Diamonds, facepalm.

[Wilko]

I was having a chat with some guys at dinner tonight and we got on to the subject of diamonds and engagement rings. I explained how De Beers singlehandedly invented the market for diamond engagement rings, invented product placement in movies, and sent out sales reps to "educate" college women on the finer points of diamond appreciation. Oh yeah, lots of chuckles at that, silly girls, so easily manipulated - just keep that in mind.

Then I explained how gem quality synthetic (better than "real") diamonds make the whole sham/scam completely pointless and redundant.

At that point, ALL of the other guys on the table launched into an enthusiastic discussion about the merits of princess vs argyle, what a great deal they'd scored by buying online or overseas, how they'd bought for $2500 and had it valued for $6000. And they were happy about it!!!!!! Perfectly happy that they still spent $2500 on an intrinsically worthless rock that they'll never see any return on.

Just, arggggghh, I mean seriously, the Matrix would be self-perpetuating at this point, even without the ongoing support of women. So many men are so heavily invested in it.

 

[muscleman]

$2500 - engagement ring or a crotch rocket. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Alvafe]

i'm the only one here who would buy some of that 2,5k diamonds to sell for 6k later?

no really, can woman even know the diference btw the real ones and the fake one? I bet they can't, so why spend so much? to prove you can spend that much on useless things for her?

 

[scrouds]

Imagine how much food and mosquito netting $2500 would buy in one of these diamond-producing third world African countries.

Wanna test your girl's values? Tell her in lieu of diamonds you'll donate up to X amount to a cause such as this.

I could throw a cracker jack decoder ring in some soapy dish water and she would be estatic.

 

[sodbuster]

IF Russia ever decided to release their diamond hoard... price for real would equal CZ

 

[Nutz]

If i ever buy diamonds in the future, they're going to be artificial. They're still real diamonds from an end-user perspective and you need lab equipment to tell the difference for the most part. Oh yeah, they're a fraction of the cost. And then there's this:

http://i.imgur.com/5ljx4.jpg

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

While I agree that the whole diamond industry and concept of giving diamonds for an engagement is an utter and complete sham, the whole myth wouldn't have taken hold if we already didn't spend tons of money on jewelry, for both men and women.

After all, a Casio works just as well as a Rolex.

In all cultures, and throughout all time, conspicuous displays of wealth have always been considered "alpha."

Take Kanye West's teeth, for example.

 

[scrouds]

The old idea was that woman agreed to marry you, you'd give her a ring, and she'd bang you before the knot was tied.

If you broke it off, she kept the ring as payment for deflowering her.

 

[Burroughs]

The old idea was that woman agreed to marry you, you'd give her a ring, and she'd bang you before the knot was tied.

If you broke it off, she kept the ring as payment for deflowering her.

The oldest idea was a girl's family gave the groom wealth to take on their daughter as a wife..this is known as dowry and is still practiced in some countries :cheer:

naturally feminists don't like it

The groom now owned the daughter as his wife and she was his to do as he pleased for her whole life....the wealth he was given was insurance that she never misbehave or dishonor her father's family and serve her husband well...

...and under this practice civilization thrived

 

[FrogWife]

First of all, I will say this - I consider myself a feminist (I enjoy voting, earning relatively equal salaries, being able to open a bank account without my husband's signature required, etc etc) and I agree - diamonds are a marketing scam.

I think unless (perhaps) you are a kajillionaire and several grand (or more) on a ring is like a trip to Starbucks, diamond engagement rings are a HUGE waste of money. When I got engaged I would not have dreamt of letting my future husband buy anything but CZ for my ring. We found something in the $200 range, along with a $200 white gold band with tiny diamond chips - and I loved it! I got more compliments on it than I can remember and no one thought it was fake.

Last year I lost my wedding set and bought a super-cheap ring and band (CZ of course, around $150 for both) as a replacement and the same thing - I get compliments galore and even my super-rich friends (who I think might know the difference) think it's real. And when they ask, I tell them it's fake. For me, it was about how it looked and the symbolism of what it meant.