Lab grown diamonds?

Way back in 1963 when we got engaged, the "rule of thumb" for a ring was equal to one months pay. Just starting out that wasn't very much but did get a .33 caret diamond. On our 50th anniversary 8 years ago she kept the same stone but we had it reset and added an Anniversary ring of 5, .20 stones for a caret total with the original stone is 1.33 caret.
 
1st, Be certain you are getting a Lab-created diamond.
Cubic Zirconia (CZ) is a fancy glass diamond simulant, FAKE
Moissanite is a diamond substitute, NOT a diamond.
Synthetic diamond, nope, Run Forrest, Run
Lab created diamonds are real diamonds. They are also called Lab-grown diamonds. They can be certified by the Gemology Institute of America (GIA)
This is a good information link
https://www.bluenile.com/education/diamonds/lab-grown-diamonds

Or as someone else mentioned, check the pawnshops! They can guarantee that the stones are diamonds. But not likely that they can tell you if it is a natural or lab created diamond (There is a machine that can test for the difference but it costs around $25,000)
 
Pisgah said:
Diamonds are the biggest hoax on the planet. Just about the most common mineral on the planet, the high prices are completely due to the monopolistic nature of the diamond trade and the DeBeers company.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if someone was going to point this out!

They also came up with the "two months salary" thing.
 
Often, you can find diamonds for sale locally. The problem is, figuring if they are real or fake. When I married the first bride, Pop gave me a diamond ring from his family. Long story short, I lost that ring.

When I remarried, I shopped around. Found a jewelry store in town (Cleveland, Ohio) that had bought a bunch of loose stones from a store that went out of business. Got a good deal on the stone, the ring and the bride. 30 years with this one.

As for size of the stone, the sales lady commented, "Diamonds are like sex, it's never too big." I nearly died when she said that!

Kevin
 
I agree with Rusty's suggestion to follow Pawngal's advice. Looking forward to her post.

My second son is getting close to an engagement so we've been discussing this. I sent him a recent article I read written by a gal who had, with her encouragement, received a bicycle as an engagement gift from her betrothed. So, do whatever — within reason — makes your betrothed happy.

The older I get, the less I am into folowing conventions. We're only here for a short time. If we're lucky enough to find our soulmates, we should do whatever feels right for the relationship, not what we imagine others expect of us.

(Now, having said all that, my son's fiance is an exec with a famous luxury brand, so I am pretty sure she ain't going with a bicycle!)

Best of luck, Farmer. I have enjoyed watching your relationship develop!
 
There is a thriving market in used diamonds. In fact most of the diamonds you see at a jewelry store are recycled. If you took one to a pawnshop and got pennies on the dollar, that was your ignorance, not the diamonds fault. True, DeBeers does control the supply, which is why diamonds hold their value. Go to your friendly neighborhood diamond merchant and you will get a fair price. He probably has a beard and wears a prayer shawl.
Why do you think diamonds are so popular in criminal enterprises?
 
I bought an Eternity Ring that was made with Lab Created Diamonds. Very nice ring and about a 1/5 the cost of natural diamonds in lesser color and clarity. Wife is happy, but lab created diamonds look perfect and the larger, the more obvious they look too perfect. This ring has about 12 diamonds and is 2 carats in total weight. Married 33 years and counting!

For the wedding ring, I bought the wife a 1 carat solitaire and added two half carat stones to the side in a new mount a few years after we were married. The diamonds were 2nd hand and the are all D color and SI2 in clarity, but the cut was a modern cut. Vintage diamonds may have a cut that may not match modern cuts and look different. Saved over 1/2 what similar diamonds from jewelry stores or other dealers wanted.

You need to study the 4 Cs (Cut, Clarity, Carat, Color). Certified diamonds are now the norm and they have a standard market value like guns, gold, etc. Get and idea what she wants, what you think is reasonable, and surprise her. Women love good surprises!
 
Be unconventional! Forget the diamonds as there are many other gems stones out there. Look at rubies, sapphires or emeralds as a start. We both liked the colored gem stones and my wife's engagement ring was a deep blue sapphire to match her eyes. Over the years she now gotten a ruby and an emerald so she can now take her pick on what color to wear to match her outfit or mood.
 
Diamonds, natural and synthetic, do not show up on an exray. All the female techs I worked with made sure theirs passed the test.
As far as real value goes, diamonds are probably one of the worse investments an individual can make. We've been well trained to think otherwise by the most success ad campaign in history... "diamonds are forever".

John
 
Well, seeing how this is wedding #3 (congratulations by the way!), I'm not sure I would get her ANY kind of gun. Only because of my 1st two joyous journeys in Holy Matrimony.
My #25 years of Heavenly bliss comes sometime this year, I think November, so I'll be hunting for a diamond SOMETHING. I really have to remember that date. I hope it's November, I think the 31st.
 
Around 50 years ago, my best friend's father worked at a General Electric facility in Columbus, Ohio that made industrial diamonds. It was a very high-security location. He told me that they used huge hydraulic presses, but not exactly how the process worked. At the time, they produced only industrial-grade stones used for cutting and grinding tools, not gemstones. It appears that lab-made diamond technology has come a very long way in the last fifty years. A Brief History of Lab-Grown Diamonds - International Gem Society

Just my opinion, but given that lab-made diamonds are chemically and in crystalline structure identical twins to natural diamonds, and can be graded and GIA-certified using the exact same procedures and standards as natural diamonds, why would anyone of rational mind spend even a penny extra to buy an otherwise equivalent natural diamond? But many people are not rational.
 
Last edited:
Simply get a hand exercise machine,, and make your own.

Trust me, she will be more impressed with DIY than any store-bought diamond,,

Here is the how-to video,,

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RD-mRB_nCc[/ame]

The added bonus is that new-found strength will make you more accurate with a Model 629,,
 
The engagement/wedding rings from my last marriage came from my pawnshop. Appraisal is $15,000+. They are for sale in the shop now for $5000. Center diamond is .85ct.
Pawnshop paid $1500 for them.
That is to give you an idea of the different price points.
 

Attachments

  • IMG-7280.jpg
    IMG-7280.jpg
    98.4 KB · Views: 30
I suspect that the lab-made diamonds will eventually replace natural diamonds in the retail market and the competition will force the pricing of natural diamonds down significantly. Most everyone knows that for a long time the market dominance of the DeBeers diamond cartel was the only reason that diamonds were expensive. It seems that DeBeers became aware of the threat as they no longer control the market and now have their own line of lab-made diamonds.
 
Last edited:
I am amazed that folks steeped in all the nuances of S&W collecting wonder that people would prefer a natural diamond over a man-made diamond. What is the difference between original finish and reblue? Why all the fuss over some penciled numbers inside the grips?

Diamonds are like guns, they is or they ain't.
 
My dad and brother both retired from Cincinnati Milacron. One of the largest divisions there was the grinding wheel plant. They produced wheels from tiny to titanic. They used a staggering amount of synthetic diamonds. Security was tight.
 
Well a lab grown diamond is identical to a diamond that has been growing in the ground a million years and no one can tell the difference except an expert with optical magnification. So if I could get a brand new Registered Magnum for 800 bucks that shot as well and had the smooth action and polish and only an expert with a magnifying glass could tell that it wasn't an original, I would buy it fairly quickly. It wouldn't bother me a bit that it wasn't actually made in the 1930s but I guess some people it would.
 
Last edited:
Heinz said:
Go to your friendly neighborhood diamond merchant and you will get a fair price. He probably has a beard and wears a prayer shawl.
Click to expand...
I have been in the NYC diamond district a few times (not as a customer), and Cleveland has (or had) a similar area but on a smaller scale. And most of the diamond merchants are indeed Jewish. I earlier stated that we bought my wife's engagement ring stone at one of them in Cleveland. The guy had trays of hundreds of loose diamonds of all sizes, seems to me that they would be big targets for theft.

I worked for a short period in Colombia. Most know that Colombia is well known for its emeralds. Wife and I decided we had to buy an emerald before we returned to the states, so we visited a recommended emerald shop in Bogota. When we went inside and told the guy what we wanted to see, he invited us into a back room to see his selection. He must have had millions worth of loose cut emeralds in a safe, all sorted by size and color. He locked the store door behind us, and there was a guard with a shotgun with us the whole time. We picked out and bought a fairly good-looking deep green stone of around one carat and took it back home. I gave it to my mother, and she had it made into a ring. When she died I got the ring and still have it. I have no idea what its monetary value is today. In fact, I don't remember what I paid for it, which was close to 50 years ago.
 
Last edited:
Years back I heard an "expert"on the radio claiming Debeers was holding back on the supply of diamonds available.
He said if they were to release their stockpile the values would plummet.
I know little about diamonds. I bought my bride a smaller size diamond ring. I had little money(still don't:))
Thing I disliked buying diamonds is you are relying on someone else's opinion on what it's worth.
Then there is the outlandish profit margins.
 
It looks as though DeBeers has been dethroned from its long-time market dominance position for some time. It presently has only about a 30% diamond market share, about the same as the Russian Alrosa mining conglomerate. The balance is composed of numerous smaller diamond interests. DeBeers apparently sold off most of its once-huge diamond inventory about 20 years ago, mainly to Asia (China? India? Japan?). So it can no longer control diamond prices to nearly the same extent as it formerly did.
 
Last edited:
As in #52 above, Hypothetically, say that S&W went into production today of a Registered Magnum which was in every respect identical to one made in 1938, except for its serial number. Unlikely but certainly possible. If it existed, how would you value it in comparison to an original RM in as-new condition? And why? That is essentially the situation in comparing a lab-grown diamond to a mined diamond of the same quality, weight, and cut.
 
Last edited:
Narragansett said:
OK here is what I know about diamonds, besides being too expensive. Color, cut and clarity. I took some man made diamonds to my jeweler and he wanted NOTHING to do with them. Said they were worth nothing and he will not deal in them. Somebody that wants 5500.oo for a lab diamond is selling you just the gold, according to my jeweler.

2Karat is overboard IMHO. I would be looking for a 3/4 to 1 K, Color D, VS1 rated if you want a fine stone, and that will cost you plenty.

Everybody knows a guy who knows a guy. Buy a loose diamond based on getting appraisal before you buy and have it set. If you can follow that and get the appraisal, you can save a ton of money. There is at least a 400% markup in jewelry. so think about in the 5500 fake diamond a 400% is worth just the gold. Gold is 1850.00 or thereabouts an ounce.

Do your homework!!!
Click to expand...

As a sidebar, a Colt collector friend told me years ago that since about 1874, a standard new Colt Single-Action Army revolver has historically been of approximate equal value to an ounce of gold, even with inflation.
He said that a $20 gold piece would always buy a new Colt SAA, and it still will.
 
Last edited:
smoothshooter said:
As a sidebar, a Colt collector friend told me years ago that since about 1874, a standard new Colt Single-Action Army revolver has historically been of approximate equal value to an ounce of gold, even with inflation.
He said that a $20 gold piece would always buy a new Colt SAA, and it still will.
Click to expand...
That has been a saying in the Colt collector community for as long as I can remember.
 
Narragansett said:
OK here is what I know about diamonds, besides being too expensive. Color, cut and clarity. I took some man made diamonds to my jeweler and he wanted NOTHING to do with them. Said they were worth nothing and he will not deal in them. Somebody that wants 5500.oo for a lab diamond is selling you just the gold, according to my jeweler.

2Karat is overboard IMHO. I would be looking for a 3/4 to 1 K, Color D, VS1 rated if you want a fine stone, and that will cost you plenty.

Everybody knows a guy who knows a guy. Buy a loose diamond based on getting appraisal before you buy and have it set. If you can follow that and get the appraisal, you can save a ton of money. There is at least a 400% markup in jewelry. so think about in the 5500 fake diamond a 400% is worth just the gold. Gold is 1850.00 or thereabouts an ounce.

Do your homework!!!
Click to expand...

How did your jeweler determine that the stones were man-made "diamonds"? Does he have one of the $25,000 machines from GIA to test? Or were you duped when you got the loose stones? There are plenty of kinds of Fake Diamonds.
The normal diamond testers will test the lab-grown stones as diamonds because they are diamonds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

DARE
.44 Hand Ejector, 2nd Model Rescue
Replies
9
Views
1K
The Gila Bender
The Gila Bender
DARE
  • Poll Poll
A Provenance Story
Replies
14
Views
2K
Jay Hall
J
glshuck
New to me nickel 19 no dash, and some questions for the experts
2
Replies
36
Views
2K
Gun Relics
Gun Relics
CAJUNLAWYER
Caje's Joke O D day
2
Replies
41
Views
2K
pineappleshooter
pineappleshooter
walkin jack
Childhood memories
2
Replies
40
Views
2K
pmanton
pmanton

Latest posts

Back
Top