Are all women whores for diamonds...

[LostInAnomie]

... or is that just the ones on commercials?

[NC_Nurse]

1. Not me

I don't want the blood of African children on my fingers!

Besides, I'd much rather go on a trip to somewhere exotic with my hubby than spend thousands on a shiny rock ...how stoopid!

[meganmonkey]

8. Took the words outta my mouth.

The only way I'd ever wear a diamond is if it was passed down in the family or something. Any man who buys me a diamond doesn't know me well enough to spend that kinda money on me. It's a horrible industry.

[lenidog]

28. I got my wife an emerald

engagement ring. Matches the color of her eyes. The funny thing is that a hundred years ago no gave diamond rings out for engagement rings.

[uncertainty1999]

30. Canadian diamonds are a safe alternative

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/diamonds/

Canada's diamonds have gained a world reputation for quality. They are also "clean" in that they are not used to finance terror, war and weapons as they are in parts of the world such as Sierra Leone and Angola. At the end of 2003, Canada was the world's third-largest producer of diamonds, providing 15 per cent of the world's supply. The top two diamond producers are Botswana and Russia.

Canadian diamonds not only are clean, as in not being "dirty diamonds" or "blood diamonds," they are actually rather wholesome-looking, each etched with a speck of polar bear as a trademark. T

[AngryAmish]

57. No Canadian diamonds are not clean

First, this is a big bugaboo for me, and please excuse my vehemence.

OK, when purchases ANY diamond, one participates in the market for diamonds. Diamonds, despite what DeBeers tells us, are commodities. There is no essential difference b/w Angolan diamonds and Canadian diamonds except for the advertising. (Moral difference in production you bet, but the gem themselves).

So when one participates in the gem diamond market, one marginally increases the price of all diamonds - including conflict diamonds. When there is an increase in the price of diamonds (no matter how small) there is more incentive to produce diamonds or seize diamond fields in Seirra Leone. It makes that diamond field more valuable and more worth fighting for. More children suffer, etc...

Also, please don't get me started on DeBeers. Or that the intrinsic value of diamonds is a small percentage of the sales price and the premium paid is done through running AN F'N CARTEL.

Bottom line, diamonds are bad things. Including women who consider themselves to be liberal, the majority of women don't care. I can tell them that that thing on their finger is stained with the blood of African children. They don't care. DeBeers has convinced them that the a way to communicate their wealth and status is with a rock on their finger. They will gossip about a woman who has a small diamond. Phonies.

[shesemsmom]

2. Not me either

only ring I waer is my Daughters birthstone a peach moonstone

[unblock]

3. not all women. just the ones YOU fall in love with.

your dumb luck i guess.

and, sigh, mine too....

[BlueJazz]

4. If you REALLY love your SO you'll give her a $10,000 diamond.

If you don't, you're a cheap piece of shit.
Kay Jewelers

[ReadTomPaine]

58. The official formula for a customer is 3 months salary as I recall.

They even use it in those horrible commercials.

RTP

[blondeatlast]

67. If my hisband would have spent 3 months salary on a diamond

for me, I would have walked out on him THEN.

I'm proud to say we've been married 8 years!

[haele]

86. Yeah, and when the two of you lose income...

that $10K diamond can probably be sold for around $750 to perhaps $1000 if you're lucky and there's lots of gold on that thing. That is, of course, if you manage to find someone who will pay full "value" for the diamond(s) and the setting. I have found that when you're looking at wholesale costs, a good quality tanzanite or alexandrite, some of the rarer sapphires, opals or even rare pearls, like dogtooth pearls, can be more expensive than diamonds of the same carat/size.

The markup on diamonds is is totally ridiculous. The way I see it, the only possible reason to buy a diamond is that a clear, sparkly stone with minimum setting to take away from the "visual" can match any color or number of outfits when one is going out to impress the snobs.

Diamonds from chain stores are for suckers. If I wanted a diamond, I'd go to an estate/consignment sale or auction and find something that is (1) an antique created by a craftsman (instead of a factory) that did not have as much blood and horror associated with it's mining and (2) most likely costs what the stone is really worth.

That's how I ended up with my only diamond piece - a 17th century uncut 3/4 carat VF white diamond (with 8 other diamond chips) collar-button-turned-into-a-stick pin with 20 carat "old gold" for only $150. And I treasure that far, far more than I would treasure any $10K diamond ring from any of the big retail stores.

Haele

[NashVegas]

5. Only the More Gullible Ones

Smart women know emeralds and certain rubies are often more valuable.

[RagingInMiami]

6. I hate that commecial where she dumps a drink on her husband at a party

just cause he didn't go to whatever store they were advertising. That's the last bitch who deserves a diamond ring.

[Raster]

7. that's just the debeer's bullshit, and they are about as fascist

....as they come. the price of diamonds is artificially maintained. diamonds are mined at the expense of native populations by a racist, bigoted system that has converted apartheid into a "legitimate" corporate institution. fuck diamonds. fuck debeers.

[fluffernutter]

9. ew, no. and those commercials gag me.

[Reverend_Smitty]

10. Can't they make synthetic diamonds now?

I remember reading an article a few months ago that they can make diamonds that are so close to the real things that even experts can't tell the difference. At least you aren't employing slave labor...

[hyphenate]

13. Yeah

It was in Wired magazine. I remember the article, but couldn't tell you the month it was in. One of the new diamond makers is in Massachusetts.

[Reverend_Smitty]

16. So why haven't they caught on...

is the blood of children all part of the appeal?

[lenidog]

27. The sad thing is

That if DeBeers opened their vaults the synthetic diamonds would be valuable while the real ones would be ACTUALLY as cheap as the ones the advertise at Kay Jewelers

[AngryAmish]

60. Yes, you are at least encouraging slave labor

See post #57. Any diamond purchase marginally increases demand, marginally increasing price, marginally encouraging slavery.

No moral difference b/w manufactured and blood diamond.

[yardwork]

88. Yes. The brand name is moissanite.

I have a ring made of moissanite and sapphire. My husband wanted to buy me a 20 year anniversary ring. The stones are full of rainbows and it cost about 1/10th what a comparable diamond ring would have cost. And no blood diamonds!

[hyphenate]

11. Not me

I prefer emeralds. :)

[belladonna]

12. I know a few women who are

Me? I could care less about them :shrug:

[proud patriot]

14. I won't own them

:puke: I'm more of a silver semi precious stone
kind of lady .

[distantearlywarning]

15. Don't you know that you are a miserable failure as a man

if you don't buy her the expensive jewelry you see advertised on TV? ;)

Diamond commercials are extremely lame. I especially hate the one where the man and the woman are in some romantic European capital and he shouts, "I love this woman!" and she gets horribly embarrassed until he gives her a big sparkly ring. Then he's ok again. What's the message there? "You are a total idiot who embarrasses me in public and I only put up with you because you give me expensive jewelry!"?

That doesn't seem like a healthy relationship to me. I think the guy needs to dump his golddigger and find some nice normal woman who would appreciate his sweet romantic gestures. Of course, that nice normal woman might not look like a diamond company supermodel, so he might not be interested... Oh, wait. Wrong rant. Sorry. :evilgrin:

Anyway. I asked my fiance for expensive concert tickets in lieu of a huge rock. I got a nice ring with a couple of little rocks instead (which fits my little hands better) and an awesome front row experience which I will remember the rest of my life. Not all of us are diamond whores. Some of us are live music whores. :-)

Edited to say: For you PC people out there, the diamond in my ring was an heirloom stone from my grandmother's engagement ring. No small African children were harmed during the production of my engagement...

[RagingInMiami]

18. I hate that commercial too

[Starlight]

36. Yes, if you choose to marry a shallow golddigging ho...

then you should expect to pay her with lots of expensive jewelry. I guess it's all about choices... :shrug:

[GRLMGC]

44. Ahhh

yeah, I just posted on that. So annoying!

[noshenanigans]

17. Some, not all. We're individuals, not definable by our vaginas.

Hey, a grand amount of Americans are easily distracted by bright shiny things.

The first thing about Diamond commercials is- well, they're selling you Diamonds! It's like seeing a Coke commercial and then saying "Why does my girlfriend suddenly want a Coke?"

Personally, I rather like diamonds, but as I am much better off financially than my boyfriend, I buy my own.

[NashVegas]

21. Exactly - Sales

It's a a joke, anyway.

Engagement rings with big honking jemstones are nothing more than a trophy that has a life off of the mantle shelf. Trophies for BOTH sexes, IMO.

[Kitka]

19. No.

[Philostopher]

20. I have a couple.

One is in a ring my mother-in-law was given back in the '40s that was resized to become my engagement ring; it's an oldie, it's not even a modern cut, I can't remember what they call that cut of diamond now -- it's an older-style stone cut.

And the Mr. bought me a pair for a landmark birthday recently. I had asked for rubies or sapphires. I don't think he's aware of the politics of the diamond trade, not being a jewelry buyer under ordinary circumstances (he's just not ordinarily one of those guys, and I'm not ordinarily one of those women), so I gave it a pass on lecturing him about it. It would just have made him feel like crap, and there wasn't any point in that.

It's not something he'll likely do again for almost another decade, and if he suggests it, I'll probably advise him beforehand about the reasons it's not necessarily a good idea -- I wasn't expecting it, so I didn't say anything to him.

So, clearly, I ain't a 'whore for diamonds.' And I want to reach through the radio and strangle the acquisitive little weasel who whines about her husband being a poor jewelry consumer, so he should just let the staff at whatever the regional jewelry store is, make his decisions. "Honey, you're a great lawn mower, spider-killer, blah blah blah ... but let Shyster Jewelers pick the bedroom bribe next time! Hee-hee!" I want to smack her so hard any additional children she has are born dizzy.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

22. I have one but I prefer other stones

I also prefer estate jewelry-I like unique pieces, and pieces with history. I pretty minimalist in my approach to jewelry as a rule.

[CornField]

23. Given enough time

I think I could be. :P

[pbartch]

24. Are all men WHORES for flashy cars that cost $75,000

sexist question if you ask me.

[RagingInMiami]

29. oh god, here we go again

:eyes:

[AngryAmish]

61. Yes, men are whores for sports cars.

Next question.

[blondeatlast]

68. Good point, but they really aren't advertised the same,

which I think is the point the OP was intending to make.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

82. well we can't tell with a two line OP but I'll give the poster the

benefit of the doubt. If you ask me, the OP is overtly sexist.

[radwriter0555]

76. Men, bless their hearts, will fu*k mud, just for sex. They will even pay

someone ELSE for sex.

So while women, apparently, according to Debeers, will whore for diamonds, men will risk death, for free, just for sex!

Gosh, I get so warm and fuzzy about these fantastic Uhmurrikkkan values!

((((Hugs))))

[buddysmellgood]

91. No, but in general, men are whores.

I would love to paid for sex.

[FuzzySlippers]

25. Some of us are just plain whores.

:shrug:

[babylonsister]

26. My story, simply,

myself and sisters were in the same room with our mom giving the jewels away after my Mimi (grandma) died. Mimi had bestowed the gems to my mom, wife of her only child and son. So my mom gave me the ring (a fine diamond, so not in touch w/my lifestyle but the biggest/only one I might ever see in my life); both sisters got beauts, but not what I got. I've been cherishing it ever since!

[RevCheesehead]

31. what's a diamond?

[Bouncy Ball]

32. Not me

couldn't care less about 'em. I do own a few, but don't want any more.

[uncertainty1999]

33. Are all of the men who will spend 3 months salary on a diamond idiots...

... or only those in the de Beers ads?

http://www.diamond-engagement-rings-guide.com/diamonds.html#What?

on edit: add another link:
http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=P972_0_4_0_C

[Cobalt Violet]

34. No , the commercials want all women to think if they don't get one...

They aren't loved.

[SheilaT]

35. So I guess there's something

wrong with liking diamonds? I own some jewelry with diamonds (including my sapphire and diamond engagement ring) and oddly enough I don't consider myself a whore.

Personally, I have a low opinion of everyone who shops at Wal-Mart, because those people are perpetuating exploitation around the world, but hey, that's just me.

[AngryAmish]

62. Diamonds are substantially worse than Wal-Mart

The moral case is not even close.

[blondeatlast]

70. Imagine--worse than Wal-Mart.

And of course, you are so right, but why is this so completely unknown?

Wait, this is USACorporation; nevermind.

[blondeatlast]

69. You do know the politics and tribal bloodshed behind them, I trust?

It's some nasty, nasty stuff.

[Midlodemocrat]

90. I'm with you, Sheila

I have a beautiful diamond ring given to me by my husband who didn't really know about the whole DeBeers thing, and he was so thrilled to get it for me. It was a symbol from him, to me, and nothing more. I think you could make the point about just about everything Americans consume, that someone somewhere is getting wealthy off it, but I don't think it makes someone necessarily a bad person for buying it.

[mak3cats]

37. Yes, but only the really big ones we can buy ourselves.... (eom)

[TheMightyFavog]

38. I never did understand this fascination with crystalized carbon.

It's just carbon, people.

[msgadget]

46. Sparkly carbon, very sparkly

:crazy:

[blondeatlast]

71. Hey, I'm carbon too, can I grow up to be on some floozy finger?!

YAY!

[Solly Mack]

39. I've never liked diamonds

now pearls are another matter....

[blondeatlast]

73. Oh yeah--pearls.

Gorgeous stuff.

[politicat]

40. Not me.

I've got an antique garnet for a wedding ring - cost us all of 300 at the antique store.

I own 0 diamonds. They have inflated value, are generally mined with slave labor and their profits support some of the most repugnant organizations on the planet... and more perfect ones are available lab grown.

I like garnets, cabochon carborundum (emerald, sapphire, ruby) tsavorite, alexandrite and tanzanite. (when I was single) Ask me to marry you with a diamond and I'll refuse because you don't know me very well, do you?

It's just the women in the commercials.


Pcat

[PartyPooper]

41. Everyone knows "Diamonds are a girl's best friend".

And, I want one, too!

:D

[yellowdogintexas]

42. mine are all heirlooms..inherited and with great sentimental value

I love the way they sparkle and catch the light.

But my engagment ring is an amythist(spelled wrong I think)


We opted for a very inexpensive engagement ring in lieu of a trip to Spain for our honeymoon.

So I have my great aunt's antique diamonds which I had remounted, and the wedding rings that my grandfather gave my stepgrandmother (which her sons gave to me), and the solitaire my uncle gave to my aunt for their 40th wedding anniversary.

LOL my husband got all drooly over a ridiculously expensive pearl necklace last Christmas, came in and told me about it...I said that an expensive pearl necklace wasn't my kind of thing (which our daughter had told him inthe first place.) Well she showed it to me when we were out shopping..I wouldhave KILLED HIM if he had bought it for me..very pretty, but so expensive. I told him if he spent that much on a piece of jewelry it better be something hard and durable that I could wear everyday without worry about it being damaged!!!

Then I said for that amount of money we could buy the new refrigerator and the new stove and put down the tile floor too.

He just grinned. He knows how ridiculously practical I am...


..ON EDIT>>>my Christmas present was an inexpensive digital camera, much more my speed!!!

[GRLMGC]

43. Those commercials piss me off

I'm not easily offended and those offend my intelligence. The one that really pisses me off is this one where this guy is yelling that he loves his girlfriend and she's all embarassed and is trying to shut him up until he gives her a diamond. Then she tells him she loves him. I'm thinking "what a stupid bitch. He's making an ass of himself, proving that he loves you so much that he's willing to make an ass of himself but the only thing that proves that he loves you is a fucking diamond!". ARRRRGGHHHH. Yeah, those rub me the wrong way.

[warrens]

45. I imagine that this one has been beat to a pulp

But diamonds, rubies and so on are not rare. There are TONS of them.

I suggest a ring made of something really valuable, like a chip from Babe Ruth's bat. Like they said on NPR tonight, everytime gold goes up someone finds a SURPRISE stash of gold and drives the price right back down. Hey, we FORGOT we had 3,000 tons of gold or 20 million barrels of oil. Silly us.

[Seabiscuit]

47. Don't most women care more about shoes?

[blondeatlast]

74. This one does--a lot more.

I'll make a fool of myself in public for some Monolo Blahniks.

[Seabiscuit]

81. LOL! Good for you!

[China_cat]

48. If you buy me a diamond

you're saying you don't give a shit about anything I care about.

Nobody here has mentioned the fact that diamonds have for years financed the death and mutilations of thousands of people, including babies...whole villages where you can only find one or 2 people with all their limbs...and the wars being fought in diamond mining countries like Sierra Leone.

And, no matter what your jeweler says, even with the clean diamond act and the Kimberly process, it is very, very difficult for anyone to be sure that any specific diamond came without blood on it...as in Canadian or Siberian stones.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/index.do

Keep your diamonds. I want absolutely nothing to do with them.

[ReadTomPaine]

56. Actually this was mentioned in the first response, if briefly :)

And you are totally correct.

RTP

[blondeatlast]

75. I thought half the thread concerned that fact.

Did I NOT miss something?!

:eyes:

[warrens]

80. Not to mention, 9-11 revealed

That de Beers had millions of diamonds stuffed in a box in the basement to keep prices up. Diamonds are virtually worthless. They're pretty and sparkly, but WAY overpriced. Like CDs.

[Cronus Protagonist]

49. I prefer cubic zirconium

Nicer sparkle.

[kayleybeth]

50. I'm not.

I prefer simple, plain jewelry. My engagement/wedding ring (which I picked out myself) is a plain platinum 1/4" band. My hubby has since offered to buy me a "rock" but that's just not me. I've always thought diamonds were for "grownups", and I don't yet consider myself a grownup (even though I'm the mother of 3 teenagers, LOL).

[GingerSnaps]

51. I can live without diamonds

I like blue topaz, rubies and emeralds :D

[AmyDeLune]

52. Family Guy quote: "Diamonds, She'll Pretty Much Have To." n/t

[Neoma]

53. i hate diamonds,all flashy and bright..

but I'm a sucker for emeralds.
Love the color green (in a non political sense,more like a nature sense)In fact i changed my usual Internet name just because it had the word green in it../sigh

[sbj405]

54. Nope just those in the DeBeer's propaganda

Diamonds are not all that rare. Their "value" is merely driven by DeBeer's. If the cartel is every broken up, the values will bottom out. While I like the idea of the Canadian diamonds from a human rights standpoint, I still think it's a bit silly to put that amount of money into a piece of jewelry. I'd rather travel or invest for our retirement (so we can travel :-) )

[incapsulated]

55. I'm a whore for garnets

Garnets and pearls, too. But, man do I love garnets.

I don't like big rocks as jewelry. Ugly and pretentious.

Now, garnets and pearls can look pretty with a few small diamonds sprinkled around them, that is true. But it's not necessary.

mmmm... garnets....

[incapsulated]

59. Ya ever see...

The "Redneck Comics" thing on HBO? It was a show, anyways...

This one comic that was my favorite, did a thing on the Diamond commercials:

"Diamonds, leave her speechless..." "Diamonds, take her breath away..."

Why don't they just come out and say it: "Diamonds, that'll shut her up!"

:)

[buddhamama]

63. no, not all- I'm not

the cost of diamonds in human lives and money is a big turn off for me.

[SarahB]

64. Uh, not really.

I had a rather moderate size engagement ring and given the fact we had zero money when we became engaged, I think it was pretty nice considering. Over the years when money became a little better, he suggested getting a newer and bigger diamond for my ring. I refused because I thought it was completely frivolous.
Of course, the ring has been sitting in a box for 8 months now and I will never wear it again, but given the political aspects of diamonds I didn't know back in the early 90's, if I ever found myself in a situation brave enough to consider marriage again, I wouldn't want a new diamond. I'd want something that was either with other stones, or something that used an heirloom diamond in the setting.

By the way, anyone have any suggestions for what I could do with my old ring? I'm thinking of saving it to give to my daughter (maybe resetting it into a necklace for a special occasion years from now like high school graduation). :shrug:

[yardwork]

89. I think giving your old diamond to your daughter is a great idea!

You could ask her what kind of setting she would like. I'm assuming that she's the daughter of you and your former husband. Giving her the diamond would be a nice way of affirming her life and the one-time love that brought her into being, as well as showing respect for her father, your ex-husband.

[Midlodemocrat]

92. My brother is planning to give

his deceased wife's engagement, wedding and eternity band to their 2 1/2 year little girl. He is going to give it to her when she graduates from high school. I think giving it to your daughter is a great idea.

[gollygee]

65. I told my husband *not* to buy me a diamond

so I never got an engagement ring. What a waste of money, IMO.

[blondeatlast]

66. I HATE diamonds.

And DeBeers is the largest exporter of blood diamonds there is.

I love pearls, but I don't fall all over myself for them.

[Feathered Fish]

72. I will never wear a diamond

Never. First off, they're gaudy and secondly - well - let's just say mining practices are questionable. Yes I know diamond mines are in Canada and other places where they are not using slave-labour but still, you never know. Who can afford it anyways?

[sendero]

77. I did buy my wife...

... a modest diamond engagement ring. But she'd be annoyed at me if I spend a lot of money on a diamond.

She's a savvy woman, she knows the real deal on diamonds.

[ikojo]

78. I have three sisters and only one

of them is fanatical about diamonds. She has a diamond for every finger. We even call her diamond lil! I have never been one for jewelry or any femmy thing. I have stars of david but rarely wear them.

[Cerridwen]

79. I prefer emeralds and opals, if I'm even going to wear jewelry.

I also prefer unusual settings; more artistic than manufactured. I like one-of-a-kind pieces.

But as noted, I don't wear much jewelry.

I once made this clear to a former boyfriend. He went out and bought me a diamond ring from a "mainstream" jeweler. I returned the ring and parted ways with the boyfriend. I hadn't planned it as such, but it turned into a litmus test.

Of course, my sister just bought me perfume for my birthday and I don't wear perfume, either. I guess I'm just not good at letting my friends and family know who I am.

:shrug:

[Bertha Venation]

83. Fuck, no. Jesus Christ. Please tell me that Joe Six Pack is NOT

getting this impression from TV commercials.

Wait a minute. I forgot what country I'm in.

Never mind. :eyes:

[tjdee]

84. I hope no one who has an SUV insulted diamond wearers....

Diamonds are reputed to be the best in jewelry, that's why some women "whore" for them. And also that the man they are to marry values them enough to spend that much on a ring which symbolizes their entire life together.

To some, CZ is like buying Kmart "Uggs" or something.

Not everyone is versed in the bloodiness of the diamond industry.

I have an unformed opinion on this, as no one has ever bought me anything resembling a diamond. I like the look of diamonds (I have some CZ), but I don't see myself saying "gee, let's be broke so I can have a stupid ring sit on my finger".

[212demop]

85. They don't appeal to me and I'm a woman. I don't get it.

They make me think of people losing limbs.

[vetwife]

87. No