Diamonds are bullshit

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Comments

  • backseatLover12backseatLover12 Posts: 2,312
    edited February 2014
    PJ_Soul said:

    Like I said a few months ago, I find you annoying as all hell. There, I said it again. You can deal with that any way you want. But you will be offended just like last time. Sorry about your feelings being hurt. (not) But I asked Kat why we can't foe anyone anymore, and you even commented on that. This is no big secret. It's impossible to ignore someone on here when we can't hide a person.image

    No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt

    I don't give a shit if you can't stand me. I just don't know why you keep insulting me on the boards. I remember that Kat told you to ignore instead of foe. I doubt they will care that you just can't help being mean to someone when I finally decide to report you.
    Ya know, forget it. If you are baby enough to threaten to report another, because you take things too personally and immaturely, I don't have to pretend to be civil. I like quite a few people here, but you ruin it by not being adult enough to deal with shit.
    Post edited by backseatLover12 on
  • You know, I like 'em both, so I'm a little taken back by the hostility... I guess there's history I've missed? What kind of wedding would they have?
    I guess I'll go look for an Arizona politics post and then I won't have any mixed feelings about anything at all....
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559

    You know, I like 'em both, so I'm a little taken back by the hostility... I guess there's history I've missed? What kind of wedding would they have?
    I guess I'll go look for an Arizona politics post and then I won't have any mixed feelings about anything at all....

    if he shows up with a benny hall vinyl - she may concede on the open bar ...
  • polaris_x said:

    You know, I like 'em both, so I'm a little taken back by the hostility... I guess there's history I've missed? What kind of wedding would they have?
    I guess I'll go look for an Arizona politics post and then I won't have any mixed feelings about anything at all....

    if he shows up with a benny hall vinyl - she may concede on the open bar ...
    polaris_x said:

    You know, I like 'em both, so I'm a little taken back by the hostility... I guess there's history I've missed? What kind of wedding would they have?
    I guess I'll go look for an Arizona politics post and then I won't have any mixed feelings about anything at all....

    if he shows up with a benny hall vinyl - she may concede on the open bar ...
    hahahahaha, very good
  • rgambsrgambs Posts: 13,576
    i like pearls, opals, fire agates, amethist, and minerals like them because they can be worn as they are found or hand polished. they aren't laser-cut and machine buffed and then acclaimed to be nature's miracle. raw diamonds look just like quartz, though there is something to be said for their hardness.
    Monkey Driven, Call this Living?
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Posts: 49,954
    edited February 2014

    PJ_Soul said:

    Like I said a few months ago, I find you annoying as all hell. There, I said it again. You can deal with that any way you want. But you will be offended just like last time. Sorry about your feelings being hurt. (not) But I asked Kat why we can't foe anyone anymore, and you even commented on that. This is no big secret. It's impossible to ignore someone on here when we can't hide a person.image

    No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt

    I don't give a shit if you can't stand me. I just don't know why you keep insulting me on the boards. I remember that Kat told you to ignore instead of foe. I doubt they will care that you just can't help being mean to someone when I finally decide to report you.
    Ya know, forget it. If you are baby enough to threaten to report another, because you take things too personally and immaturely, I don't have to pretend to be civil. I like quite a few people here, but you ruin it by not being adult enough to deal with shit.
    Let me just remind you that when I once sent you a PM trying to make peace a while ago when you first started attacking me you replied with, and I quote: "Contact me again and you'll be reported. Have a nice day."

    :-\"
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Posts: 49,954
    polaris_x said:

    You know, I like 'em both, so I'm a little taken back by the hostility... I guess there's history I've missed? What kind of wedding would they have?
    I guess I'll go look for an Arizona politics post and then I won't have any mixed feelings about anything at all....

    if he shows up with a benny hall vinyl - she may concede on the open bar ...
    image
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    PJ_Soul said:

    PJ_Soul said:

    Like I said a few months ago, I find you annoying as all hell. There, I said it again. You can deal with that any way you want. But you will be offended just like last time. Sorry about your feelings being hurt. (not) But I asked Kat why we can't foe anyone anymore, and you even commented on that. This is no big secret. It's impossible to ignore someone on here when we can't hide a person.image

    No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt

    I don't give a shit if you can't stand me. I just don't know why you keep insulting me on the boards. I remember that Kat told you to ignore instead of foe. I doubt they will care that you just can't help being mean to someone when I finally decide to report you.
    Ya know, forget it. If you are baby enough to threaten to report another, because you take things too personally and immaturely, I don't have to pretend to be civil. I like quite a few people here, but you ruin it by not being adult enough to deal with shit.
    Let me just remind you that when I once sent you a PM trying to make peace a while ago when you first started attacking me you replied with, and I quote: "Contact me again and you'll be reported. Have a nice day."

    :-\"
    miscommunication, bringing up shit from the past, bickering ... just like real couples!
  • chadwickchadwick Posts: 21,157
    i vote they get hitched
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • me too
    just think of the good story they'll have to tell people how they first met and how their love grew
    and we were there!
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Posts: 49,954
    :-L
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559

    me too
    just think of the good story they'll have to tell people how they first met and how their love grew
    and we were there!

    Yes!!

    They are like Sam and Diane on Cheers or Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd on that tv show!!

    They should fly us out to their weddinig tho for making them realize they were meant for each other and that beneath all that hostility is in all likelihood some hot action!
  • chadwickchadwick Posts: 21,157
    in all reality it is quite common that at first a man & woman may dislike one another, they somehow get together & before you know it, they're a loving couple. it dates back to our younger years when boys have cooties & girls... um

    & girls, uh

    have little baskets on their bikes
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • polaris_x said:

    me too
    just think of the good story they'll have to tell people how they first met and how their love grew
    and we were there!

    Yes!!

    They are like Sam and Diane on Cheers or Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd on that tv show!!

    They should fly us out to their weddinig tho for making them realize they were meant for each other and that beneath all that hostility is in all likelihood some hot action!
    Yes, of course they should fly us out for the wedding! I think it was genius of us to recognize the real reason for all the passion in their disagreement. Really I'm just looking out for them both. They both seem nice, funny, clever. I'm seeing doves and olive branches and peace and harmony and little pink hearts everywhere.... but I've been wrong before.
    If this is offensive to you two, I'm sorry... I'm stopping myself now....promise....
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559

    polaris_x said:

    me too
    just think of the good story they'll have to tell people how they first met and how their love grew
    and we were there!

    Yes!!

    They are like Sam and Diane on Cheers or Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd on that tv show!!

    They should fly us out to their weddinig tho for making them realize they were meant for each other and that beneath all that hostility is in all likelihood some hot action!
    Yes, of course they should fly us out for the wedding! I think it was genius of us to recognize the real reason for all the passion in their disagreement. Really I'm just looking out for them both. They both seem nice, funny, clever. I'm seeing doves and olive branches and peace and harmony and little pink hearts everywhere.... but I've been wrong before.
    If this is offensive to you two, I'm sorry... I'm stopping myself now....promise....
    they are probably getting to know one another better now through pm ...
  • I bet you're right....
  • oh I didn't stop myself, did I?
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    it's ok ... they both have probably discovered that they both have a thing for Yield, purple carrots and ocean waves ... ;;)
  • You guys are very funny.
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Posts: 49,954

    You guys are very funny.

    It's true.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • Yay, agreement, peace & harmony
  • my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117

    They really are. Nothing but a marketing scam created long ago. Spread this to all those young lovers out there.



    American males enter adulthood through a peculiar rite of passage -- they spend most of their savings on a shiny piece of rock. They could invest the money in assets that will compound over time and someday provide a nest egg. Instead, they trade that money for a diamond ring, which isn't much of an asset at all. As soon as you leave the jeweler with a diamond, it loses over 50 percent of its value.

    Americans exchange diamond rings as part of the engagement process, because in 1938 De Beers decided that they would like us to. Prior to a stunningly successful marketing campaign 1938, Americans occasionally exchanged engagement rings, but wasn't a pervasive occurrence. Not only is the demand for diamonds a marketing invention, but diamonds aren't actually that rare. Only by carefully restricting the supply has De Beers kept the price of a diamond high.

    Countless American dudes will attest that the societal obligation to furnish a diamond engagement ring is both stressful and expensive. But here's the thing -- this obligation only exists because the company that stands to profit from it willed it into existence.

    So here is a modest proposal: Let's agree that diamonds are bullshit and reject their role in the marriage process. Let's admit that as a society we got tricked for about a century into coveting sparkling pieces of carbon, but it's time to end the nonsense.

    The Concept of Intrinsic Value

    In finance, there is concept called intrinsic value. An asset's value is essentially driven by the (discounted) value of the future cash that asset will generate. For example, when Hertz buys a car, its value is the profit they get from renting it out and selling the car at the end of its life (the "terminal value"). For Hertz, a car is an investment. When you buy a car, unless you make money from it somehow, its value corresponds to its resale value. Since a car is a depreciating asset, the amount of value that the car loses over its lifetime is a very real expense you pay.

    A diamond is a depreciating asset masquerading as an investment. There is a common misconception that jewelry and precious metals are assets that can store value, appreciate and hedge against inflation. That's not wholly untrue.

    Gold and silver are commodities that can be purchased on financial markets. They can appreciate and hold value in times of inflation. You can even hoard gold under your bed and buy gold coins and bullion (albeit at a ~10 percent premium to market rates). If you want to hoard gold jewelry however, there is typically a retail markup so that's probably not a wise investment.

    But with that caveat in mind, the market for gold is fairly liquid and gold is fungible -- you can trade one large piece of gold for 10 smalls ones like you can a 10 dollar bill for 10 one dollar bills. These characteristics make it a feasible potential investment.

    Diamonds, however, are not an investment. The market for them is neither liquid nor are they fungible.

    The first test of a liquid market is whether you can resell a diamond. In a famous piece published by The Atlantic in 1982, Edward Epstein explains why you can't sell used diamonds for anything but a pittance:

    Retail jewelers, especially the prestigious Fifth Avenue stores, prefer not to buy back diamonds from customers, because the offer they would make would most likely be considered ridiculously low. The "keystone," or markup, on a diamond and its setting may range from 100 to 200 percent, depending on the policy of the store; if it bought diamonds back from customers, it would have to buy them back at wholesale prices.

    ...

    Most jewelers would prefer not to make a customer an offer that might be deemed insulting and also might undercut the widely-held notion that diamonds go up in value. Moreover, since retailers generally receive their diamonds from wholesalers on consignment, and need not pay for them until they are sold, they would not readily risk their own cash to buy diamonds from customers.

    Read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rohin-dhar/diamonds-are-bullshit_b_3708562.html

    i thought pretty much everyone knew this by now?

    never bought a diamond and i never will


  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559

    Yay, agreement, peace & harmony

    it has begun ... please give ample notice to the wedding date ... thanks
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Posts: 49,954
    edited February 2014
    polaris_x said:

    Yay, agreement, peace & harmony

    it has begun ... please give ample notice to the wedding date ... thanks
    I have a feeling I'm going to be waiting a long, long time for my diamond engagement ring. :P
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • hedonisthedonist Posts: 24,524
    This thread has turned hilarious. Well-done <:-P
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    PJ_Soul said:

    polaris_x said:

    Yay, agreement, peace & harmony

    it has begun ... please give ample notice to the wedding date ... thanks
    I have a feeling I'm going to be waiting a long, long time for my diamond engagement ring. :P
    sometimes those cold stares and eerie silence are really a way a guy says "i love you and i want you" ... haha
  • polaris_x said:

    PJ_Soul said:

    polaris_x said:

    Yay, agreement, peace & harmony

    it has begun ... please give ample notice to the wedding date ... thanks
    I have a feeling I'm going to be waiting a long, long time for my diamond engagement ring. :P
    sometimes those cold stares and eerie silence are really a way a guy says "i love you and i want you" ... haha
    "and I can't wait to slip a diamond ring on your finger"
    I am almost positive that the phrase "stony silence" came about to describe guys that are fixated on getting a diamond engagement ring on a woman's hand...

  • my2hands said:

    They really are. Nothing but a marketing scam created long ago. Spread this to all those young lovers out there.



    American males enter adulthood through a peculiar rite of passage -- they spend most of their savings on a shiny piece of rock. They could invest the money in assets that will compound over time and someday provide a nest egg. Instead, they trade that money for a diamond ring, which isn't much of an asset at all. As soon as you leave the jeweler with a diamond, it loses over 50 percent of its value.

    Americans exchange diamond rings as part of the engagement process, because in 1938 De Beers decided that they would like us to. Prior to a stunningly successful marketing campaign 1938, Americans occasionally exchanged engagement rings, but wasn't a pervasive occurrence. Not only is the demand for diamonds a marketing invention, but diamonds aren't actually that rare. Only by carefully restricting the supply has De Beers kept the price of a diamond high.

    Countless American dudes will attest that the societal obligation to furnish a diamond engagement ring is both stressful and expensive. But here's the thing -- this obligation only exists because the company that stands to profit from it willed it into existence.

    So here is a modest proposal: Let's agree that diamonds are bullshit and reject their role in the marriage process. Let's admit that as a society we got tricked for about a century into coveting sparkling pieces of carbon, but it's time to end the nonsense.

    The Concept of Intrinsic Value

    In finance, there is concept called intrinsic value. An asset's value is essentially driven by the (discounted) value of the future cash that asset will generate. For example, when Hertz buys a car, its value is the profit they get from renting it out and selling the car at the end of its life (the "terminal value"). For Hertz, a car is an investment. When you buy a car, unless you make money from it somehow, its value corresponds to its resale value. Since a car is a depreciating asset, the amount of value that the car loses over its lifetime is a very real expense you pay.

    A diamond is a depreciating asset masquerading as an investment. There is a common misconception that jewelry and precious metals are assets that can store value, appreciate and hedge against inflation. That's not wholly untrue.

    Gold and silver are commodities that can be purchased on financial markets. They can appreciate and hold value in times of inflation. You can even hoard gold under your bed and buy gold coins and bullion (albeit at a ~10 percent premium to market rates). If you want to hoard gold jewelry however, there is typically a retail markup so that's probably not a wise investment.

    But with that caveat in mind, the market for gold is fairly liquid and gold is fungible -- you can trade one large piece of gold for 10 smalls ones like you can a 10 dollar bill for 10 one dollar bills. These characteristics make it a feasible potential investment.

    Diamonds, however, are not an investment. The market for them is neither liquid nor are they fungible.

    The first test of a liquid market is whether you can resell a diamond. In a famous piece published by The Atlantic in 1982, Edward Epstein explains why you can't sell used diamonds for anything but a pittance:

    Retail jewelers, especially the prestigious Fifth Avenue stores, prefer not to buy back diamonds from customers, because the offer they would make would most likely be considered ridiculously low. The "keystone," or markup, on a diamond and its setting may range from 100 to 200 percent, depending on the policy of the store; if it bought diamonds back from customers, it would have to buy them back at wholesale prices.

    ...

    Most jewelers would prefer not to make a customer an offer that might be deemed insulting and also might undercut the widely-held notion that diamonds go up in value. Moreover, since retailers generally receive their diamonds from wholesalers on consignment, and need not pay for them until they are sold, they would not readily risk their own cash to buy diamonds from customers.

    Would a sealed benny count as a diamond?
  • What costs more?

    The diamond for the engagement ring?

    Or the....


    Lawyer for the divorce?

    Having been one of the few women on these boards that has actually had to pay for both I would have to say that 23 years of inflation factored in the divorce still cost me more....but was a far better investment ;-)

  • I always told my boyfriends, " don't buy me valuable jewelry, I am a scatter brained mess! I lose most everything! ( I miss placed my HORSE once!! How do you forget where you left an 1100 LB pet!???), so that would be a worthless investment. Besides Diaminds are just too snobby for me.. I prefer turquoise or amethyst, but I love bloodstone too. Just don't really
    Like diamonds.. Except to cut glass with. :-) and I don't want an engagement ring, unless you can find something very unique.. I would want something I can't lose.. I don't know what that would be though.. I've lost some version of everything I've ever owned! It's not funny when it happens.. But it's always funny later! Except losing my horse.. That made me feel horrible, even now.. Poor guy..
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