Fuck DeBeers
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2025
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Was working late once, my foreman wanted to get some beer to bring home as we'd be finished at 2am so nothing would be open. He says he's just going to pop out quick as there's a beer shop around the corner.
He came back and hour later having walked to the actual closest shop because DeBeers doesn't sell De Beers....🤷
Diamonds, the least interesting gemstone. They're just clear. Oooh! They're hard. They make good drill bits and saw blades, and ok record needles, but for jewelry there are so many more interesting stones like amethysts or sapphires ( the better record needle) or rubies or emeralds. I have never understood how people got conned into desiring a commonly colorless rock.
I can see how in the oonga boonga times we may have been fascinated by diamonds, just like how we love finding cool stones by a river bed.
However, natural diamonds have become almost synonymous with blood & exploitation, because that's the first thing that comes to mind for most people with moral compass.
Till they're cut and polished they aren't even clear or shiny, at least some of the other stones can grow a pretty crystal like amethyst.
They are clear, but very prismatic and sparkle brightly when lit. It’s the original “bling”.
Lab made diamonds do the same thing. Yay science!
Happy the author included the distaste and rejection by millennials and younger. We Xers were wholly ignorant of the "blood diamond" aspect and best we could fake was absolutely worthless cubic zirconia. That was a burn back in the day, "LOL, is that zirconia?" OK, lab diamonds existed, but they were prohibitively expensive.
For those saying diamonds aren't rare, jewelry-grade diamonds are rare. And yes, real stones have a certain "pop" to them vs. fakes. (I'm not including lab diamonds here.) Remember talking to my ex-wife's rich friend at the beach one day and noticing her jewelry was simple yet striking. Thought, "This woman is casually wearing $30,000 worth of emeralds in public!" Yes, she was rich, husband was a neurosurgeon, but she worked for a living none the less (nurse). LOL, she shopped thrift stores for shoes.
Fuck yeah I'd choose SCIENCE diamonds over blood diamonds any day.
Neat!
Good
Mined diamonds have always been a con job. DeBeers has captured the entire market and the promoted the idea that for some reason a guy should spend about 3 months income to buy a rock that isnt even rare. Heck, there are hundreds of them on drilling bits. But they had effective advertising and there was no competition so they convinced millions of people to shell out big dollars for a very common polished rock. Its about time there was some rationality and people refuse to spend that kind of money anymore.
ps If you want to know the true "value" of a diamond try taking it to a pawn shop. Sure, your "appraisal" from the jewelry store says its $5,000. The pawn shop says, I'll give ya $45 bucks and a free Pepsi.
Oh, a shiny rock! Diamond mines are not shining anymore. Crazy diamonds, shine on!
I can finally afford to put them on the soles of my shoes.