Natural Vs. Synthetic Gemstones.

[Tulune]

How much is that pile worth?

Awesome looking stones.

Not too much, because most of them have too many flaws and cracks, they would not hold up well in a setting. However, I don't set any of my gemstones, so I go for color and character.

[Kalis]

Of how about you offer HIM an engagement ring, if you're so stuck in such traditions?
The idea of an engagement ring is ancient, sure. The idea of an engagement ring having a high cost is also pretty old (though not exactly ancient), and is a symbol of marriage being a business deal. It has no romantic significance; it shows the father of the prospective bride that the father of the prospective groom is rich, and so he would benefit by pretty much selling his daughter into marriage with the young man who's pretty much being sold off into marriage by his father.

If you want to be romantic about it, make your own rings (pretty easy, too), with things like horn, stainless steel and other pretty materials. Or get wrist-band tattoos. Or something. Something that is really a symbol of love. Don't just demand the man to be an archaic sacrificial moneybag, or the woman to be bought goods.

"A monkey with a golden ring is still a pretty ugly thing."

I'm a heterosexual male, so why would I buy a man an engagement ring?

Getting married has had romantic significance since forever - marrying their sweetheart is the theme of many stories, e.g. Romeo & Juliet is a variation of it - and getting engaged is the physical symbol of the promise to get married, so an engagement ring does have romantic significance and it is irrelevant that it doesn't always represent romance.

Nothing I said was false...unlike the linked video, which claimed De Beers invented the idea, whereas all they did was popularise it.

[Yunru]

You know guys...i love gems..even if they are pixels:

[Tulune]

More gems! Most are natural, some synthetic, all pretty.

[lockedout]

are they really worth the price just so you can wear them on your finger?

No and they also don't hold their value, I would rather have gold.

[Cosmic Janitor]

No and they also don't hold their value, I would rather have gold.

Gold doesn't hold it's value anymore either, the gold prices are vastly inflated atm and can go down any time.

And regarding a tattoo as a ring: Do people still think tattoos are permanent and can't be removed? It's painfull but you can always get removed with lasers. As long as you don't have somone paint the mona lisa on your ass and back it is even affortable.

[Tastyfish]

Are we talking totally fake, Not of the earth made, or enhanced via radiation or some other thing, kind of synthetic?
Or are all those on the list?

[lockedout]

Gold doesn't hold it's value anymore either, the gold prices are vastly inflated atm and can go down any time.

Gold has held its value for thousands of years, I don't think you know what you're talking about.

[Cyberowl]

Gold has held its value for thousands of years, I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Well, there was a gold price crash a year ago I think? Gold's reputation of being the perfect investment took a scratch.

[TirielWoW]

((Note, this is coming from a male who’s by no means ageologist, or a gemologist.))

I don’t really see why people will spend thousands more fora “natural” gem when their “grown” counterparts are indistinguishable from thereal thing. It’s like saying; “Hey, this car costs fifteen thousand dollarsmore, but it has cup holders!”

Frankly, if I’m looking for gems for any reason; and maybe I’mjust a bit new-fashion, but it seems a bit ridicules to dwell on where theycame from, and instead focus on what they look like.

Some people actually like the look of natural gems as opposed to lab-created gems. There are generally going to be flaws in a natural gem that you won't find in a LC gem, but some people really like those flaws. I have a co worker who prefers natural to lab-created, despite the price difference, because she likes the look of a slightly flawed gemstone.

And even I won't touch a simulated gemstone. :-P

The real question is why people place such value on shiny rocks, yes diamonds have their industrial uses but are they really worth the price just so you can wear them on your finger?

Jewelry, like everything else in this world, has no real intrinsic value. Its value is whatever people are willing to pay for it. This includes diamonds (although it is true that they, and other gemstones, have a variety of uses in other fields).

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Some of this is simply inaccurate.

It is true that diamonds are relatively common, but only 2% of those diamonds are what is referred as "Jewelry grade." They either have too many flaws in them (i.e. no clarity) or they are the wrong color. Even that 2% is primarily made up of very clouded (occluded) or colored diamonds that people simply don't want. (It should be noted that some colored diamonds are actually quite in demand - "fancy colored" diamonds, which can come in a rainbow of colors, have become very popular in the last decade or so, but they're so difficult to find - making up a fraction of that 2% - that the truly good quality ones are also really expensive because of the demand.)

When you buy a diamond, the price you pay is only partially related to the weight (or carats) of the diamond. You're also paying for the clarity of the diamond (how much "fire" it has), the color of the diamond (the closer to colorless the diamond gets, the more expensive it becomes, and because colorless and near-colorless diamonds are very rare, the price rises astronomically as you go up the scale). Then you pay for the "artistry," which is basically how much work the maker put into the ring you're buying, and how excellently cut the diamond is. A poor cut can destroy the diamond.

The truth is, nothing in jewelry - not gold, not silver, not amethysts, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, or anything else - has an "intrinsic" value. There is no divine deity saying, "This piece of jewelry is worth this amount." You do not need a gold ring to survive, nor do you need a diamond to fix you. The value of a piece of jewelry is in what people are willing to pay for it - no more, and no less.

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Are we talking totally fake, Not of the earth made, or enhanced via radiation or some other thing, kind of synthetic?
Or are all those on the list?

I believe he's talking about lab-created gemstones, which have the same chemical composition and traits as a found gemstone (try telling the difference between a high quality natural emerald and a high quality lab-created emerald).

With synthetics, the only traits they share with the natural variety is the color, and even then I can normally tell the difference (there's something about the hue and brilliance of the synthetics that looks "off" to me).

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As a loose gemstone collector, I prefer natural, flawed gemstones myself. They have more character, imho. Plus not all gemstones can be lab grown.
Here is some lower grade cut tourmaline from my personal collection. Imperfect but beautiful (and cheap!).

Oh wow, those are beautiful. :S I'm so sad that my store doesn't have any tourmalines in it. I think we can order them online, but we don't have any in our cases that I know of.

[lockedout]

Well, there was a gold price crash a year ago I think? Gold's reputation of being the perfect investment took a scratch.

The market fluctuates but it has always held it's value unlike our current currency for instance.

[Rooflesstoofless]

Hmmmm....

My wedding ring is tungsten and I think my wife got it for less than $100.
My wife's wedding ring has hardly anything in the way of precious stones and most of the cost was from it being custom designed by her and I.

Really, if gemstones meant more than a single shit when it comes to marriage and commitment then every NBA and rock star would still be married to their first wife.

[Charge me Doctor]

Haven't watched a video, but in Russia, traditionally engagement ring has no gems. I haven't really realized that gems is a thing for engagement rings

[Cosmic Janitor]

The market fluctuates but it has always held it's value unlike our current currency for instance.

http://goldprice.org/30-year-gold-price-history.html
Dirt has always some value as well, everything does. During the last financial crysis last year gold prices inflated alot, because people still follow the ridiculous rule of thumb that gold is stable. It isn't, nothing is.

[RapBreon]

Haven't watched a video, but in Russia, engagement ring wears you!

I'm sorry I couldn't help myself.