My Favorite: Diamonds!

[PinkDiamond]

I have to agree with you Gemjunkie, as well as the comments under the first article; at least until I see them and can loupe them to see exactly what they are for myself. I have to wonder if they're silvery like marcasite because if they are, marcasite is much cheaper for the same look.

And I do the same thing, mehoose. I can get so lost in pretty gemstones I forget what I'm supposed to be doing.

[Gemjunkie]

PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist
Member AGTA

I thought that was what you're supposed to be doing.

[PinkDiamond]

LOL!! Yeah, Gemjunkie, but the idea is to do that when you've got them in your hand, and not so much when you're staring at a monitor while drooling all over the keyboard.

[PinkDiamond]

Rio Tinto Pink Tender Closes With ‘Exceptional Results’
(October 22, '09, 4:56 Edahn Golan)

"The Argyle Shalimar, a 1.25 carat purplish pink round diamond (above) was one of
43 diamonds sold at the 2009 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender.

All diamonds offered at Rio Tinto’s 25th Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender have been sold. The company did not disclose prices, only saying they achieved “exceptional result that belies the global financial crisis of the past 12 months.”..."

http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=33111

[Gemjunkie]

All diamonds offered at Rio Tinto’s 25th Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender have been sold. The company did not disclose prices, only saying they achieved “exceptional result that belies the global financial crisis of the past 12 months.”..."

ie. "We're making money hand over fist, so everything's fine. What are you people complaining about?"

According to Archer, “The ultimate consumers for these diamonds are likely to be investors, collectors, celebrities and high net worth individuals.”

Duh!
Here I was thinking most went to unwed mothers looking to impress at their daycare interviews.

[PinkDiamond]

Wow! This ruling really surprises me!

Jury Rules Against Blue Nile in $60.1 Million Lawsuit
JCK Staff -- JCK Online, 11/2/2009 12:12:32 PM

"A federal jury in Seattle dismissed Blue Nile Inc.'s $60.1 million claim against The Yehuda Diamond Company following a six-day trial, reaffirming Yehuda Diamond's right to compare the prices of its clarity-enhanced diamonds to the untreated diamonds sold by online retailer Blue Nile..."

http://www.jckonline.com/article/367105 ... d=15114325

[ZeBoxx]

dare I ask why it surprises you?

I haven't read the backstory - the article linked to only gives a summary of the decision... which sounds like a basic advertising ruling.. in that any company can offer comparisons between products in advertisements as long as the information given in those advertisements is factual and reasonably actual. If The Yehuda Diamond Company held itself to such rules... no problem?

[PinkDiamond]

It's like comparing apples to oranges and selling them for the same price. I don't see how filled diamonds can be compared to ones that don't require processing to look that good. Just my because I know I wouldn't want to pay the same price for a filled stone as a natural.

[ZeBoxx]

Neither would I (I'm partial to Canadian natural diamonds as far as diamonds go) - but as long as they're honest about what they're doing, and in their comparison honest about what those they're comparing to are doing, I don't think it would be right for an established gem industry to be able to quash an upcoming (non-natural) gem business by the legal means explored in this case. I'd say let the market decide.. and I think they'll quickly find that they can't sell their stones at the same price as regular diamonds any more than fully lab-grown diamonds* now or CZ well in the past; mostly because it has already been ingrained in most people's minds that anything but natural is a 'fake'.. regardless of whether it is technically a better stone and can even look better.

* with the possible exception of the loved ones' remains-turned-diamond services.. I suspect they ask a pretty sum and, given the unique service, would likely get it too.

[PinkDiamond]

* with the possible exception of the loved ones' remains-turned-diamond services.. I suspect they ask a pretty sum and, given the unique service, would likely get it too.

LOL! Could you make that any smaller??! Good thing I still have good eyes.

Yes, they do charge a hefty sum for a created diamond; something like 10K-15K/ct if memory serves me right, and they also say they can do this from minute amounts of ashes, like a cup or something, so exactly how much of 'grandpa' is actually in there is certainly debatable, and how would you ever know he was actually in there?! There's too much room for deception in something like that, and I remember the ISG investigated the first company that started doing it and found they weren't even the ones creating the diamond, which didn't jive with their ads, and there are an awful lot of questions about them and their process, so anyone considering spending that to make grandpa into a diamond needs to remember;

LET THE BUYER BEWARE!!!

[ZeBoxx]

* with the possible exception of the loved ones' remains-turned-diamond services.. I suspect they ask a pretty sum and, given the unique service, would likely get it too.

LOL! Could you make that any smaller??!

believe it or not, that's a Size 50
This is a Size 5. oh dear.
^^ there's text there

Good thing I still have good eyes.

*grin*
Here's a tip.. hold the Ctrl key and roll your mouse scroll wheel up to zoom in on a page (or a page's text, depends on the browser), and down to zoom back out.
If you're a FireFox user, I can definitely recommend the NoSquint add-on as well - http://urandom.ca/nosquint/

they also say they can do this from minute amounts of ashes, like a cup or something, so exactly how much of 'grandpa' is actually in there is certainly debatable

yeah, there's an option to do it with a lock of hair from at least one of them - barely enough for a nucleus, so they'd probably have to mix that with other materials. As long as they're honest about that (and the little presentation slideshow seems to be), I think that's perfectly alright.

and how would you ever know he was actually in there?!

well the same goes for an urn or even a casket (unless it's got a transparent window)... not to be morbid but it wouldn't be the first time that an undertaker, funeral home, etc. switches out a body before it is committed to the Earth / furnace.

I think it comes down to trust and reputation. Could these companies be discarding the material they receive entirely and just throw the customer a generic lab-grown gem? Sure. On the other hand.. what would be the point? They have to grow the gem anyway - might as well use the materials supplied.

It is a relatively young market, though - there's no kimberley process (insofaras -that- even works the way it was intended) that applies here. Let it mature and, again, let the market decide
That said.. as they do deal with human remains in one way or another, I'd imagine they are - or at least should be - subject to a big book of regulations at least in terms of handling the material. But that would depend on the laws of the nation where it is offered - can't say I'm familiar with them for any nation

they weren't even the ones creating the diamond, which didn't jive with their ads

I would imagine most of these companies let it be handled by one of the few labs around that have the anvils - and expertise - to even perform this procedure.
A lot of the sellers on GRA are similar - buying items in bulk from a supplier in Asia, taking their word for where the raw material came from, the conditions under which it was cut, etc. and presenting that bulk supplier's word in their auction. As mentioned in another thread, there's items being sold as 'jade' that certainly aren't. There's items described as expertly cut when even the photos show the vertices of facets don't meet up.
There's a scant few that do their own work, dealing with miners (or at least mine owners/exploiters) directly.

It's false advertising, at the very least, and I hope that the company in question was told to change their advertising to reflect the true nature of their business, process, and product.
( this harks back to the previous posts regarding the commercial comparing two products )

so anyone considering spending that to make grandpa into a diamond needs to remember;

I think what people need to remember the most is that it's just carbon being used, and not really 'grandpa'... That carbon (in the nucleus) may very well once have been a part of grandpa, but before that it may have been part of a piece of weed a cow once ate which in turn was consumed by grandpa as a delicious steak.
In a way, these products are like an emotional placebo.. it's the -idea- that the ashes of a loved one were used in its creation, even if just in a small part, that brings people comfort.. and if it's what people want, and a company can offer it, then why not

[mehoose]

D'UH, is that how you read it Was thinking of wearing an optivisor
I'm BACK!!!
Yuck, on turning gramps into a stone. I'd rather make a real purdy container for the mantle, at least I know who's inside.... well I think I would...

[PinkDiamond]

Sorry to continue off topic, but this is funny to me. When Steve's mother passed on and we picked up her ashes, his brother popped open the trunk and flipped the box inside saying something to the effect of, 'hop in Mom' as he slammed the trunk closed. And on the other side of the coin, when my daughter was asked to transport her fiancee's father's ashes, she put them in the passenger seat and put the seatbelt on him. LOL!!

[Gemjunkie]

Not as funny as having to vacuum him out of the carpet if she had to brake hard.

And have to explain how he gained weight during the trip and needed a bigger urn.

[PinkDiamond]

LOL! I can see it all now....


Hunting for Diamonds in the Rough
By JEMIMA SISSONS

Looking for an Alternative to Flashy Gems, Discerning Shoppers Turn to Black Stones and Natural Cuts

"When Sarah Taylor, a 27-year-old law graduate from London, received an engagement ring, she was more than a little shocked, and not only because her boyfriend proposed on a railway platform in northern Scotland on a rainy Monday morning in March.

"It was black -- a band of tiny black diamonds, set in black gold," Ms. Taylor said. "When I finally managed to compose myself and look at the ring, it was exquisite."..."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1257470 ... lenews_wsj