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I'm familiar with the history of the Diamond Ring in the United States - but what sustains it is not De Beers marketing, but the fact that Diamonds actually ser
by ghshephard 13y ago
I'm familiar with the history of the Diamond Ring in the United States - but what sustains it is not De Beers marketing, but the fact that Diamonds actually serve a useful purpose, despite their apparent flawed (no pun intended) properties.
- amirmc 13y agoWhat sustains the price is primarily the restricted supply which is tightly controlled. The long (and impressive) marketing campaign was only one part of the strategy.
- ghshephard 13y agoIf "restricted supply" was relevant to the price, then you would be able to sell a diamond after you purchased it, which, from everything I've read, you can't (unlike gold). De Beers contribution isn't so much restricting the supply, as it is ensuring that once purchased, diamonds lose most of their value.
- nailer 13y agoYou can certainly buy diamonds second hand. Sotheby's sell them: I brought one in a room of a few hundred 50-60 year old diamond merchants in 2008.
- ghshephard 13y agoThat's interesting. I wonder if the same opportunity available to Sotheby's is also available to your average diamond consumer (minus a reasonable handling fee). I.E. If I go buy a Diamond for $1000, And Sotheby's sells it second hand for, let's say, $750, could I sell it to Sotheby's for $500? I'd be interested in hearing what mechanisms exist for your average consumer to sell a diamond. There is quite an active market for second hand Gold, and the handling fees are quite reasonable. My understanding, from everything I've read, is that such a market does not exist for Diamonds.
- nailer 13y agoYes, you could. Most of the diamonds on offer were from deceased estates, sold by ordinary consumers.
- ghshephard 13y agoThe real question is, where the diamonds subject to a "reasonable" handling fee, or where they sold for pennies on the dollar to Sotheby's?
- dllthomas 13y ago"What sustains the price" and "what sustains the tradition" are not the same thing.
- gte910h 13y ago2nd hand diamonds are cheap as hell. You aren't alleging a store of value right? You're referring to their cutting properties in saws and other machinery
- dllthomas 13y agoUseful social purpose in signalling games, is what the parent was referring to. Proof of burn, roughly.