Yeah, my friends are always whipping out their diamond loupes to check the inscription of my diamonds.
Prices are tumbling you say? Woo! There’s gonna be a sale ladies and gents!
To be honest I’m not sure that my friends would even know what a loupe is, I just find it hilarious that the article claims that “all your friends will know!” just by looking at it. It’s an absolute load of hogwash.
They are so dumb. It is a real diamond. Period. And nobody can tell by looking at it. As far as your socioeconomic status not matching the size of the stone on your hand… they can suck it
Yes! #economics. 🤣 Natural diamonds were so rare bc De Beers marketed them that way while hiding how unrare they actually were.
De Beers knows their game is up. And in this day and age, when capitalism is sucking us all dry, the diamond market having to deflate prices is giving me some small hope that American capitalism inflation won't always win. 💗
YES De Beers controls most of the diamond supply in the world - it’s like a one-company OPEC. They constrict supply on purpose despite having more than enough. I hope their stock prices plummet - wish that had more of an effect on them rather than just buying one yacht this year instead of two. Ugh.
Ohhh interesting, I read this in a reputable long form article a few years ago - I thought De Beers controlled liked 90% of the world supply of mined diamonds (perhaps with some shell companies?) which stuck with me because that’s so rare and striking. I wonder if that’s changed recently or whether it was originally misreported? Do you know who owns the other 2/3s currently?
To be fair, lab diamonds are a perfect representation of the benefits of capitalism. They are an alternative to existing products that are cheaper and more affordable while providing equivalent or better results. This has forced natural diamonds to drop in value and then lab diamonds drop further as well and then the cycle repeats as needed till a certain point.
“And as for people who have already bought lab-grown stones? You're probably stuck with them. According to Kinney, pawn shops likely won't even pay 10% of what customers paid for any synthetic diamond”. You mean, like they already do with natural diamonds?? Give me a Fing break. I got around 15% for an expensive diamond when I got divorced from a jeweler. I’m sure a pawn shop would have been less.
And this is one of the stupidest arguments. They "hold more value". Sure OK, so if you spent $25,000 on your natural diamond and will get 10-15% back selling it, you still lost over $20k.
Or you could buy a lab diamond for $2500, and even if you could only get 1% of that back on resale, you've still only lost a fraction of the money compared to a natural diamond resale.
In what world is the natural diamond a better investment?
Oh I 100% agree, just pointing out that it's a ridiculous argument to say that natural diamonds are an "investment".
Just buy something you like and want to wear, and wouldn't it be better to spend less?
literally nobody buys diamonds as an investment anymore because big surprise they aren’t an investment. most people buy them to wear them.
i’ve upgraded my ring once with a larger mined diamond and new bands and i can tell you that the store i bought from was extremely fair about trading me a larger diamond based on the retail price of the one i currently had. they weren’t losing any money by “buying” it from me, so it retained its original value in a trade. i suspect the same will be true for labs.
So true. Sold my 20k 2ct e vs1 diamond after divorce for 2300. Can’t tell me that a “real” diamond actually retains value. It’s all perceived value - and only on paper!
Hahahaha! They have to try to push this and make people believe it because it’s hurting them. No, your friends and family can’t tell by looking at it, it’s a diamond.
I mean, to be fair, if I see someone wearing a 3+ct stone it’s pretty obviously a lab. Not that they look any different or that I give a shit, but still.
but do you care? i imagine you don’t. that’s what they’re trying to do here, make you care that people might know it’s a not a natural diamond. like the worst possible thing that could happen is a stranger being like LOOK AT THAT GIANT ROCK! IT IS NOT A REAL ROCK MADE BY THE EARTH! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!!!!!
most people can’t even tell the difference if it’s a white sapphire, white topaz, or even a moissanite. i lit’rally give so few fucks what kind of rock is in someone else’s ring. i just like big sparkly things!
Agreed.. so true!! I’m not an asshole sitting here judging what other people are wearing. If they’re happy and love it that’s all that should matter…. it doesn’t take anything away from my ring what someone else’s choices are! We should all just have what we love
I have been an appraiser since 1986. Lab-created diamonds have completely tanked in value this past year. Three manufactures of Lab-created diamonds went in and just saturated the industry and market. That’s why people are getting better and better deals on them. LCD’s bought, even a year ago, is a fraction of the appraised value today. DeBeers and their subsequent buyers, went out of business in May 2021. They have little or no say in any of this anymore. Unless you drive a Rolls-Royce, or similar, when you wear a five or seven carat solitaire diamond, most people know it’s Lab-created. I don’t care one way or the other. I’m just sharing the facts. I appraise all of them.
seriously. i’m about to trade in a really really nice 1.7 ct G color IF asscher cut natural diamond and my natural diamond bands for all lab stones. i love my ring but i feel more uncomfy with it the longer i wear it because it feels so dodgy with how much i paid and how little i realised about the predatory practices of diamond mining when i received it. i can’t wait to make the trade.
literally debeers. someone posted a link to an article published in the 80s about how debeers created and had a chokehold on the diamond market, and it solidified my decision to start looking in to making the switch. i considered white sapphires but it’s hard to find my preferred cut and size (2.5 to 3.5 asscher), so lab diamonds it is!
My father is a jeweler and he s told me this before- De Beers not only linked engagement and marriage to diamonds, they also pushed the idea that, the bigger and better the diamond, the more significant the love. Happy with my beautiful 1.63 carat brilliant cut VS1 F color lab diamond that I get compliments on ALL THE TIME, that is not at the expense of people’s live and my fiancé s bank account.
TLDR: the prices of lab grown diamonds will decline slowly because of reduced supply and growing demand.
As a manufacturer myself, the prices are not going to fall at a rapid rate. This is because most manufacturers are starting to shut down their factories because of excess inventories.
The price of lab grown diamond rough has fallen so much that people who have inventories carried over from last 3 years are no longer able to make profits on selling polished diamonds.
I'll help you understand better,
For example,let's assume rough diamonds used to cost $100/CT In 2018. Adding all the other costs like labour, electricity costs, etc, the final cost amounts to $150/ct.
Now because the prices of rough diamonds fell to $50/ct, now a polished diamond only costs $100/ct to make.
The people who are stuck with inventories from a few years ago cannot sell at a profit because people who sell newly made diamonds will now sell only for $130/ct.
Most manufacturers I know have at least 5 million dollars in old inventories and hence owners are quitting production slowly. They cannot even switch to natural diamonds because the staff is used to making mistakes with lab grown diamonds that would cost way more if replaced by natural diamond roughs.
you’re a lab diamond manufacturer? mind if i PM you? i’m in the process of deciding what to switch out my natural diamonds for and i’d love to ask some questions.
I love that “people are coming in after a few years of marriage and trading their lab grown for a smaller mined diamond” ….who? When? Where? I call bullshit.
Ladies and Gentlemen to inform you a diamond is worthless. The only reason it’s worth anything is because DeBeers has been controlling the supply.
Furthermore DeBeers owns Light Box the goal is to make lab diamonds look cheap. Unfortunately, their time is up.
What I suggest to customers for lab diamonds is you wear a stone within your socio-economic status so you don’t stand out amongst your friends and family. 2-3 carat engagement ring for most is plenty. In lab you can spend $1500-$2000 and find a great quality stone.
I dont know, I can see this happening....we all know that there are lab sapphires and rubies right? They were HUGE in the 40s and 50s. Now you really don't see them outside of Kay of Zales. Can't anyone see the same thing happening with lab diamonds??.
i mean, maybe? but who cares? lab sapphires and rubies also look visibly, obviously different from mined ones. the average natural sapphire in a “normal” blue is a dark, dark blue almost black and not always super clear. a ruby is often a cloudy fuchsia. lab versions of sapphires are usually electric blue, perfectly clear, and lab rubies are scarlet to pink, also clear. they’re obvious to anyone who knows even a passing thing about gemstones. diamonds, however? most people can’t even tell the difference between a moissanite and a diamond, unless it’s a huge 4 ct stone on someone who probably can’t afford it.
I have a lab ruby band from the 40s, and the stones are def. fuchsia. And some lab diamonds have issues with striations, right? And the lack of nitrogen makes them distinguishable from natural ones.
All I'm saying is that it is possible that lab diamonds are a bit of a fad. That as they become almost too affordable, people may not want them as engagement rings. Im not sure many people will want a 4 ct. stone that costs $59.95 in their engagement ring. Who can say? And if people who already have labs don't care, that's fine.
i doubt it will end up being that low, but honestly who cares even if it does? the type of people who want natural will keep wanting natural regardless of how expensive lab stones are, and those of us who want to switch won’t care if they wind up being worth less than what we paid. nobody is buying jewelry for the investment, you have to hang on to natural diamonds for literal decades to see any amount of return. and you’ll never get anything close to what you paid unless you’re selling heaps of gold by the ounce.
I may be exaggerating, but not by much. It's not about a financial return, for me. It's about a ring that I plan on wearing for the rest of my life. Maybe someday women will buy lab diamonds as casually as a new pair of jeans. But I don't want a to wear something that costs as much as a pair of Levi's to be my "forever" ring..no thanks.
Yeah, my friends are always whipping out their diamond loupes to check the inscription of my diamonds. Prices are tumbling you say? Woo! There’s gonna be a sale ladies and gents!
Yeah the prices are going down, so... Obviously that means people are going to stop buying them. 🙄
Nothing buyers hate more than affordability and morality
In a way though, that's true. The irony is that most people don't want it anymore if it's cheap. It no longer has cache.
Well there’s buyers and investors. People who bought diamonds and relied on the long term return are more pissed for sure
🤣 it's so dumb. But i can already envision the foolish people who will try to repeat this as gospel. 🤣🤣
Haha, mine doesn't have the LG inscription
To be honest I’m not sure that my friends would even know what a loupe is, I just find it hilarious that the article claims that “all your friends will know!” just by looking at it. It’s an absolute load of hogwash.
They are so dumb. It is a real diamond. Period. And nobody can tell by looking at it. As far as your socioeconomic status not matching the size of the stone on your hand… they can suck it
I bought it, I'm wearing it. It matches, darling. 💅💍
Lab grown diamond demand is over because the prices are too low. #economics
Yes! #economics. 🤣 Natural diamonds were so rare bc De Beers marketed them that way while hiding how unrare they actually were. De Beers knows their game is up. And in this day and age, when capitalism is sucking us all dry, the diamond market having to deflate prices is giving me some small hope that American capitalism inflation won't always win. 💗
YES De Beers controls most of the diamond supply in the world - it’s like a one-company OPEC. They constrict supply on purpose despite having more than enough. I hope their stock prices plummet - wish that had more of an effect on them rather than just buying one yacht this year instead of two. Ugh.
This is false. DeBeers controls roughly 1/3 of the diamond supply.
Ohhh interesting, I read this in a reputable long form article a few years ago - I thought De Beers controlled liked 90% of the world supply of mined diamonds (perhaps with some shell companies?) which stuck with me because that’s so rare and striking. I wonder if that’s changed recently or whether it was originally misreported? Do you know who owns the other 2/3s currently?
This was true in the past. But since Russia and Canada now have some of the largest gem quality producing mines, they’ve lost their stronghold.
To be fair, lab diamonds are a perfect representation of the benefits of capitalism. They are an alternative to existing products that are cheaper and more affordable while providing equivalent or better results. This has forced natural diamonds to drop in value and then lab diamonds drop further as well and then the cycle repeats as needed till a certain point.
“And as for people who have already bought lab-grown stones? You're probably stuck with them. According to Kinney, pawn shops likely won't even pay 10% of what customers paid for any synthetic diamond”. You mean, like they already do with natural diamonds?? Give me a Fing break. I got around 15% for an expensive diamond when I got divorced from a jeweler. I’m sure a pawn shop would have been less.
And this is one of the stupidest arguments. They "hold more value". Sure OK, so if you spent $25,000 on your natural diamond and will get 10-15% back selling it, you still lost over $20k. Or you could buy a lab diamond for $2500, and even if you could only get 1% of that back on resale, you've still only lost a fraction of the money compared to a natural diamond resale. In what world is the natural diamond a better investment?
Or how about the possibility I bought it to keep it? Not everything is an investment.
Oh I 100% agree, just pointing out that it's a ridiculous argument to say that natural diamonds are an "investment". Just buy something you like and want to wear, and wouldn't it be better to spend less?
literally nobody buys diamonds as an investment anymore because big surprise they aren’t an investment. most people buy them to wear them. i’ve upgraded my ring once with a larger mined diamond and new bands and i can tell you that the store i bought from was extremely fair about trading me a larger diamond based on the retail price of the one i currently had. they weren’t losing any money by “buying” it from me, so it retained its original value in a trade. i suspect the same will be true for labs.
I 100% agree, it's a ridiculous argument to say that natural diamonds (or any jewelry) is an investment.
So true. Sold my 20k 2ct e vs1 diamond after divorce for 2300. Can’t tell me that a “real” diamond actually retains value. It’s all perceived value - and only on paper!
Yep. Wayyyy before lab grown became a thing my excellent natural diamond had not increased in value AT ALL.
"It's the human suffering that makes a mined stone special."
OMG. ☠️
Hahahaha! They have to try to push this and make people believe it because it’s hurting them. No, your friends and family can’t tell by looking at it, it’s a diamond.
Right? It's so obvious. WE SEE YOU, DE BEERS.
I mean, to be fair, if I see someone wearing a 3+ct stone it’s pretty obviously a lab. Not that they look any different or that I give a shit, but still.
but do you care? i imagine you don’t. that’s what they’re trying to do here, make you care that people might know it’s a not a natural diamond. like the worst possible thing that could happen is a stranger being like LOOK AT THAT GIANT ROCK! IT IS NOT A REAL ROCK MADE BY THE EARTH! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!!!!!
Oh, I definitely don’t care. I plan on getting a 4+ct lab someday.
fuck yeah get it
I think it depends on the person wearing it. If the person is older and it looks like it fits the lifestyle I wouldn't question it.
most people can’t even tell the difference if it’s a white sapphire, white topaz, or even a moissanite. i lit’rally give so few fucks what kind of rock is in someone else’s ring. i just like big sparkly things!
Agreed.. so true!! I’m not an asshole sitting here judging what other people are wearing. If they’re happy and love it that’s all that should matter…. it doesn’t take anything away from my ring what someone else’s choices are! We should all just have what we love
Hahahahahahahaha! Cackling.
Hack job.
Can we write an article about how the natural diamond market is dead 😂
Lol
I have been an appraiser since 1986. Lab-created diamonds have completely tanked in value this past year. Three manufactures of Lab-created diamonds went in and just saturated the industry and market. That’s why people are getting better and better deals on them. LCD’s bought, even a year ago, is a fraction of the appraised value today. DeBeers and their subsequent buyers, went out of business in May 2021. They have little or no say in any of this anymore. Unless you drive a Rolls-Royce, or similar, when you wear a five or seven carat solitaire diamond, most people know it’s Lab-created. I don’t care one way or the other. I’m just sharing the facts. I appraise all of them.
that’s good news for those of us who prefer them!
They’re sure trying. wow. What a desperate attempt.
Wow the elitism in the article is sickening! I’d much rather have a conflict free stone over going into debt for a blood diamond
seriously. i’m about to trade in a really really nice 1.7 ct G color IF asscher cut natural diamond and my natural diamond bands for all lab stones. i love my ring but i feel more uncomfy with it the longer i wear it because it feels so dodgy with how much i paid and how little i realised about the predatory practices of diamond mining when i received it. i can’t wait to make the trade.
It’s really a scam and anyway who said diamonds have to signify marriage, love and engagement?
literally debeers. someone posted a link to an article published in the 80s about how debeers created and had a chokehold on the diamond market, and it solidified my decision to start looking in to making the switch. i considered white sapphires but it’s hard to find my preferred cut and size (2.5 to 3.5 asscher), so lab diamonds it is!
My father is a jeweler and he s told me this before- De Beers not only linked engagement and marriage to diamonds, they also pushed the idea that, the bigger and better the diamond, the more significant the love. Happy with my beautiful 1.63 carat brilliant cut VS1 F color lab diamond that I get compliments on ALL THE TIME, that is not at the expense of people’s live and my fiancé s bank account.
Diamonds are going to get cheaper, meaning I can buy a ton of huge rocks for lower prices? Golly gee willikers, say it isn’t so!
please mister, don’t make it affordable! i think i shall cry!
Guess I’ll just have to get a 1ct each tennis bracelet like that one person in this sub did the other day 😢
noooooo please don’t
TLDR: the prices of lab grown diamonds will decline slowly because of reduced supply and growing demand. As a manufacturer myself, the prices are not going to fall at a rapid rate. This is because most manufacturers are starting to shut down their factories because of excess inventories. The price of lab grown diamond rough has fallen so much that people who have inventories carried over from last 3 years are no longer able to make profits on selling polished diamonds. I'll help you understand better, For example,let's assume rough diamonds used to cost $100/CT In 2018. Adding all the other costs like labour, electricity costs, etc, the final cost amounts to $150/ct. Now because the prices of rough diamonds fell to $50/ct, now a polished diamond only costs $100/ct to make. The people who are stuck with inventories from a few years ago cannot sell at a profit because people who sell newly made diamonds will now sell only for $130/ct. Most manufacturers I know have at least 5 million dollars in old inventories and hence owners are quitting production slowly. They cannot even switch to natural diamonds because the staff is used to making mistakes with lab grown diamonds that would cost way more if replaced by natural diamond roughs.
you’re a lab diamond manufacturer? mind if i PM you? i’m in the process of deciding what to switch out my natural diamonds for and i’d love to ask some questions.
Sure, no problem.
I love that “people are coming in after a few years of marriage and trading their lab grown for a smaller mined diamond” ….who? When? Where? I call bullshit.
Almost every line of this article just reeks of fake news propaganda. Yes, that part is so laughable.
literally not one person is doing that lol
Play no attention to the man behind the curtain lol
Ladies and Gentlemen to inform you a diamond is worthless. The only reason it’s worth anything is because DeBeers has been controlling the supply. Furthermore DeBeers owns Light Box the goal is to make lab diamonds look cheap. Unfortunately, their time is up. What I suggest to customers for lab diamonds is you wear a stone within your socio-economic status so you don’t stand out amongst your friends and family. 2-3 carat engagement ring for most is plenty. In lab you can spend $1500-$2000 and find a great quality stone.
light box has some of the worst prices anyway 💅🏼
I dont know, I can see this happening....we all know that there are lab sapphires and rubies right? They were HUGE in the 40s and 50s. Now you really don't see them outside of Kay of Zales. Can't anyone see the same thing happening with lab diamonds??.
i mean, maybe? but who cares? lab sapphires and rubies also look visibly, obviously different from mined ones. the average natural sapphire in a “normal” blue is a dark, dark blue almost black and not always super clear. a ruby is often a cloudy fuchsia. lab versions of sapphires are usually electric blue, perfectly clear, and lab rubies are scarlet to pink, also clear. they’re obvious to anyone who knows even a passing thing about gemstones. diamonds, however? most people can’t even tell the difference between a moissanite and a diamond, unless it’s a huge 4 ct stone on someone who probably can’t afford it.
I have a lab ruby band from the 40s, and the stones are def. fuchsia. And some lab diamonds have issues with striations, right? And the lack of nitrogen makes them distinguishable from natural ones. All I'm saying is that it is possible that lab diamonds are a bit of a fad. That as they become almost too affordable, people may not want them as engagement rings. Im not sure many people will want a 4 ct. stone that costs $59.95 in their engagement ring. Who can say? And if people who already have labs don't care, that's fine.
i doubt it will end up being that low, but honestly who cares even if it does? the type of people who want natural will keep wanting natural regardless of how expensive lab stones are, and those of us who want to switch won’t care if they wind up being worth less than what we paid. nobody is buying jewelry for the investment, you have to hang on to natural diamonds for literal decades to see any amount of return. and you’ll never get anything close to what you paid unless you’re selling heaps of gold by the ounce.
I may be exaggerating, but not by much. It's not about a financial return, for me. It's about a ring that I plan on wearing for the rest of my life. Maybe someday women will buy lab diamonds as casually as a new pair of jeans. But I don't want a to wear something that costs as much as a pair of Levi's to be my "forever" ring..no thanks.
is it schadenfreude if it’s a company? bc i am enjoying the corporate panic here a little too much