Originally published at: Why diamonds suck | Boing Boing
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The De Beers cartel’s advertising campaign regarding engagement rings is considered one of the most successful BS efforts in business history.
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Diamonds were the original NFTs.
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Inedible tulips
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Unfortunately, a lot of the point of buying these rings is about bragging about their price. If getting a ring at a reasonable price drove that market, diamond engagement and wedding rings would be way cheaper than they are, or people would already be buying some cheaper gem. The high price is often the point. I mean that was the whole point of the 2-month salary rule DeBeers pushed. If you spend less than that, a lot of people will think you’re cheap. Hell, the entire wedding industry period is driven by this weird idea that the more you spend on it, the more that shows how much you love each other. Good luck changing that mindset.
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Diamonds are also increasingly fragile in a warming world:
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I’m wearing a moissanite ring RIGHT NOW! Yeah I like $10 rings.
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Excellent band name.
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Do people eat tulips?! Which wine wine do I pair with a Túlip? Can tulips be cooked? Would it be better to eat raw in a salad? Can I make pasta with these flowers? So many questions.
ETA I am not joking. I know cauliflowers, broccolli, artichokes and brussel sprouts are flowers. But people eat many other flowers.
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The joke there is that during the period of Tulip bulb speculation in the 1600’s people were jailed for eating bulbs.
Anyway it seems they can be eaten if the center is removed and they are well cooked, sez Google.
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Not very often, but during the German occupation many Dutch survived on them.
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I’m grateful that before our engagement my wife hinted that she thought that something home-made would be superior to a diamond ring.
So I attacked a stainless steel nut with a hack saw and some hand files and saved some serious $$.
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I believe the proper pairing would be with ChocoVine.
I’ve actually had this (not with tulips), and it tastes like a richer, alcoholic Yoohoo.
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Admittedly, the ring I am currently wearing is one that I 3d printed, because I have a bad habit of leaving them in rest rooms after washing my hands.
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What a fascinating read. As someone who spent his last dollar buying his first wife a diamond engagement ring, supervised by my inlaws-to-be, I was wholly enveloped in this campaign. If I didn’t buy that diamond, I wouldn’t have gotten married to that gal. Now, that’s a different discussion.
Very interesting to see clearly how we are manipulated. Also, it makes me want to study more of that agency’ work.
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Wait, wait, wait… shouldn’t her parents have given you a couple of cows or other livestock instead?
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This is a fun story. I was staying at my in-laws place on Long Island, though my girlfriend and I were already living in Los Angeles. The jeweler was one my father in law frequented. I was about to close a big deal, and get a sizable fee. That very day, the deal died, but I went through with the purchase anyway. (By the way, she LOVED that ring, and had the jewel reset and she is holding it for my son.).
I lay awake that night, next to my future wife, in her childhood bed, feeling mostly terror as to how I would support her in the style she was accustomed to. (patriarchal white male indoctrination acknowledged).
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Jewlry is sentimental and has no real value beyond the melt down price. Lots of people have memories of Jews sewing jewelry into their clothes during the holocaust because it was something small/portable that they could sell anywhere. When the world was on the gold standard that might have been a smart option, but jewelry is worth a very small fraction of what you pay for it. My MIL passed away and my BIL wanted to value the jewelry at what my MIL paid for it, probably $50k-$75k over a lifetime. I had it appraised and it was worth about $3500. No one is going to buy an oval or pear shaped diamond ring from the 90s. My wife wears the jewelry and it reminds her of her mother which is great.
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