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#1 2008-09-15 4:40 am
- uncreativename
- Member

- From: Chicago (Bucktown)
- Registered: 2001-09-10
- Posts: 852
- Website
Diamonds
Would anyone here not buy a diamond engagement ring because they are against the diamond mining and debeers industry?
Would anyone get a moissanite ring for that special person instead?
Patience comes to those who wait.
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#2 2008-09-15 5:25 am
- Nefarious
- Potato Masher
- Moderator

- Registered: 2002-09-30
- Posts: 6733
Re: Diamonds
My brother got a sapphire ring instead, although that might have been their wedding ring.
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#3 2008-09-15 5:52 am
- Donkey Butter
- jerk face

- From: over yonder
- Registered: 2005-12-14
- Posts: 2302
Re: Diamonds
I think anyone thinking of getting anything other then a diamond should have a talk with their intended fiancé before making a purchase.
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#4 2008-09-15 6:21 am
Re: Diamonds
Donkey Butter wrote:
I think anyone thinking of getting anything other then a diamond should have a talk with their intended fiancé before making a purchase.
I have to agree. If she's expecting the real deal and fines out she got something manmade, it might not be pretty.
There are a lot of women that don't care what they get, but I'd bet there are a lot more that do. If they didn't, the jewelry business wouldn't be doing so well.
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#5 2008-09-15 7:20 am
- mrreet2001
- Member

- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 2614
Re: Diamonds
A diamond is forever ... do you really want to look like an smurf forever.
2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)---Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)---1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac ---500Mhz iMac DV
2.4GHz PC --- 1.2Ghz PC laptop
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#6 2008-09-15 8:24 am
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator

- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 16800
Re: Diamonds
I agree with jerk face and justine. 
Most of the newly-engaged women I know have/demand more input into the ring selection process than the person buying it.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#7 2008-09-15 9:09 am
Re: Diamonds
I would. And I wouldn't discuss it, neither. If the proposed fails to understand my viewpoint instantly and without it being mentioned, I'd obviously have picked the wrong one.
In fact, I would think I'd picked the wrong one if she wouldn't freak out over being offered an actual blood diamond.
.tsooJ
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#8 2008-09-15 9:19 am
- macnuke
- just a plano guy
- Moderator

- From: North Dallas 40
- Registered: 2004-05-16
- Posts: 6605
Re: Diamonds
http://www.brilliantearth.com/loosediam … swodDS6VDQ
then again, its canada 
" ...But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
Lee Iacocca
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#9 2008-09-15 9:36 am
- user
- Your plastic pal who's fun to be with

- From: I'm not getting you down, am I
- Registered: 2001-10-15
- Posts: 14472
Re: Diamonds
Give her a ring set with a vial of your own blood.
Kinda appropriate, anyway...
Aw, he's no fun, he fell right over.
Unless you become as little children, there's no way you will believe this crap.
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#10 2008-09-15 12:27 pm
- Jdude
- Surfing on waterboarders

- From: Home is where the war is
- Registered: 2003-02-03
- Posts: 2152
Re: Diamonds
I proposed with a ring made of legos. No diamonds involved.
The problem I have with discussing freedom is that people have been conditioned to expect "of me to tell you what to do" to follow it... inevitably they notice I don't ever get to that part, and they feel like I am trying to trick them.
Sometimes before replying to a topic, I think to myself: I am just so original!
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#11 2008-09-15 12:46 pm
- user
- Your plastic pal who's fun to be with

- From: I'm not getting you down, am I
- Registered: 2001-10-15
- Posts: 14472
Re: Diamonds
Or a cheap ring from a cracker back jox!
(obscure Firesign reference)
Aw, he's no fun, he fell right over.
Unless you become as little children, there's no way you will believe this crap.
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#12 2008-09-15 12:56 pm
Re: Diamonds
macnuke wrote:
http://www.brilliantearth.com/loosediam … swodDS6VDQ
then again, its canada
I agree - see if you can source a diamond that came from a mine that wasn't operated by slaves. It'll cost more, but you can rest easy knowing the poor soul who pulled that shiny rock out of the earth was paid a fair wage. Diamonds from Canadian mines are almost certainly going to be guilt-free.
As for the diamond industry jacking up the price a thousand-fold, well, blame the market. 
"I'd rather be told, 'Have a nice day.' by someone who doesn't mean it, than 'F*** you!' by someone who does." - Lewis Black
www.rebel-cycles.com - Purveyor of fine recumbent bicycles
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#13 2008-09-15 1:04 pm
- Robert B.
- Reality Deficient

- From: The pit of despair
- Registered: 1999-03-09
- Posts: 10139
Re: Diamonds
I hear there are eco-tours or vacations I can take to a blood diamond mine where I can beat my own mine worker until he finds me a suitable diamond. I'd totally be into that.
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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#14 2008-09-15 1:08 pm
- Pithecanthropus
- Roast Master

- From: St. Cloud, MN
- Registered: 2002-12-30
- Posts: 3611
- Website
Re: Diamonds
If you've ever looked into the history behind the diamond engagement ring, you'd never buy one. DeBeers invented that whole idea and as a result changed an entire culture. In the past a simple, silver band was given upon engagement and traded for a gold band upon marriage. DeBeers came along and changed all that. It is, IMHO, the single most successful marketing campaign in the history of the world.
I will not buy diamonds.
Grandfatherly advice: You can drink 'em pretty, but you can't drink 'em smart.
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#15 2008-09-15 1:17 pm
- pottymouth
- Uncreative
- Moderator

- From: JP, MA
- Registered: 2002-02-06
- Posts: 17021
- Website
Re: Diamonds
My wife and I exchanged titanium bands and nothing else. Diamonds are too gaudy.
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#16 2008-09-15 1:50 pm
Re: Diamonds
pottymouth wrote:
My wife and I exchanged titanium bands and nothing else. Diamonds are too gaudy.
Both of my wife's rings are titanium, and though they both have diamonds they're very small - not tacky at all. My ring is made of tungsten carbide.
"I'd rather be told, 'Have a nice day.' by someone who doesn't mean it, than 'F*** you!' by someone who does." - Lewis Black
www.rebel-cycles.com - Purveyor of fine recumbent bicycles
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#17 2008-09-15 4:38 pm
- D'Eyncourt
- OMGDICTATOR

- Registered: 2001-12-27
- Posts: 8204
- Website
Re: Diamonds
Pithecanthropus wrote:
If you've ever looked into the history behind the diamond engagement ring, you'd never buy one. DeBeers invented that whole idea and as a result changed an entire culture. In the past a simple, silver band was given upon engagement and traded for a gold band upon marriage. DeBeers came along and changed all that. It is, IMHO, the single most successful marketing campaign in the history of the world.
[snip]
Read that story here.
Note that this article was written in 1982 but we have yet to see a disruption of the diamond market caused by artificial ones.
BOYCOTT SONY
"I think the question now is not whether you went to Vietnam or whether you didn't, whether you fought in the war or fought against the war. I think the only question is whether we can find a president smart enough never to make a mistake like that again"--Molly Ivins, way back in 1992
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#18 2008-09-15 5:34 pm
- Fried Chicken
- Member

- From: Good question - keeps changing
- Registered: 2003-11-17
- Posts: 4510
Re: Diamonds
Pithecanthropus wrote:
If you've ever looked into the history behind the diamond engagement ring, you'd never buy one. DeBeers invented that whole idea and as a result changed an entire culture. In the past a simple, silver band was given upon engagement and traded for a gold band upon marriage. DeBeers came along and changed all that. It is, IMHO, the single most successful marketing campaign in the history of the world.
I will not buy diamonds.
Yep. Those people are geniuses. But what is there to do? Not buying diamonds is fine, but you will be placing yourself in an interesting position.


Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's right. Just because something is illegal, doesn't mean it's wrong.
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#19 2008-09-15 6:08 pm
- Farmerkev
- Official Dementor
- Moderator
- Registered: 2003-01-03
- Posts: 16602
Re: Diamonds
If she wants a diamond, buy the diamond.
Minithink isn't a "to the death" cage match.
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#20 2008-09-15 10:09 pm
- Chickenhawk
- Friends don't let friends hunt drunk

- From: The bad air state
- Registered: 2005-06-01
- Posts: 4875
Re: Diamonds
There are stones out there which are more precious and more stunning than a boring white diamond. The thing though, is that you can't get a different rock just for saving money. Some women might insist on the diamond still. In that case, you're stuck.
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#21 2008-09-15 11:07 pm
- Arc
- Oh my God.

- Registered: 2000-12-19
- Posts: 2198
Re: Diamonds
Alien wrote:
I would think I'd picked the wrong one if she wouldn't freak out over being offered an actual blood diamond.
Admins! I've been waiting for you!
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#22 2008-09-15 11:36 pm
- Robert B.
- Reality Deficient

- From: The pit of despair
- Registered: 1999-03-09
- Posts: 10139
Re: Diamonds
Farmerkev wrote:
If she wants a diamond, buy the diamond.
Bitch, you take what I give you and you like it!
"Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb."
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#23 2008-09-16 1:13 am
Re: Diamonds
If you have qualms about giving her a diamond and she has palpitations about not getting one...you two shouldn't be getting married! It's the first sign of "social conscience vs. social climber."
...having nothing in them of the feelings or principles of '76, now look to a single and splendid government of an aristocracy, founded on banking institutions and moneyed incorporations under the guise and cloak of their favored branches of manufactures, commerce and navigation, riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beggared yeomanry. -- TJ
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#24 2008-09-16 4:20 am
Re: Diamonds
Chickenhawk wrote:
Some women might insist on the diamond still. In that case, you're stuck.
Stuck with the wrong woman, that is.
.tsooJ
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#25 2008-09-16 7:03 am
- Chickenhawk
- Friends don't let friends hunt drunk

- From: The bad air state
- Registered: 2005-06-01
- Posts: 4875
Re: Diamonds
Alien wrote:
Chickenhawk wrote:
Some women might insist on the diamond still. In that case, you're stuck.
Stuck with the wrong woman, that is.
.tsooJ
In my case, I certainly would have to agree.
Sounds way too much like the woman one of my cousins married, who threw the ring in her then to-be mother-in-law's face because she "wanted something new". Meanwhile, this ring was something crafted by my great grandfather, who was a master jeweler. Why anybody would do such a thing is beyond me.
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