#932: “Diamonds are Forever”

[07:54] *** Tue Jan 10 2006 - LOGGING START ***
[07:54] *** Now talking in #suburbansenshi
[07:57] <// J_Daito //> He wasn't so forward after it got ripped off
[07:57] <C'est_la_V> Ouch!!
[07:57] <GERMATOID> THAT'S ONE WAY TO DISCOURAGE INBREEDING
[07:58] * Mdm_Maestro is flipping through a jewelry catalog
[07:59] <FireFly_9> What are you looking, for, Michiru-momma?
[07:59] <Mdm_Maestro> I plan to buy Haruka a diamond ring
[07:59] <GERMATOID> OOH
[08:00] <C'est_la_V> Is she still stalling you, Michiru-san??
[08:00] <Mdm_Maestro> Yes.
[08:00] <flame_SNIPER> I don't see why you bother. If she's jerking you around for 12 years find someone else.
[08:01] <Mdm_Maestro> Rei-san, it's not that she doesn't love me, she's just so lazy.
[08:01] <flame_SNIPER> heh
[08:02] <FireFly_9> Still, the purchase of a Diamond Ring is a morally and ethically unsound decision.
[08:02] <Mdm_Maestro> oh?
[08:02] <FireFly_9> Indeed.
[08:02] <C'est_la_V> Yare Yare
[08:02] * FireFly_9 is away: one moment
[08:02] <GERMATOID> SOMETHING WRONG, MINAKO-CHAN?
[08:03] * C'est_la_V has has this argument with Hotaru-chan before, she's going for the list
[08:03] <GERMATOID> WHAT LIST
[08:03] <FireFly_9> ♦ 1. You've Been Psychologically Conditioned To Want a Diamond
The diamond engagement ring is a 63-year-old invention of N.W.Ayer advertising agency. The De Beers diamond cartel contracted N.W.Ayer to create a demand for what are, essentially, useless hunks of rock.
[08:04] <Mdm_Maestro> I wouldn't say they're useless! Look how much they ask for them!
[08:05] <FireFly_9> ♦ 2. Diamonds are Priced Well Above Their Value
The De Beers cartel has systematically held diamond prices at levels far greater than their abundance would generate under anything even remotely resembling perfect competition. All diamonds not already under its control are bought by the cartel, and then the De Beers cartel carefully managed world diamond supply in order to keep prices steadily high.
[08:05] * // J_Daito // takes notes for his own Dark Plans^TM
[08:06] <GERMATOID> ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY, DECREASE SUPPLY, STIMULATE DEMAND, PRICES RISE
[08:06] <Mdm_Maestro> I refuse to believe the situation is that bad
[08:06] <FireFly_9> ♦ 3. Diamonds Have No Resale or Investment Value
Any diamond that you buy or receive will indeed be yours forever: De Beers’ advertising deliberately brain-washed women not to sell; the steady price is a tool to prevent speculation in diamonds; and no dealer will buy a diamond from you. You can only sell it at a diamond purchasing center or a pawn shop where you will receive a tiny fraction of its original "value."
[08:07] <Mdm_Maestro> ...
[08:08] * FireFly_9 points you to a free online book called "The Diamond Invention" for more information
[08:09] <FireFly_9> Quoting from it:
[08:09] <FireFly_9>“ Retail jewelers generally prefer not to buy back diamonds from customers because the offer they would make most likely would be considered ridiculously low. The "keystone," or markup, on a diamond and setting may range from 100 to 200 percent, depending on the policy of the store. If they bought diamonds back from customers, they would have to buy them back at the wholesale price. Most jewelers would prefer not make a customer an offer that not only might be deemed insulting but would also undercut the widely-held notion that diamonds hold their value. Moreover, since retailers generally receive their diamonds from wholesalers on consignment and need not pay for them until they are sold, they would not readily risk their own cash to buy diamonds from customers. Rather than offer customers a fraction of what they paid for diamonds, retail jewelers usually recommend their clients to other firms.”
[08:10] * C'est_la_V sees the lesson here
[08:10] <FireFly_9> Do you, Sempai?
[08:10] <C'est_la_V> Open your own Jewelry store??
[08:10] <FireFly_9> ............
[08:12] <@SpeedRcrX> LOL I see you've been researchign this s[BLEEP]t
[08:12] <@SpeedRcrX> What better way to say, "I want to start a life together with you" than to demonstrate good judgement by blowing 20% of your annual income on a near-worthless symbol of your partner's lack of criticality / intelligence in the face of corporate advertising? Get something useful, like a down payment on a home or maybe a car.
[08:12] <FireFly_9> Congratulations, Haruka-poppa!
[08:12] <Mdm_Maestro> ...
[08:13] <@SpeedRcrX> O SHI Michi you were here?
[08:13] <@SpeedRcrX> Man, Ima get my wooman the biggest, blingin'est piece of ice-rock inna citty!
[08:13] <Mdm_Maestro> ♡
[08:14] <GERMATOID> WHAT'S SAD IS NO ONE LOOKS AT THE OTHER ROCKS WHICH ARE IN FACT PRETTIER THAN DIAMONDS
[08:16] <// J_Daito //> Hah, I remembered something
[08:17] <// J_Daito //> In the UK in the late 60's/early 70's, De Beers created the concept of the "eternity ring", typically a containing a bunch of small channel-set diamonds around its circumference. They were marketed as a way to show your love/devotion for someone without having to actually get engaged to them.
[08:17] <GERMATOID> HAH
[08:17] <// J_Daito //> Years later I learned they were created solely to use up the large numbers of small diamonds coming on to the market from Siberia to help keep prices high.
[08:18] <@SpeedRcrX> ...Damn
[08:19] <GERMATOID> LOOOKING AT THIS FROM A SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE, THE REASON THIS HAS CAUGHT ON IS DARWINISTIC: THE DIAMOND IS A STATUS INDICATOR THAT TELLS OTHERS WHAT A GREAT CATCH THEY MADE TO SPREAD GENES! MUAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH
[08:19] * Mdm_Maestro considers this
[08:19] * Mdm_Maestro looks at Haruka
[08:19] <@SpeedRcrX> ?
[08:20] <Mdm_Maestro> I suppose I do deserve something that was once a lump of coal sitting on my finger
[08:20] <@SpeedRcrX> ............
[08:20] <// J_Daito //> ROFL
[08:21] <@SpeedRcrX> It's not funny dammit
[08:21] <@SpeedRcrX> It's not funny
[08:21] *** Disconnected
[08:21] *** Tue Jan 10 2006 - LOGGING END ***