this is actually pretty cool

eagerpace 29d ago

Which is absolutely hilarious given they spent decades "teaching" consumers about imperfections and how you can pay more to avoid them!

JKCalhoun 29d ago

Maybe the lab enshittifiers can add imperfections! Win, win!

hbarka 29d ago
Kintsugi diamonds!

metalman 28d ago

China. A recent look on alibaba showed a warehouse with row after row of new diamond foundrys, big ugly and cheap ones, but that has no effect on the quality of diamonds and other precsios stones they are making. As to the mining industry, it is dying, again, China. Electric mining equipment is bieng introduced at a ferocios rate, and has contributed the largest share to Chinas astonishing 9% reduction in oil use so far this year, and an equaly astonishing reduction in CO2, in spite of an increase in overall energy use.Mad, fully fucking mad good news. Here in Canada the copper mine in Sudbury just went all electric, and a significant amount of the steel in the electric mining equipment is carbon free through a Volvo subsidiary. There is talk now that electrification/solar is pushing ahead so fast that we have actualy passed peak oil durring this episode in the oil wars and that oil will experience a demand collapse.