Community Chat

[Blahblahvampemer]

On 5/30/2014 Rowdyone said:

Diamonds are NOT RARE.

DeBeers is a cartel, just like drug or oil cartels, and controls supply and thus PRICE, not value.

Buy diamonds if you like them, but they do not have the intrinsic value that people think. DeBeers is sitting on mountains of them.

Plastic bottle caps could be made expensive if a cartel owned them all and only released a small number for sale a year.

That's only partly true. For diamonds less than a carat, yes, it applies. For anything with clarity and one carat and up, nope, they really are quite rare.

DeBeers may be fixing the market, and they're sitting on untold numbers of vaults filled with the little stuff, but there's no denying the fact that they're pushing natural stones, and like emeralds, sapphires and rubies, a great gem isn't a common find.

[Blahblahvampemer]

On 5/30/2014 RibbonsRosesRainbows said:

I believe I saw the report on CNN today.....and I need to read about blood diamonds........I know I have seen a pigeon blood ruby and it is fabulous but blood diamonds sounds sad........do they kill people to get the diamonds?

It's not that they're killing people to GET the diamonds, but the sale of the diamonds from mines in a few countries are used to prop up the corrupt governments and terrorists. The REST of the diamond market is, sadly, being painted with the same brush.

The world at large has done a great job at keeping these "conflict" diamonds off the market the way they have "Burmese" rubies. If anyone thinks a diamond is a diamond, they're not as each area would have its own geologic DNA so to speak. A stone from Sierra Leone, for example, would be easily discovered. The market is also listing a stone's origin when they're worthy of being certified.

If people are going to get all huffy about mining practices, then they could put millions of people out of work across the planet. In many areas, it's the only work that's available, and it can mean starvation. When Western countries got involved with child labor, some factories closed, and they ended up in the "world's oldest profession."

[Blahblahvampemer]

On 5/30/2014 Rowdyone said:

On 5/30/2014 RibbonsRosesRainbows said:

I believe I saw the report on CNN today.....and I need to read about blood diamonds........I know I have seen a pigeon blood ruby and it is fabulous but blood diamonds sounds sad........do they kill people to get the diamonds?

Yes. People die.

You do need to do some reading. Get off this forum and onto the internet.

And when you look around, make darn sure you check out the agenda of the person(s) promoting a certain idea. It can be like going to PETA for the truth about meat consumption.

[Blahblahvampemer]

On 5/30/2014 ------ said:

Unless the diamond is monitored from the time it's pulled from the ground to the time to the time it's polished no one can tell the origin of a cut diamond. Even rough is very difficult to determine where it came from.

As for the 5% increase I will believe it when I see it.

Not at all true. The geological DNA of a stone can be easily determined with the right equipment, and a diamond from South Africa won't have the same chemical makeup as one from Australia.

[------]

On 5/30/2014 blahblahvampemerblah said:

On 5/30/2014 ------ said:

Unless the diamond is monitored from the time it's pulled from the ground to the time to the time it's polished no one can tell the origin of a cut diamond. Even rough is very difficult to determine where it came from.

As for the 5% increase I will believe it when I see it.

Not at all true. The geological DNA of a stone can be easily determined with the right equipment, and a diamond from South Africa won't have the same chemical makeup as one from Australia.

I used to work with rough diamond buyers. I know.

[Blahblahvampemer]

On 5/30/2014 ------ said:

On 5/30/2014 blahblahvampemerblah said:

On 5/30/2014 ------ said:

Unless the diamond is monitored from the time it's pulled from the ground to the time to the time it's polished no one can tell the origin of a cut diamond. Even rough is very difficult to determine where it came from.

As for the 5% increase I will believe it when I see it.

Not at all true. The geological DNA of a stone can be easily determined with the right equipment, and a diamond from South Africa won't have the same chemical makeup as one from Australia.

I used to work with rough diamond buyers. I know.

So have I as a jewelry dealer with over 30 years of experience. The chemical makeup of stones is no longer any type of mystery.

[------]

On 5/30/2014 blahblahvampemerblah said:

On 5/30/2014 ------ said:

On 5/30/2014 blahblahvampemerblah said:

On 5/30/2014 ------ said:

Unless the diamond is monitored from the time it's pulled from the ground to the time to the time it's polished no one can tell the origin of a cut diamond. Even rough is very difficult to determine where it came from.

As for the 5% increase I will believe it when I see it.

Not at all true. The geological DNA of a stone can be easily determined with the right equipment, and a diamond from South Africa won't have the same chemical makeup as one from Australia.

I used to work with rough diamond buyers. I know.

So have I as a jewelry dealer with over 30 years of experience. The chemical makeup of stones is no longer any type of mystery.

No. You cannot determine the source of a diamond. Whoever told you that is either misinformed or lying. This is the reason for the Kimberly process.

[gazelle77]

If I had a 1 carat diamond 15 years ago was valued at $3000, would it be worth more today??

[Lavinia_1]

On 5/30/2014 Rowdyone said:

Diamonds are NOT RARE.

DeBeers is a cartel, just like drug or oil cartels, and controls supply and thus PRICE, not value.

Buy diamonds if you like them, but they do not have the intrinsic value that people think. DeBeers is sitting on mountains of them.

Plastic bottle caps could be made expensive if a cartel owned them all and only released a small number for sale a year.

So true, thank you for posting this -- even a DeBeers rep will say the value is more psychological than anything else.