Diamond Ring cost

Water Cooler
#101

If you had any idea what pearls used to be valued at… your eyeballs would pop out. I kid you not. No seriously, look it up.

Today, about 99% of all pearls produced are all cultured. After years of development, cultured pearls today are far more beautiful in size, shape, color than any natural pearl.

Pearls take several years to form. Labs can create a flawless diamond in a few days.

You know what. Screw finance. Anyone want to go in on a syn diamond factory with me? I’ll open a store somewhere on 47th, import some mined diamonds, make some lab diamonds (which will cost me less than $100 per Carat), mix them all in a pot, and start selling them.

#102

I had a full two-minute concentration lapse thinking about that hot chemistry teacher and how I would bang her. To the OP, there’s an undeclared competition among chicks to see who got the nicest engagement ring, how the clueless dude proposed, how badass your wedding reception was, who went to the most exotic honeymoon, etc. Even if the chick is not a diamond shark, she does feel pressure because of the social expectations of the whole wedding thing. Just buy a decent sized diamond and sacrifice the other bullsh*t: clarity, cut, and the other stuff I fortunately can’t remember anymore. All that matters is if her friends believe it’s a nice ring. Unfortunately that’s the way it is. I for instance ruined my proposal so bad that my wife had to change the story about that. Of course I didn’t know at the time that it is expected among girls that *every detail* about it has to be shared. Damn it …. how could I possibly have known that sh!t?

#103

My exact thoughts.

#104

Also keep in mind that synthetic diamonds can have better characteristics than the natural stone, afaik.

#105

my engagement ring is real diamond, but my earrings are CZ because i loose them easily.

#106

well, lab diamonds are real diamonds. they were just grown in a lab, instead of in the ground.

I just wish people will realize the truth. The world has changed. The traditional notions of marriage don’t really apply to most people anymore, and the world of diamonds is fueled by fairy dust. Ambitious engineers have figured out how to produce that fairy dust, and now it’s only a matter of time.

veritas liberabit vos

#107

I know it. but my hubby didn’t. He bought me the ring. I am not into jewelry, but he likes me to wear them.

#108

You just have to look to pearls to see where the diamond market will go. As iteracom said, 99% of pearls sold today are cultured. So even if “natural” pearls still command a higher price, who cares when they are only 1% of the market?

Even if earth-formed diamonds are able to command a premium and maintain some decent market share (not sure why they would given what happened with pearls), fraudulent certifications will become widespread and force prices downward.

#109

After reading this thread, I understand that guy spoils his lady. He wants to see the look on her friends face when they admire the ring ( So, he’s the one who got her that expensive ring).

#110

In my mind, he’s like that guy in Girls whose girlfriend would prefer a real man.

#111

For educational purposes, Apollo Diamond, one of the labs that that uses single-crystal growth, was bought out by Scio Diamond (ticker: SCIO ) a few months ago.

The company issued a press release:

NOV 2011

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scio-diamond-has-the-technology-to-cultivate-an-infinite-supply-of-diamond-to-assist-in-meeting-global-demand-133872038.html

Scio Diamond has proven technology whereby they can control the growth of diamond in a lab environment with proprietary equipment and technology.

Just as “cultured pearls” have become an excepted commodity, cultivated diamonds have now gained acceptance to the gemstone market.

Scio Diamond has already begun negotiations with large wholesale gemstone dealers worldwide. Agreements are imminent, and are focused on taking all of the future gemstone production for multiple years. Large global distributors as well as exclusive retail branded gemstones are slated for delivery in 2012 .

Scio is about to commercialize its quality stones by delivering thousands of carats per year with its market changing technology. Gemstones will be available in a variety of colors such as pinks, yellows, blues, and blacks to name a few.

The diamonds have the identical chemical, physical and optical properties as any diamond found in the earth, and the company’s highly controlled manufacturing process enables it to produce very high-quality, high-purity, high volume, single-crystal colorless, near colorless and fancy colored diamonds.

Scio’s technology permits it to produce lab-grown diamond in size, color, and quality combinations that are rare, if at all present in nature.

Any colored diamond (think: pink) is nearly 8X the value of the same quality colorless diamond. The company can produce any color combinations. Can you imagine how cultured diamonds will change the entire industry?

I spoke to my father (as i mentioned: a jeweler ) and he thinks once these start going mass production, the whole aura of diamonds (which let’s admit is anything but rational) will dissipate and fizz out. Ladies may still want a shiny rock, but imagine that rock costs $3,000 when it used to be $20,000.

I should just buy this company’s stock instead of going about it on my own, which will prob take too long

#112

I’m thinking about going all in on SCIO. I don’t even need to know what they’re priced at.

#113

SCIO only has a market cap of $83MM. Any of the big players in the diamond market could buy them with petty cash and crush the technology. The fact that none of them has done so gives me pause for concern regarding the effectiveness of their technology.

#114

There are multiple players in the market… now if SCIO’s executives start getting assassinated, that’s something else…

#115

True, but would just note that debt/equity is about 3.7 so actual buyout value is significantly higher than the market cap. Your point still holds, though.

On another note, what gemstones besides diamonds are popular for engagement rings?

#116

Fair point, but if a buyout offer were made, it may push the technology into the media and reassure shareholders to hold out.

#117

Anyone know who any of the other major synthetic players are?

#118

Yo lets put all of our money together and create an investment vehicle to invest in this firm. We could run our own cartel.

#119

Gemesis, this company has already started selling their diamonds direct to consumers. You can pick from diamonds ready to go, just pick the mounting you want. Their prices are significantly under market prices, and offer superior diamonds

just look at the clarity ratings… VVS clarity stones command big premiums and nearly 40% of their stones are rated that high.

http://gemesis.com/diamonds

They took it one step further and got all their stones professionally graded ( each rock comes with a certificate and laser tag)

#120

I think in the article the Gemesis stones were the ones created using the Russian machines. The thing I like about SCIO’s technology is that it’s the appollo generators which don’t leave metal traces in the diamonds, leaving them essentially undectectable vs a natural diamond. They also have the ability to produce larger quantities I believe as well as possibilities to enter the microprocessor realm at some point.