Diamonds

[@PirateSoftware]

Information for reference: theeyeofjewelry.com/de-beers/de-beers-jewelry/de-beers-most-famous-ad-campaign-marked-the-entire-diamond-industry/

[@sikkntwiztid4127]

Back in the day it was a dowry, you had to give a whole ass piece of land lol or a horse xD

[@Ed_man_talking9]

i bought some flakey rock from a flea market one time, and after i scrubbed it away i found two garnets, at some point in time i started collecting Lincoln memorial pennies because i think they still have copper in them, that and when i give the materials to a blacksmith and commission a ring i can tell my fiancée i saved every penny for this ring.

[@Kaiserin_Emmeline]

"My source is I made it the f- actually here, this is my source. Go wild"

[@GrandHighGamer]

According to Wikipedia: "Before World War II, only 10% of American engagement rings contained a diamond." Which would suggest that they merely pushed the popularity and didn't entirely invent it.

[@minnesotasteve]

Rings have existed since Roman times. It was the diamond that is new.

[@MattyMatthew-m4o]

I'm glad my wife refused diamond rings. Her response, and I quote: "Are you crazy? Do you know how much cheese we could buy for this?" I love her so much

[@onegrumpyboi2914]

She really knows what matters, copious amounts of cheese.

[@VividVoid]

Rejects Diamonds? Appreciates cheese? Respect.

[@samuelmellars7855]

"You may fascinate a woman by giving her a piece of cheese" is an actual thing in a medieval "spellbook" I think that would work well on your wife!

[@tsgnexus1753]

Did you buy the cheese?

[@newmadhatter6906]

@@tsgnexus1753but really, did you?!?

[@m4rt_]

Also, the cost of diamonds is artificially inflated. They aren't as rare as you would think, and there is a reason why companies want you to pass down your diamond ring(s), etc. to your kids, as that would lower the chance of people realizing how worthless they are if they try to sell it back.

[@sublis939]

That’s the sad truth, that not enough people know about.

[@medicineman152]

Want a precious stone with real scarcity? Buy her a black opal ring.

[@matthewhafner962]

I remember my materials engineering professor telling the class the diamonds are 10x more common than emeralds.

[@Radical_Rainbow]

​@@medicineman152 Plus, that shit looks gorgeous af.

[@Ennar]

And, also, child labour is used for digging out those diamonds. No better way to express eternal love than supporting those hard working kids, am I right?

[@Lessdeth14]

Not only that, they followed with the "should cost a monthly salary" after - and when they launched in Japan a couple of years after that, they changed it to "should cost two monthly salaries".

[@GGG_gaming]

Now it’s suppose to be 3 months wtf

[@liquidsleepgames3661]

Hand made brass ring/copper/tin ring

[@titusg4247]

​@@liquidsleepgames3661ANY hand made ring is so much better.

[@zacharyherman8437]

@@liquidsleepgames3661gotta be careful. I made some copper rings and they died my fingers green

[@liquidsleepgames3661]

@zacharyherman8437 that is because of a reaction not everyone goes through it there are work arounds.

[@cenzo_rex]

I once asked my grandmother why she didn't have an engagement ring. "Oh, we didn't do that back then. If a man wanted to impress you, he bought you something useful. Like a block of cheese!" This was Italy in the 1930s.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

And all because GI's were coming home with LOTS of backpay from the War, and were getting engaged and married! Most effective ad campaign EVER! Also where the 'x months worth' comes from.

[@nozyy5684]

gi's as many did in general shouldve listened to some higher ups etc as some did buy rolex's even now it at worst will hold its value, propose with a rolex any smart woman wil say yes

[@cool-guycharlie6380]

And women want the biggest diamond. Even when you tell them about the brutal slave labor that goes into digging them up Some say they’re the worst gender😂

[@riverstyx7251]

Yeah no it’s easier to trick someone freshly traumatized that’s been out of the country for a while into buying into something like that. Just blasting them with ads saying “this is the new normal that happened while you were gone, trust us you should go really big and spend ALL of your money on a ring to celebrate surviving the war! Go on, be as impulsive as possible!” It’s actually kind of upsetting to think about like dude, that’s not how you honor the troops

[@FFn101]

​@@riverstyx7251so basically they stole money from patients

[@EndoftheBeginning17]

@@riverstyx7251 DeBeers is a literal monopoly, they own the mines and collect all the diamonds and have a warehouse with all the rocks in them

[@kirimaecreations]

I had a choice between engagement ring or lego super star destroyer. We joke often about our engagement star destroyer 😂

[@Isaac-eh6uu]

That's a pretty sick Lego set.

[@gormauslander]

Truly wise

[@askialuna7717]

Cool idea :-).

[@xcruz7846]

ngl, if you ever divorce, tossing the ring would be WAY less satisfying than smashing the super star destroyer lol

[@kanmeridoc1784]

Mine got a ring, I got a rifle XD My rifle was cheaper. Even after the scope and most of the ammo..

[@claytoniusdoesthings9598]

Take note that it's the diamond ring, not rings themselves, that were invented by the ad campaign. The concept of using wedding rings can be traced back to Ancient Egypt.

[@wanderinggking]

@@claytoniusdoesthings9598 thank you for that, that's exactly what I was looking at comments hoping to find, much appreciated.

[@devdog007]

Funny thing is not even that really, they only standardized and inflated the cost. Diamond rings for engagement can be traced to the medieval times though there were other gemstones that were commonly used too

[@Outerringfuelgod]

No shit obviously he's talking about engagement rings not wedding rings

[@deckum23]

I got my wife a ring from the estate section of the store, the second I saw it I knew it was the one, and it's a very dark blue manufactured gem, she loves it, and it was only about a weeks pay.

[@impishlyit9780]

@@Outerringfuelgod It isn't really obvious that those came from different sources, actually. You would need to know the history to know for certain, and he didn't imply a difference so much as assume it was understood.

[@PokeSmotAllDay14]

She doesn't want a ring, she wants you to overthrow the government and get her a puppy.

[@solsystem1342]

A person after my own heart As long as I can get some creepy crawlies too. Can't have a swarm queen without a swarm 🤭

[@PokeSmotAllDay14]

@solsystem1342 creepy crawlies are always welcomed

[@N0hN4me]

Who is she and is she interested in dinner at 7:00 this Saturday? Restaurant policy will be BYOS - Bring Your Own ⚔️

[@PokeSmotAllDay14]

@@N0hN4me she might bring 🕷️ and ⚔️

[@kharmachaos667]

Be still, my heart. Make that a kitten or two and woah am i woo'ed.

[@chuck_duck]

Fun fact: all the studies that say “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” are done by Kellogg’s

[@dani007a]

Yeah, a hundred years ago, most people might have had a bit of toast for breakfast. Along with Kellog's, the bacon industry also had a hand, when they paid doctors to say that a heavy breakfast, such as one of bacon and eggs, is better than a light breakfast.

[@_APV_]

Idk man, my grandma born in 30s in Belarus was telling me the same thing, and she got that from her mom or grandma. So while studies might be done by Kellog, the idea was definitely much older and in different parts of the world. It also makes sense because it comes from times and people who woke up super early ate and then went to do farm work for long, long hours, you simply had to have a massive breakfast.

[@dani007a]

@@_APV_ It was largely a change in the 20s. Before then, in a largely agricultural society of farmers who woke up early, they would trend towards a light breakfast like a piece of toast so they could get working sooner. They didn't have the time to for a massive breakfast.

[@Slaarduk]

I'm wondering whether diamonds would be more useful in manufacturing tools.

[@toddoverholt4556]

They are used in manufacturing industrial equipment, but primarily the ones used there are artificially created diamonds

[@SolusDarkcoat]

​@toddoverholt4556 probably cheaper than buying the real ones

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Natural ones are far more fragile than artificial ones due to inclusions, so in modern manufacturing, no.

[@Nonkosher]

They are often used in tools. The "chocolate diamonds" that came out several years ago, were just repurposed industrial grade diamonds which people now pay 12x the price because of smart marketing.

[@amiablereaper]

​@@toddoverholt4556That's because lab grown diamonds are nearly indistinguishable and way cheaper.

[@MeonLights]

You can grow diamonds in labs now and the diamond corporations already started ranting about only a "real" diamond is a respectful proposal. My friends got engaged when he got her a ring with a pearl because they are her favorite and it's a lovely piecw of jewelry 😊

[@ticktockbam]

I wonder if there's a way a jeweler can differentiate between a naturally-occurring diamond and a lab-grown one. Because if there's not, then there's no reason to pay the price of the naturally-occurring one instead of the lab-grown one.

[@MeonLights]

@@ticktockbam Afaik you can only tell by chemically testing the stone but I could absolutely be wrong. But tbh, either way I would prefer the cheap version, because there is a reason "Blood Diamond" is an expression.

[@user-gl1ls1jx3h]

​@@ticktockbamyou can actually tell the difference because natural diamonds have more imperfections; so synthetic diamonds are technically even better, but of course they'll tell you that the imperfections are somehow a good thing along with the human suffering caused by the diamond industry

[@ArmourGX]

@@ticktockbam I saw a video a few years ago of a guy taking artificial diamonds to jewellers. He actually got offered regular price for them, but as soon as he mentioned they were artificial they backed out.

[@blakksheep736]

​@@ticktockbam the difference is that, generally, the lab grown diamonds have _less_ imperfections.

[@SuperMaster000X]

Is like what happen with lobsters. It was a "poor people food" until some rich pig started to sell them as "premium food".

[@river-t4y]

Also depends how it's prepared. Lobster tastes absolutely horrid if not cooked properly.

[@masterplusmargarita]

A few generations ago there were infamous strikes in northern Spain because workers here were sick and tired of eating percebes (apparently called goose barnacles in English) for every meal for weeks on end - considered basically worthless slop. Now percebes are considered a local delicacy and cost a massive amount. My family eats them once a year for Christmas, even though there's a pretty high chance one of great-grandparents participated in those strikes.

[@nozyy5684]

@@river-t4y tbf idk what youd call not properly cooked maybe overcooked? but lobster is simple to cook

[@jackr2287]

Partly I believe this is due to the collapse of the fisheries, so after some time it DID become a more rare foodstuff.

[@moot8104]

​@@nozyy5684I think it was mostly because a lot of them weren't prepared fresh, so they'd pretty quickly start to decay by the time they'd be cooked resulting in some pretty bad tasting food. Doesn't matter how well you prepare a dish if the key ingredient is actively working against anything one does with it. Then people got to experimenting and found out how to not only prepare it, but also what goes with it... Now it's a fancy dish one pays a premium price for. (And there's also undercooked as well as cooking methods that would ruin the meat outright. Not sure what that would be for lobster, but I'm sure there's a few ways to not cook lobster.)

[@literalsarcasm1830]

The president of de beers has gone on record saying that diamonds are "intrinsically worthless"

[@markobighead3173]

So is everything.

[@ArmourGX]

Only worthless when they're used for cosmetic purposes such as on jewellery. Otherwise they're actually quite remarkable gems. Just not worth anywhere near the price that people pay for them.

[@DingleFlop]

Hey guys! Lapidary is a VERY easy hobby to get started in, and I'd rather give my wife a ring with a stone I shaped and polished by hand! Choose something pretty that you think represents your SO! I like Aventurine, Chrysocolla and Jasper! Don't worry too much about the shape, it's not like a "perfectly cut diamond" actually reflects any of us anyway... The handmadeness of it is more endearing, to me

[@Hannah-co9bv]

Any tips on where to start? Anything would be appreciated!

[@Hydraptorym]

This is actually way cooler and I'd scream if my bf did that

[@Topcatyo.]

I like this attitude.

[@vinnyandlin8510]

Ooh that does sound much better. Time and effort seem much more valuable in a relationship than rectangular green paper with several people on them that have been dead for centuries.

[@ekkosangen]

"Very easy" If you have a rock/lapidary club nearby that offers access to a lapidary studio. Otherwise, faceting machines are extremely expensive because they're high precision tools; one will easily run you thousands of dollars minimum without even getting into the laps, dops, glues, polish, loupes, rough to practice with, and so on. A club can help shave that down to tens of dollars a session, if that. Most people can definitely learn to cut gemstones for jewellery, but the problem is having access to the equipment to learn on.

[@TonyStorm21]

we got matching stainless steel bands, no engravings, no gems, just something physical that represents our bond, that's it. She also picked her engagement ring in a random stall in some festival, it was dirt cheap, and she said "you should buy me that one and propose with it" and I did right there, we've been together for 10 years.

[@nuru666]

Find yourself a woman like Tony here did.

[@countcampula]

Rings have been used for thousands of years. Engagement rings have not

[@Ivytea]

engagement rings have been actually. Since the Renassaince Period they have used diamonds.

[@bobluegi7120]

@@Ivyteasource ?

[@mostneuter]

@@bobluegi7120 Maximilian I

[@Ivytea]

@@bobluegi7120 google. I'm sure wikipedia will say the same.

[@gravitydivide2576]

@@bobluegi7120 The idea of 'rings for love' seems to have been as far back as ancient Egypt, but it has developed through the ages from copper to gold to gemstones etc.. It's extremely hard to pinpoint this.. It could be as far as human history to feel the need to gift something to show affection to another.. Quite an interesting part of history.

[@Big6C]

Which is why I much prefer proposal/marriage swords

[@Just_a_commenter]

Makes for a solid example of how you can manufacture value in something just by saying that it has value often enough... Provided the general public doesn't join together and refute the advertising. Makes me glad that enough people saw NFTs for the worthless rubbish they are. The advertising and conditioning didn't work out, so worthless receipts remain worthless. :3

[@vinnyandlin8510]

The one thing diamonds have going for them is that they are pretty. Who in their right mind has ever looked at an NFT and said it's actually pleasing to the eye?

[@Bajuvare14]

There are NFT that look good BUT the Ape shit killed it quickly with its wave of garbage

[@MilkieMouse]

@@Bajuvare14 No NFT looks good, because they are NFTs lol.

[@RiverPhobia]

":3" sleeper agent activated

[@vinnyandlin8510]

@@Bajuvare14 only good ones I ever saw were the joke NFTs made by Nerrel as a gag at the end of his N64 controllers video

[@XenXenOfficial]

I offered my ex a gold ring, she laughed at me in public, said no and said to try again cause, as everyone else and me heard "There's no gem so that's a man's ring" She didn't get a ring lol

[@bigdeuce66]

Glad you finally saw the light. She sounds like someone who you should've left a long time ago.

[@collinsmcrae]

Sure...

[@XenXenOfficial]

@@collinsmcrae It was at CF Fairview Mall, Scarborough. The gold ring I proposed with is my grandparents wedding band, 10K gold made by a company that doesn't exist anymore cause it's a vintage ring lol Sure it wasn't like a CRAZY ring but heck you'd think people would appreciate the sentimental value lol But it's fine if you don't believe me lol there's just shitty people out there 🤷

[@Lorn058]

Absolutely. Afterward they spend a whole bunch of time creating a false scarcity of diamonds. It's all a joke. You want to make your lady something nice. Make her a nice inlaid ring. Use whatever beautiful stone she loves. Amethyst turquoise Ruby if you can get your hands on it etc you'd be surprised how many fragments of things you can get for a reasonable price and then you can turn it into something absolutely fantastic and beautiful. On top of that every time she looks at it she knows you took your time and effort to put that together with her in mind the whole time.

[@ashermack2543]

10000% better than just buying something worth four months of rent or your mortgage payment and it be the exact same carbon copy hundreds of millions of women have themselves, make it personalized!

[@ham_the_spam4423]

@@ashermack2543hehe “carbon”

[@jer26705]

@@ashermack2543 "carbon" copy lmao (diamonds are made of compressed carbon)

[@ashermack2543]

@@jer26705 definitely not intended but i will roll with it

[@johnjones818]

This also adds the value of craftsmanship and artistry. A truly skilled jeweler can create beauty from anything that shines.

[@Nadine-Bradley]

Take note that the ad campaign invented the diamond ring rather than the rings themselves. The use of wedding bands dates back to ancient Egypt.

[@Brick_Wall_quote_Entertainment]

wild pfp you got there 💀

[@matthewrayner571]

Bot copying another comment.

[@Brick_Wall_quote_Entertainment]

@@matthewrayner571 i figured as much, reported it all the same 💀

[@gageduke7652]

Porn ad bot

[@watcher314159]

Diamond rings did actually exist before. But they were very much an upper class thing, and any gemstone was acceptable. De Beers did seriously change the game though. I recommend the doctoral thesis of DT Cochrane "What's Love Got to Do with It? Diamonds and the Accumulation of De Beers, 1933-55" for a better history than a typical abridged article will get you.

[@Jay-kf3od]

@@watcher314159 i don't think he was saying diamond rings didn't exist, just that them being used in wedding and engagement rings wasnt a thing.

[@watcher314159]

@Jay-kf3od Engagement and wedding rings were a thing (in a certain stratum of society), and about 10% of them had diamonds. What De Beers did is force diamonds on working class people.

[@awesomeninja1154]

@@watcher314159 yeah but also back in older times, other gems were more frequently used in jewelry like emeralds and sapphires

[@Jay-kf3od]

@watcher314159 dude your trying to argue a point that was never made.

[@watcher314159]

@@Jay-kf3od It's a nitpick that was addressed in the linked article, but Thor did make an inaccurate claim in the video.

[@ieuanhunt552]

This is why I'm going to carve a Love Spoon. It's a very old Welsh/Celtic tradition and I think something carved with my own hands is far more meaningful than purchasing a shiny rock.

[@nuru666]

"a shiny rock." That is like, 99.998% of the reason diamonds annoy me so badly. IT. IS. A. SHINY. FRICKEN. ROCK.

[@nella544]

Fun fact: Coca Cola's ad campaigns is the main reason Santa Claus' design is associated with Red and White, the same colours used for their cola.

[@river-t4y]

Before coca cola, Santa was actually green.

[@kakes_]

Snopes says this is false, but after some reading I do think they at least cemented the design.

[@suprememasteroftheuniverse]

"Santa"s clothes were blue. Also it's Saint Nicholas.

[@thequestbro]

This is patently untrue, but they did bring about the fat jolly santa.

[@dexhendrixt5hmg]

Literally the last short I watched was Thor dropping the iLadies joke, now it’s this? Please, never change Thor

[@johannesviljoen9656]

historically people could exchange various things, or nothing at all! various things included but were not limited to fruit, occasional jewellery (if you were rich), and ornate daggers (objectively the coolest)

[@alu2901]

The Swords take the cake for me, though. I think there were ceremonies where swords were exchanged, but I could be wrong.

[@thefogman2992]

When me and my girl talked about this, she said diamonds are dumb because you have to get them professionally cleaned on a regular basis. She just wants an opal, which makes sense because theyre shiny and they look awesome

[@TinySwanGrandAdventures]

Do be aware that because genuine Opal contains water that it cannot be taken out into the cold or it will freeze and bust so have a different stone inlayed ring for the colder temps and save the Opal for the warmer temps. Lab grown Opal is fine in all temps though if you want to go that route. Hope this helps and yes Diamonds for jewelry sucks!💙

[@TraumaQueen65]

@@TinySwanGrandAdventures This depends on the opal

[@TraumaQueen65]

Your girl has outstanding tastes. Is she Australia, per chance?

[@dovakeen1179]

U forgot to mention they also created an artificial shortage to cause cost of the diamonds to skyrocket as diamonds can be quite common in certain regions.

[@Orto4956]

I know DeBeers is terrible company and all, but their plan was absolutely genius.

[@mcpudd-20k]

My favorite DeBeers moment was when they released “chocolate diamonds” at like 4x the cost of a regular diamond. For brown colored diamonds. The most common type of diamond. The diamonds they use for industrial applications, like cutting disks and drill bits. They marketed industrial diamonds to rich people and had them pay 4x the cost of a normal diamond for the privilege.

[@EndItAll11]

I inherited my grandmother's ring. My wife inherited her grandmother's ring. My wife's ring is custom made from both rings stones combined. Despite the fact they lived over a thousand kilometers apart, our grandmother's rings were identical. Because they were bought during the de beers marketing era. We added a big ole amethyst for the central stone to make it symmetrical.

[@richardpowell4281]

Lobster used to be considered poor people food and was fed to prisoners. Ita only in the last century they became popular.

[@zacharywilhelm2462]

Diamonds are super common, and they are found in a myriad of products outside jewelery like saws, blades, drills, electronics, and high grit polishing creams. Super cheap tbh. Only the "Jewelery" costs anything substantial, and that stuff is mass produced just like the rest in either offshore factories, or in smaller, limited production runs of rotating trends.

[@timh4158]

Bacon was considered an undesireable cut until the farming industry ran ads telling people it was part of a hearty breakfast.

[@TheMrBonzz]

That's not the worst part, it's the fact that "diamonds are intrinsically worthless" said by the formerly debeer CEO and they own like 80% of the world's diamond mine so they monopolize them to be worth a ridiculous amount.

[@0Asterite0]

debeers hasn't had that monopoly in decades

[@cheetor1987]

The greatest con of all time. Making carbon glass, better suited for industrial applications, as a precious stone meant to symbolize love. Still burns in pure oxygen too.

[@ZairUmbras]

It's the same as Pink being for Girls and Blue for Boys. Completely designed by corpos when it used to be the opposite way traditionally.

[@solsystem1342]

There were no colored assosications broadly accepted before. If you go way back before modern dyes every baby gets white because dyes used to make other colors would wash out or be pale

[@ZairUmbras]

@@solsystem1342 There were colored associations, but it was somewhat more recent I guess in the early 1900s, but people were the ones with those associations. Reds were considered more masculine, including pink. Then in the 30's to 40's, corpos noticed some bought pink for girls and started their campaigns to make it widespread and the "norm".

[@arbetor12]

Me and my wife didn't go for diamond rings. Instead we actually picked the other a ring we thought they'd like. We didnt have a lot of money at the time due to being in college So she got me this pitch black ring whilst I got her this lovely cyan one with little shiny metals in it from a local marketer (I forgot what metal, but she loved it.) And now, 6 years later, we still don't regret our choices even though I've asked if she wants to change them for more nicer ones. Rings are special because they have meaning behind them, not if they're expensive or have diamonds in them. Our rings are just as special or irreplaceable as an expensive diamond one. And that's what matters.

[@LogicalNiko]

In most cases the tradition was giving a piece of your mother’s jewelry. And usually things like turquoise, onyx, sapphires, and even just more common polished stones were very very typical. The de Beers brothers ruthlessly dominated the South Africa diamond and through heavy tactics they found themselves with 90% of the diamond supply. However going into the Great Depression there was not a lot of demand for jewelry, and there was a large amounts that were sold off on the market. So the de Beers company decided that they had to make people think all those other pieces were “not worthy” and so they started hammering generations of people with the idea that diamonds were so much more important. At the same time they heavily cut production and started stockpiling diamonds, thus making demand outstrip supply to arbitrarily set a high value.

[@Eviljacques]

Exactly why ever since I was a child I hated diamonds. So much minerals and rocks that look better.

[@aodhstormeyes]

I bought my wife and myself replicas of The One Ring as wedding rings after we got married when our silver rings got tarnished and stopped fitting as well. She's loved it over the idea of a diamond ring.

[@storczykorg]

i have few reasons to buy engagement sword instead: 1. doesn't support exploitation 2. looks cool af (I like swords) 3. I can stab intruders 4. I'm a lesbian

[@5m4llP0X]

Yep! Diamonds are intrinsically worthless, and that's a quote from one of their executives. Of all the gemstones, diamonds are the most bland gem. Their only benefit is their hardness and use in manufacturing and technology.

[@asianotakuguy]

Marketing is wild. Bacon for breakfast, KFC for christmas in Japan, all just successful marketing

[@gregoryvandermescht7035]

Im from South Afirca, and hearing this made me smile😂😂

[@enemybmp]

As far as I know, you take a wedding ring without any added decoration, because the endless ring stands for the endless/ eternal love between those two people. But hey, moneymoneymoney

[@swoggertv1713]

The ring wasn’t common practice but offering things to your partner or their family has been common practice in many societies for millennia and even among other animals

[@krackenagatenonbreh3456]

As a gem cutter I can say this man is 100% correct. People used to use whatever stone the woman wanted. Could be Opal or Turquoise didn't matter.

[@Brick_Wall_quote_Entertainment]

"Hey honey, if you could have any gem on a ring, what would you choose?" "Uranium-235." "...What about a sapphire?"

[@gamerguy6942]

Reminds me of (parroting this off of a video I saw) how car companies made like videos on how pedestrians should make way for cars, instead of the other way around.

[@D.R._Iris]

AND... diamonds are NOT RARE. They're only expensive because they said they "should" be.

[@pcmasterwraith7676]

precious jems have been used and traded as currency for a long time because they last forever and couldnt be replicated or fake they always had value, and were used in jewelry for centuries

[@ed0c]

the wedding ring was not advertised into existence. the diamond engagement ring was

[@AggroNoobs]

Literally what was said lmao

[@RendMaim]

I worked in a Pawn Shop for years and telling people that their ring they paid over 3k for was worth like $200 at most and that the stones were pretty much worthless pissed a lot of people off.

[@demolisherman1763]

Diamonds aren’t even that rare! Any scarcity is created artificially by the cooperations! Huzzah for capitalism!

[@laurelkeeper]

…and there’s not much scarcity, seeing as I can get diamond blades on my tools pretty cheaply with minimal difficulty

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

​@@laurelkeeper Those ARE artificial diamonds, not natural ones. The artificial ones have no inclusions, so are far more resistant and useful for tools anyway.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

They ARE somewhat rare, but when 60-70% of all diamonds ever mined are held in vaults by the mining and cutting companies to ensure an inflated price of the few on the market, the pricing IS artificially inflated.

[@dinodonko3953]

the goat again, saving the day! and my money, thanks man!

[@SavageSully]

The wedding ring has been around for thousands of years. Everything from bone, leather, metal. The value of the material did have significance in some cultures. He's 100% correct about diamonds. My wife chose a silver band... I had an amethyst stone that I found when I was cub scout/kid at about 10 y/o. The stone was cut & set by a locel jeweler.

[@nuru666]

See, THAT is a good engagement ring. Something that she likes AND has sentimental value to both parties.

[@Werewolf.with.Internet.Access]

And that’s why my wedding ring is a combination of steel and ethically sourced deer bone. No shiny rocks, but as I told my beloved it’s a symbol of my love for her; Stronger than steel, deeper than bone She loves it too, f*ck the corporations

[@Rock_Hawk]

The collegehumor sketch mocking debeers for this is so good.

[@MrGermandeutsch]

They completely changed the human timeline forever.

[@dunnoaname6143]

Similarily, the White Dress for weddings. Amazing how short lived some traditions we take for granted are.

[@Dante_S550_Turbo]

the only diamonds actually worth money are near perfect to perfect diamonds used in lab equipment, they can now make perfect diamonds in a lab. So even those rare perfect diamonds are now considered worthless.

[@DanielLyons-b7o]

I love scrolling and seeing a tidbit of cool information from you. It's heart warming brother. Keep it up

[@DieEneVent]

I have a similar gripe with lightbulbs. It is entirely possible to create a lightbulb that can be used forever. The only reason the corps won't, is because they would make themselves obsolete.

[@revenevan11]

This was the first stream I caught live! Impressive to see turnaround time on these shorts lol

[@DrMurdercock]

My grandpa bought a watch after the war. That watch is now worth an insane amount of money. I just hope the family never fights over it.

[@samuelp1227]

1477 was the first recorded diamond engagement ring. They gained popularity in the 1700 with the discovery of more diamonds. The stone was really just too expensive for most until the post WW2 economic boom.

[@matiasrostworowski5141]

This is mostly true, although De Beers did not actually come up with this idea, just repopularized something that was common among the aristocratic class in certain parts of Europe which went back several centuries. One other thing worth noting is that for a long time diamond was actually a lot more scarce, in Europe and North America at least, so that is where this idea that diamonds are super rare and valuable comes from originally, and is a big part of the reason that this marketing actually worked. The discovery of abundant diamonds to be mined in South Africa, among other places, changed that significantly.

[@patback2067]

Same with wedding bands for men. Originally, the wedding band was meant to signify a man's ownership of a woman (sometimes the husbands name was even engraved on the band), but jewelery companies wanted to make more money so they started targeting men.

[@PastaAivo]

I think it's genuinely crazy not to prefer a coloured gemstone. Far more unique, and often prettier too!

[@JasperJanssen]

Diamonds are forever and diamonds are a girl’s best friend are some of the most successful ad slogans ever.

[@bensmith7278]

It's like the guys who post ebay listings of "among us chicken nugget: starting bid $700" or "iphone with flappy bird still installed: $5000" people actually buy that crap. My favorite was the guy selling PS5s but very clearly in the listing description he said "THIS IS A PRINTED OUT PICTURE OF A PS5 CONSOLE, NOT THE ACTUAL CONSOLE. DO NOT BUY UNLESS YOU WANT A PIECE OF PAPER WITH A PRINTED OUT PS5 CONSOLE ON IT"

[@lkotro21]

Are you telling me we could've EXCHANGED SWORDS INSTEAD?!

[@Shining4Dawn]

I think my favorite is Santa wearing red and white because of Coca-Cola. And not because that's a fact, but because it's so debatable if it's true or not that it keeps causing the name Coca-Cola to rise up in conversation during Christmas time.

[@tehpoecuk]

theres also similiar tradition in japan where japanese people buying KFC in christmas. back in 1970 KFC 1st branch open up in japan but since their store is bright red and white with only english text (who speak english in 1970 japan lol) people mistakes KFC for barber or candyshop. so KFC launch an ad campaign that said "buying KFC in christmas is an american culture" which is totally fabricated and yet it works and still a thing to this day. CMIIW

[@EndoftheBeginning17]

There's other similar things such as Christmas ims for couples, instead of families. And I bet a lot of the trraditions in Europe around Christmas as they vary country to country have been manipulated by companies trying to unload stuff, like coal for naughty children (coal was cheap and needed for keeping the houses warm.

[@sergioramos3437]

I did a report in high school on how these companies also artificially restricted the diamond supply to hike prices despite having plenty

[@TenApplesforTime]

It also coincided with the abolishment of the "breach of promise" laws only 7 years later. This allowed women to sue their fiance for compensation if they broke up, because they would often fool around before marriage and if they broke up she now had less "value" on the dating market. After this men started buying very expensive rings as women still wanted compensation/a statement of commitment.

[@chaincat33]

the thing with diamonds, DeBeers did a ton of market manipulation to the point that diamonds are actually facing a supply issue. You can only dump so many cheap diamonds on the market to drive out competition before you actually start running out of diamonds. And, past that, everyone who wants diamonds already has them, is set to inherit them, or wants them for industrial usage. So supply is low, and demand is low.

[@TheOodoneOut44]

That's why I prefer rings made from things that mean the most to you.

[@Scruffy_Cat7]

In Germany Diamond rings are not so common. Wedding rings are usually plain gold or silver rings.

[@dani007a]

My favorite example of this is the "all-American breakfast" of bacon and eggs. 100 years ago, most people just ate a light breakfast, like a piece of toast and bacon was typically seen as a dinner food. As a result, bacon wasn't sold too often, so one bacon company hired a man named Edward Bernays, the nephew of Freud and now known as the "Father of PR." Bernays was able to pay nearly 5000 doctors to say that a heavy, calorie-dense breakfast, such as one of bacon and eggs, was healthier for you than a light one. He used some of his uncle's ideas in his ad campaign and was basically able to cement the idea of bacon as a breakfast food in American culture to this day. Some of Bernay's other "greatest hits" include: a. Convincing the government to require hairnets in certain areas, to sell more hairnets. b. Convincing the public that disposable cups were more sanitary, to sell more Dixie cups. c. Convincing women that smoking instead of eating was a good way to stay thin, to sell more cigarettes. d. Convincing the US government to incite a coup in Guatemala, to sell more bananas.

[@slools5003]

Tradition was to give a gold ring to your wife. And as far as i know, noble women were gifted with precious gems like emeralds and rubies, which have a precious value. Diamond's real value is its strength for industrial purposes, you can synthesize diamonds very easily and cheap.

[@kacpernikodem4905]

That's why I will get my SO a sword when if I ever propose

[@Lukken]

People think that they're enlightened when they find out that diamonds are worthless and that we assign value to them.. Imagine how they're gonna feel the day they realize that absolutely nothing has "monetary" value. The only thing in this world that has any form of value is time and people.

[@justinrider930]

Diamonds have been worth money for centuries upon centuries. Ring giving as a sign of matrimony has been around for millennia. Damonds have been a subset of many stones being embedded into wedding rings De beers just made it prominent to push the sales of their diamonds. They didn’t invent the concept!!!

[@CalamityVirus]

"Diamonds. She'll pretty much have to."

[@IdsFear]

The most successful ad campaign in history

[@anoriolkoyt]

It worked well and became an integral part of western society (and now global society) because it filled a role that was lost as the world was moderninzing : how to identify if someone is married or not. Some cultures still have certain ways (for example, muslim and jewish men who grow their beards when they get married).

[@Kalebfenoir]

I love reminding people of that. Also love the fact that for years, diamond companies would ONLY promote the clearest, most flawless diamonds as being the ones worth anything, and to get someone a diamond that was even a single note off color or that had even the tiniest flaw was socially destructive, convincing millions of people to get upset if they didn't get those perfect Diamonds. Until this decade. When the companies realized they had entire warehouses of flawed, off-color diamonds they couldn't sell under the old idea. So they pivoted. Suddenly FLAWED diamonds and offcolor Diamonds began being promoted as the hot new, triple-the-cost way to show love... when really it's cuz they wanna offload a ton of previously 'worthless' diamonds. So the diamonds that they used to charge less for, they now charge more than the perfect clear diamonds. I dare you to listen to an ad on the radio for diamonds, especially when they mention yellow diamonds or flawed gems in a positive light, and NOT think of how it's all a lie. They did the same with Cubic Zirconium too. Now they call it Plasma-born or Starborn or Plasma-chamber diamonds ... and charge more cuz it sounds cool. Same damned thing.

[@SGTArcAngel7]

Just to clarify though, the exchanging of rings has been around for at least 3,000 years, just not diamond rings specifically :)

[@Schmidt_Smith]

Well, that's a slight misconception. There were documented cases of such rings (as a wedding rings) earlier, like in 1477, BUT yes, it's became sort of a tradition after De Beers.

[@ysbrann3059]

just because Upperclass people sometime offered diamong ring amount any other gemmed ring mean it was the standard for everyone lile what thor is saying

[@Dekedence]

Also, the song "diamonds are forever" was part of the marketing to deter resale. Partly because it would mean DeBeers couldn't control supply, but also so people wouldn't find out just how much their diamond deprecated

[@anzaca1]

These days, rings without gems at all are increasingly more common. Cheaper, tougher, and easy to repair.

[@presidentfrog4683]

Which is hilarious because diamonds today have a ton of uses they had no idea about back then.

[@Unknown-gj8hp]

Debeers can't even directly sell to the US market due to anti-trust laws, they have to sell uncut diamonds to US diamond cutters

[@NivaraTinuviel]

My ring was $150, and its silver with several small droplet shaped blue topaz, and i couldn’t love it more. My fiancé got a ring to match that is silver with a blue band in the middle. His was $200 i think? Diamonds are not only stupid expensive, but depending where they came from, they could be linked to a lot of horrible violence. No thank you.

[@joelchampion791]

Listen Lupe Fiasco Conflict Diamonds. He lays it all out

[@ИванСнежков-з9й]

The price of diamonds is kept artificially inflated. It takes a lot to buy one, but selling it for profit is almost impossible. If you absolutely need diamond ring, look for second hand one. (Check by scratching steel). Also, synthetic diamonds exist and are a lot cheaper. Better quality too.

[@captainhindsight6994]

10% of engagement rings pre 1930s had diamonds. Post 1930 it was 90%

[@MmmMmph1968]

When I propose, I'm getting a ring with cubic zirconia. It looks the same as diamond and it's a fraction of the price

[@ImmortalSage69420]

The diamond thing i understand. But the tradition of giving rings for engagement and then marriage is thousands of years old.