> (They tried with Gemesys, now Pure Grown Diamonds. The CEO was a retired US Army general and wasn't intimidated.) There's even a startup in SF now. "Your diamond is hot-forged from pure atoms in our California foundry."
This is why they've switched their marketing efforts towards the emotional. It's always been that way with the "A Diamond is Forever...", but now even more so with the emphasis on NATURAL diamonds. Lots of DeBeers and diamond cartel marketing stuff that slyly insinuates you don't value your relationship if you don't buy a REAL GENUINE diamond.
The value of a diamond in an engagement ring doesn't have anything to do with how it looks. What has always mattered is what you spent, so as long as they can create reasonably fixed pricing tiers people will spend large amounts of money on diamonds.
It would make a lot more sense for a suitor to give his sweetheart a wad of cash and say "I love you this much", but that's a little too transparent.
I'd say burn the cash.The beauty of the diamond scam is that the resale value of diamonds is practically zero. Just as the peacock tail is costly to have and has zero practical value other than showing that its owner can bear the cost.
It is not just about spending the money; the diamond (and jewelry in general) is a signaling mechanism. It is supposed to communicate to OTHER people 'my spouse is successful and loves me this much'. A wad of cash does not do this, unless you literally carried it around on your hand.
This is why they've switched their marketing efforts towards the emotional. It's always been that way with the "A Diamond is Forever...", but now even more so with the emphasis on NATURAL diamonds. Lots of DeBeers and diamond cartel marketing stuff that slyly insinuates you don't value your relationship if you don't buy a REAL GENUINE diamond.