I read a story years ago about some diamonds that were missing from a locked safe. It turned out the diamonds were wrapped in paper that caught fire. While paper ignites at a relatively low temperature, it burns at a temperature higher than the ignition point of diamonds. They burned and left no trace.
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From the site:
The big difference between moissanite and diamond is that moissanite can be manufactured reliably and efficiently in a laboratory.
That site is pretty old. Lab-grown gem quality diamonds are already better quality and up to 80% cheaper than almost all natural diamonds. They are being produced in volume by High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) processes and the best are IGI and GIA certified.
One downside of moissanite is that it has double refraction (a bit like calcite) which can make the reflections and refraction look a little fuzzy when compared to diamond or even cubic zirconia.
At the end of the day, its a shiny stone.
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Except they look pretty
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Same with old-cut diamonds. The modern brilliant cut only comes from 1919 so older stones have unusual cuts which aren’t made today. Go back far enough into the 19th Century and all diamonds come from India which makes them historically interesting.
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My grandmother had some jewelry which she left ‘for the girls’, her granddaughters. I didn’t know about it until I saw a monstrous rock on my sister’s finger at her wedding. I didn’t care then or now. At the time I thought ‘she should sell that thing and get a downpayment for a house’.
My parents felt bad about the perceived imbalance in inheritance and suggested that they would ‘rebalance’ in their wills. No thank you, last thing I want when I’m grieving is to get into some stupid petty fight with my sister over some long-past diamonds I don’t care about.
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Diamonds categorically do not suck: they make amazing semiconductor substrates, and Diamond Foundry claims that it has just produced its first 10cm single-crystal diamond wafer.
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Emeralds are boss. Fight me.
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That, sir, is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
Now, to be honest, I don’t have my glasses on, so I can’t tell if it’s two doves kissing or an extremely happy frog.
Whichever, I’m a fan.
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I was going for two penguins nuzzling beaks. Something like this, minus the little one:
(The wife likes penguins and their whole pair-bonding thing.)
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Sweet.
I need new glasses.
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Hey now, the diamonds themselves don’t suck any worse than whatever else you might dig out of the ground. The diamond market on the other hand… (they’re not the only one either, see also automobiles that lose half their value “once you drive them off the lot”). Despite their hardness, diamonds are still subject to chips and scuffs that dull them over a lifetime, especially when worn on the hands.
What depresses me about it all is that for some reason, diamond prices make a huge jump once you pass the 1.00 ct threshold. So gemcutters do all kinds of wonky shit to maximize the weight while avoiding inclusions and such. Meanwhile almost the entire look of a diamond is driven by how symmetrical and proportionate it is cut. So if you must buy one, start by insisting nothing less than an excellent/ideal cut. Then clarity needn’t be any better than “slightly included,” you’re otherwise throwing yet more money out. Color similarly is unnoticeable until maybe you get past grades L/M. After that, then increase the weight until you meet budget (you did decide a price before leaving the house, right?)
If the result surprises you by how small it is, then don’t get a diamond! And if you’re not getting a diamond, you might as well get something fun and colorful! (citrine, topaz, tourmaline, etc.) Or if you’re really radical, dump the whole jewelry tradition altogether 
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I think you did depict the penguins. Beautiful ring and much better than some chunky diamond that gets caught on everything.
When we married we had no money. So we used a ring my spouse had given me a year before. It’s a bad quality sapphire we found for $100. I still love it. Got replaced around our 7 year anniversary with an tanzinite stone.
I might’ve killed him if he spent 3 months of his salary on a ring
Edited to add pic. Diamonds can be quite pretty but not as pretty as colored stones in my opinion.
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a little known naturally-occuring gemstone called moissanite is superior to diamonds in every essential way:
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My son got married a couple of weeks ago, on the outskirts of Edinburgh in a venue that totally blew me away given the absolute bargain they paid for the event. When they got engaged, her ring was a reworking of a couple of pieces given to her by both her grandmothers. They spent money where it counted - and didn’t go overboard. Both smart cookies and I’m so glad they found each other. The kids are alright.
Here’s the cake 
:
That’s Colossal Colin and Colossal Connie from Marks and Spencer - £45 each. All gone by the end of the evening 
And why yes, they are both Lego fans, why do you ask?
(Juno the golden doodle was the ring bearer 
)
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Well, the whole tulip craze started precisely because a dutch trader received some bulbs from a Turkish partner as a little extra. The Dutchman cooked a few, reported they tasted terrible, and threw the remaining bulbs into the compost. Where they bloomed in the spring. And that’s when said trader realized he had something he could sell after all.
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That is a good enough endorsement to port your comment over to “Mutant Food and Drink” topic
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I mean, are you not here agreeing that diamond anvils can be used to put even 42 GPa on a small volume? We just need the room-temperature superconductors to be superconducting at STP and by golly, they’ll be worth what copper is and more! Then maybe there’ll be another thing to look for with the anvil.
So mostly diamonds grind or press. Anyone know how to run them backwards and pull 32GPa negative pressure (as opposed to the usual stop at 0?)
Give the gift of a shielded 4-mic. diamond anvil.
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On the other end of the spectrum, I know someone who just got engaged, and she’s getting married in two years. Why the long engagement? Because they’re having a destination wedding in Mexico and they need the time to save up for the wedding and to allow their guests to save up for the wedding. These are working class people. They aren’t anywhere close to rich. She’s a medical transcriptionist and checker at Costco, and he’s a cop. Needless to say, I will not be attending. Stupid waste of money for two young people who could use that money for dozens of other things. I don’t get it.
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