Diamonds Are ForSuckers

Diamonds are an invented symbol. And people have allowed themselves to be suckered.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2005/01/exhibit.html

Founded in 1888 by Cecil Rhodes, De Beers has three operating principles: control supply, raise prices, and sell the romance of rarity

1939 De Beers hires N.W. Ayer and Co. to make diamonds “a psychological necessity…the larger and finer the diamond, the greater the expression of love.” Within three years, 80% of engagements are consecrated with a diamond ring.

1940 After a sociologist advises diamonds be presented as a symbol of a man’s ability to “get into the competitive race,” N.W. Ayer begins loaning gems to actresses, “who can make the grocer’s wife say, ‘I wish I had what she has.’”

1945 Department of Justice charges De Beers with “conspiring to restrict production, monopolize sales and arbitrarily influence prices” by cornering 95% of world market. De Beers executives fail to show up in court, pull company out of U.S. market, opting to use middlemen.

1947 “A Diamond Is Forever” slogan debuts. Jewelers instructed to tell men—who buy 90% of all diamonds—to spend at least two months’ salary on ring. The not-so-subtle message: Can you afford not to?

1970s De Beers gains control of huge Soviet cache of small stones and begins emphasizing “color, cut, and clarity.”

1981 Thanks to 14-year campaign to glamorize Western wedding customs, 60% of Japanese wives sport diamond rings; their husbands spend more on them than American counterparts.

1994 DOJ again charges De Beers with price-fixing. Executives again skip court and can’t visit the U.S. for fear of arrest.

1999 Advertising Age declares “A Diamond is Forever” the most effective slogan of 20th century, recognized by 90% of Americans.

2000 “Three-stone anniversary ring” campaign is an instant success.

2002 “Diamonds that make a statement”—i.e., they’re bigger— campaign aimed at affluent married couples. Uses slogans like: “Thank you, Bob… Thank you, Lord.”

2003 De Beers markets “right-hand ring” to “stylish” and “independent” single women. Uses slogan, “Your left hand says ‘we,’ your right hand says ‘me.’”

2004 De Beers pays $10 million antitrust penalty, clearing way to open stores in the U.S. It now controls 60% of world market.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2004/12/12_407.html

excerpt:

Interview | Fighting Cultural Genocide

The co-founder of a legal and humanitarian aid group details the plight of the Kalahari Bushmen.

Rupert Isaacson

Interviewed By Onnesha Roychoudhuri

December 22, 2004

....And this is crucial: Don’t buy diamonds if you don’t know where they come from. I can’t stress this enough. It’s almost impossible to go into a jewelry shop and buy a diamond that doesn’t have blood on it. There’s an organization starting up next year called “Diamonds For Humanity” which is busy sorting specific conflict-free diamonds, which they'll have in shops in the Spring. There’s Gemesis, which is growing the gems in a laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. They're available now. These things really only change for economic reasons; if people said, “We love diamonds, but we really feel uncomfortable about buying them until we know that the Bushmen, and whoever else is affected by them -- Australian Aboriginals, Sierra Leoneans -- are getting a fair cut of the pie and are not being exploited. This is the bottom line: people have really suffered and died world-wide because of this and if that’s what you’re giving as a proof-mark of your love, what are you actually giving? What are you actually putting on this woman’s finger whom you want to spend the rest of your life with? Could be a pretty heavy burden to bear.

we've talked about this before symbols.

(not 12oz.. but you and I have talked about it)

You know that the original 'wedding stone' was a ruby?

Rubies go back to medieval times as a symbol of love,

not as a symbol of blind bling.

My buddy got married with a diamond that was in his family

simce his great grandmother. I have no problems with that

because it was from a much different place in time before

the Hutu beheadings and the dutch diamond merchants.

However... I'd NEVER buy a diamond for a girl now.

If I wanted to marry some girl, and she insisted on a diamond,

even though I could buy her a BIG ruby and we could travel around

the world for 2 months on the same amount of money......

I would know I had picked the wrong girl.

yeah, just to put my money where my mouth is, i think diamonds are worthless (they can be manufactured now anyway) ..i guess, unless they are an heirloom.

even then, i am not going for the whole engagement ring bit.

while it might be cool to get a nice gift (of jewellry) to commemorate an engagement, i hardly think it's necessary to become yet another of the masses to show off a diamond engagement ring ... "ooh look, he cared enough to get me what everyone says he has to get me.."

fuck that.

and besides, what is is really a symbol of? exploitation and cultural racism.

i'm not trying to wear something on my finger that doesn't know where it came from or who had to die to get it there.

i like the ruby thing though, my mom never got an engagement ring until about ten years of marriage. a few years ago, the diamond fell out of the setting and she lost it. they got her a ruby ring as a replacement, i was quite pleased..

werd up key, if someone gives me a diamond that would be a big flashing sign that he wasn't for me.

well spoken

my friend is saving up to buy his fiancee a stone worth something like 15k.

She doesn't even really want it, but they feel that it's the way that you do things that matters most.

I say...... SUCKERS!!!

for 15k please believe that me and some lucky lady are crossing

the atlantic on the Queen Elizibeth II in a first class cabin then

touring around for the next half a year. (living on the cheap while we do it!)

Originally posted by <KEY3>@Feb 9 2005, 11:25 AM

my friend is saving up to buy his fiancee a stone worth something like 15k.

 

She doesn't even really want it, but they feel that it's the way that you do things that matters most.

 

I say...... SUCKERS!!!

 

for 15k please believe that me and some lucky lady are crossing

the atlantic on the Queen Elizibeth II in a first class cabin then

touring around for the next half a year. (living on the cheap while we do it!)

Quoted post

i take it that by 'lucky lady' you mean beercan?

haha, just kidding, key.

the money people spend.

very sad indeed, considering how many marriages fail.

the cost of getting married just keeps on going up too.

..some more form that motherjones link above...

For all but royalty, weddings were once modest affairs; now they are a $50 billion annual industry.

The average American wedding costs $22,360 and has 168 guests, who give 100 gifts that cost an average of $85 each, meaning the net loss to the couple is $13,860.

The average guest spends $500 to attend a wedding—not including plane tickets.

Bush’s proposed “Healthy Marriage Initiative” would spend $1.5 billion to promote marriage among the poor.

An increase of $1 per hour in a man’s wages increases the odds he will marry by 5%.

43% of couples say they spent more on their wedding than they had planned.

....i mean WTF?!!?!?!

twenty two thousand?!!

it takes me almost 9 fucking months to earn that much money.

you better believe, if someone is crazy enough to marry me, we will not be having any thousand dollar shindig. i'm talkin cocktail weenies at the courthouse baby, with a luxurious honeymoon in tahiti

:haha:

damn, i sell diamonds.

I went to antique shops to get my girl her ring. i wish i had seen this first, i didnt realize it went back many years. i thought i was cool with getting an antique maybe, maybe not oh well it was only 1k.

we wanted a wedding of about 15 people on the beach with us, the parents took a hold of it and now its 170 people and looking to be like 8-10k when all is said and done. it is our day but their show so not much we could say to that.

..tell me how many Africans died for the bagettes on your rolex..

The whole diamond as a symbol of love thing is rediculous. Not one woman in my family tree has ever received a diamond engagement ring, nor will they.

Diamonds do have some worthwhile uses other than just sparkling.

They include mechanical parts that must resist wear and sudden temperature changes. Also used in lab equipment (high rpm stuff) , cutting and the production of wire. Diamonds cut faster and more accurately than other tools. Metal can be sliced thinner than the human hair. That wire in your toaster...it was cut with diamonds.

can a diamond cut with better precision than a lazer?

dr.evil wants to know.

no.

since newer diamonds are sometimes "laser inscribed" i would assume that the laser is at least as good, if not better, than a diamond cutter.

i don't think they aren't inscribing a diamond with another diamond.

Laser Drill Hole: A tiny tube made by a laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation - producing an intense monochromatic beam of coherent light ) to remove an inclusion, noticeable on treated diamonds. The surface opening may resemble a pit, while the tube usually looks needle like

although, apparently there are diamond lasers..

http://www.marinaplasticsurgery.com/laser_diamond.cfm

“I wanted the best results from my cosmetic surgery, so I went to Dr. Grant Stevens & Dr. David Stoker who used a diamond!”

Why diamonds give the best results.

Diamonds are the hardest natural substance known, which makes for the perfect material for delicate surgical incisions. The Clinicon Diamond Laser ScalpelTM is honed to an edge over 40 times sharper than steel so little pressure is needed when operating on soft tissue – especially around the eyes, face and breasts. In addition the Clinicon Diamond Laser ScalpelTM is optically clear & transmits laser energy very effectively. When connected to a low power CO2 laser energy emitted from the diamond provides simultaneous cauterization that result in:

* Less bruising

* Faster healing

* Decreased scarring

..christ almighty!!

what next?!?!

:nope:

• Lasers cut by melting the material in the beam path.

• A hole cut with a laser has an entry diameter larger than the exit diameter, creating a slightly tapered hole.

• Burrs do exist when using a laser to cut although they are smaller.

for these reasons...I'd probably have to say the diamond is better.

I don't know if diamonds leave burrs or not, but with their tolerance to heat...I'd think probably not.

ok, i can accept being proven wrong. thanks for the cool links and info symbols and steveaustin. good work.

EU recently proposed a ban on conflict diamonds....

I guess that's a step in the right direction. I haven't heard of the US proposing a ban on blood diamonds however.

*oh here it is:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relatio...p/ip02_1955.htm

Oh wait, yes we are a part of the Kimberley Process...

i'm just gonna get one of those 'grow your own geode' kits from the back of 'popular science', grow a big ass purple stone then hot glue it onto a broken bearing housing from my old skateboard. sure it might look ghetto, but with the 15 bucks i save by not buying a 'real' ring at that cool little kiosk in the mall, we can get pizza.

sweet!

ladies love cool seeks

By the way, excellent subject to bring up so close to valentines day.

Why do people need a priest to tell them they love eachother?

And why do people have material possesions they have no immediate use for.

Originally posted by ODS-1@Feb 10 2005, 04:54 PM

Why do people need a priest to tell them they love eachother?

 

And why do people have material possesions they have no immediate use for.

Quoted post

why did Dr. J shave his beard and mustache?

Whatever, my lucky lady will be getting those sugar crystals,

much better than any diamonds, plus they tasted great.

This thread looks different....

http://www.turkishpress.com/w.asp?s=u&i=05...223617.1dgataic

US lawmaker urges Valentine's Day chocolate boycott over child slavery concerns

Chocolates are displayed 10 February 2005. US lawmaker Eliot Engel called for Americans to boycott Valentine's Day chocolate gifts, saying such chocolates are likely made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West African nations such as the Ivory Coast

Chocolates are displayed 10 February 2005. US lawmaker Eliot Engel called for Americans to boycott Valentine's Day chocolate gifts, saying such chocolates are likely made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West African nations such as the Ivory Coast

(AFP)

US lawmaker Eliot Engel called for Americans to boycott Valentine's Day chocolate gifts, saying such chocolates are likely made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West African nations such as the Ivory Coast.

"The chocolate you buy this Valentine's Day for your loved ones is probably made with cocoa picked by child slaves in West Africa," the New York representative said in a statement.

"In places like the Ivory Coast, child slaves who live in squalor are forced to pick cocoa that chocolate companies around the world make into the candy you buy.

"On this Valentine's Day, I will not buy chocolate and I encourage all Americans to consider joining me in sending a message to the chocolate industry that they have to clean up their act," Engel said.

An amendment proposed by Engel, setting aside 250,000 dollars for the Food and Drug Administration to create a label requirement on products to show no child labor was involved, was passed in June 2001.

The chocolate industry agreed to the Harkin-Engel Protocol.

But, "sadly the industry seems to be backing away from their promise to end child slave labor in favor of increased profits," said Engel.

"I'm calling on the chocolate industry to do the right thing and meet their commitments," he said, calling for an end to the use of child slave labor, and warning that further legislation might be required.

02-11-2005, 22h36

WASHINGTON (AFP)

^^a bunch of posts are missing, same thing in a bunch of other threads.

For a sec I thought I'd gone INSANE.

no.

Nah, raven said that less than 24 hours worth of posts have turned up missing. technical difficulties.

well, by a bunch I meant more like a few. :loopy:

one of the reasons a man is supposed to spend a 'two months wages' on an engagement ring is that should the couple ever break up the woman will have some money to help her get back on her feet. also the ammount of time it takes to save up 2 months wages should give you enough time to decide whether you actually like the woman or not.

Hmm.... good point. But how about a big fat ruby? Or emerald or something?

actually... I think I remember reading that the ruby was the traditional stone before diamonds.