Are women really THAT gullible?

[HankB]

We've all heard that "Diamonds are a girl's best friend."

And most women love chocolate.

Take these two thoughts, add a little marketing spin, and presto, Chocolate Diamonds!

I noticed in the Sunday paper that some jewelry stores are now advertising "Chocolate Diamonds" as the new trend . . . it seems that they're taking low-grade, dark brown diamonds, faceting them, and marketing them as being somehow, well, special.

I'll say - take a low grade $5 industrial diamond, spend $2 in some turd world sweatshop to put a couple of crude facets on it, and sell it for hundreds of dollars . . . that's "special" all right.

How many here know women who want this kind of crap?

[PTK]

Takes a lot more than $2 to facet a diamond, but I understand what you're saying.

I've always been partial to jet black diamonds, myself. Nothing more beautiful set against 22k gold or platinum - but I'm in the minority, very rarely did any of my orders call for them.

Of course, lower grade diamonds cost less from me, I wasn't ripping people off as I assume these folks you're talking about ARE.

[Manedwolf]

That's just good marketing. Read the Theory of Reasoned Action for a good basis in modern marketing.

If you can rename an undesirable item and make it desirable to people by association with something a certain demographic enjoys, that just means you're good at marketing.

[mtnbkr]

If it's attractive to their eye and within their budget, who cares?  It's not as if a diamond is more useful from a utility perspective anyway (for the average diamond consumer, not talking industrial purposes).

Chris

[Jamisjockey]

That's what I love about my wife's jewelry biz....no diamonds....individual pieces aren't too badly priced.  Of course, we get a substanial discount 
Which saves me money on BD/Xmas/Anniversary gifts

[PTK]

JamisJockey

The markup on jewelry is astounding, isn't it? Family wouldn't believe me until I started showing them receipts! 

[Jamisjockey]

JamisJockey

The markup on jewelry is astounding, isn't it? Family wouldn't believe me until I started showing them receipts! 

Yes, it is!  And the markup on "fine" jewelry, such as whats sold in stores, is absolutely insane.  Wife used to work for a large chain store, starts with a Z and ends with ales.  Some of the pieces are marked up as much as 1,000 % before going to retail.  Gold chains actually had a surprisingly high markup, while I think the diamonds were marked up more before they get to the big retailers.

[Manedwolf]

Gold chains actually had a surprisingly high markup, while I think the diamonds were marked up more before they get to the big retailers.

The markup on alloy gold chains over pure gold melt value is absolutely astounding to me. Especially considering those chains are made by a machine!

[charby]

A couple years ago, colored diamonds were all the rage, it was short term. Lower quality diamonds were irradiated to change their color and sold as a premium.

I remember some chicky-poo with a urine colored diamond during that rage. It looked awful but she seemed pretty proud of it.

[Manedwolf]

I remember some chicky-poo with a urine colored diamond during that rage. It looked awful but she seemed pretty proud of it.

I did not know that there were P-grade stones...

[wmenorr67]

I thought he was talking about a #2 grade.

[HankB]

. . . If you can rename an undesirable item and make it desirable to people by association with something a certain demographic enjoys, that just means you're good at marketing.

Isn't that what Federal did when they took their reduced recoil ("pansy load") buckshot off the market for a short time, and then reintroduced it as tactical buckshot . . . at a higher price?

[Fly320s]

Some of the pieces are marked up as much as 1,000 % before going to retail. 

Damn!!    I had read/heard that diamonds were marked-up 100% every time they were sold, but that's insane.

[taurusowner]

OP, the "chocolate diamonds" are actually worth about as much as "real" diamonds.  We only spend all that $$ on the shiny clear ones because marketing tells us to.  What are diamonds actually good for, other than industrial drill bits and the like?  Basically nothing.  They are only worth our money because we think they look pretty.  If chicks think the brown ones look pretty, I guess that's worth money too.

Are they getting swindled by buying brown rocks for hundreds of dollars?  Yep. But don't be mistaken: people who buy the pretty "real" diamonds are getting swindled too.  Brown vs clear makes no difference.  A scam is a scam.

[Manedwolf]

Some of the pieces are marked up as much as 1,000 % before going to retail. 

Damn!!    I had read/heard that diamonds were marked-up 100% every time they were sold, but that's insane.

Diamonds have little inherent worth, really. The De Beers and other diamond cartels keeps entire warehouses...somewhere...and keeps the price artificially high by releasing only a little at a time.

It's why the guy making flawless carbon layered diamonds has a secret facility. At a diamond show in Europe, he was told what he was doing was a good way to get a bullet in his head.

They weren't kidding, either.

[BridgeRunner]

How many here know women who want this kind of crap?

I do.  Why do you think a few of us insist on hanging out in places like APS?

[Jamisjockey]

Some of the pieces are marked up as much as 1,000 % before going to retail. 

Damn!!    I had read/heard that diamonds were marked-up 100% every time they were sold, but that's insane.

IIRC, the big markup on a diamond is from the wholesaler to the company that makes it into jewelry.  With big chain stores they actually have two middlemen....the wholesaler sells it to a jewelry designer who then sells it to the company.  They do buy some loose stones that they have set by "in store" jewelers who IIRC are contractors and not actually store employees.

[MechAg94]

Discovery Channel or one of those channels had a show with a segment on artificial diamonds.  It was pretty cool.

[Perd Hapley]

OP, the "chocolate diamonds" are actually worth about as much as "real" diamonds.  We only spend all that $$ on the shiny clear ones because marketing tells us to.  What are diamonds actually good for, other than industrial drill bits and the like?  Basically nothing.  They are only worth our money because we think they look pretty.  If chicks think the brown ones look pretty, I guess that's worth money too.

Are they getting swindled by buying brown rocks for hundreds of dollars?  Yep. But don't be mistaken: people who buy the pretty "real" diamonds are getting swindled too.  Brown vs clear makes no difference.  A scam is a scam.

Is one less common than the other?

[Racehorse]

I really wanted to get a synthetic diamond for my wife when we got engaged because it's chemically and structurally identical to a natural diamond and it's far cheaper. But I didn't dare to do it because I know how women view things like that. So I spent 5 times more on a real diamond. I talked about it with my wife a few months after we got married, and she told me she wouldn't have cared if I had gone the synthetic route. She never really cared all that much about a fancy ring.

Oh well...

[Nick1911]

I really wanted to get a synthetic diamond for my wife when we got engaged because it's chemically and structurally identical to a natural diamond and it's far cheaper. But I didn't dare to do it because I know how women view things like that. So I spent 5 times more on a real diamond. I talked about it with my wife a few months after we got married, and she told me she wouldn't have cared if I had gone the synthetic route. She never really cared all that much about a fancy ring.

Oh well...

Amen to that.

The diamond cartel has done a very nice job convincing the public that synthetic diamonds are somehow inferior to natural stones.  In fact, usually the opposite is true.  Synthetic diamonds have far fewer impurities.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I didn't think they could make synthetic diamonds in appreciable sizes.  Has that changed?

[Manedwolf]

I didn't think they could make synthetic diamonds in appreciable sizes.  Has that changed?

Yes. The newest sort, they can't even tell it from a real one, at all.

It's why the guy making them was warned. Some of the cartels wouldn't think twice about assassination to save their billions per year.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Who makes them?  What guy?

[Jamisjockey]

Who makes them?  What guy?

I'd love to know....wife's been interested in a bigger rock for years.....