De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds
The world's largest diamond miner is doing the unthinkable: Selling stones produced in a laboratory. De Beers launched a new jewelry brand on Tuesday that features synthetic diamonds, a major reversal for a company that had implored consumers to stick with "real" stones.
The brand, called Lightbox, will offer synthetic diamonds at a fraction of the price it charges for stones pulled out of the earth. De Beers framed the move as a response to consumer demands. "Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector by offering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren't getting: affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver.
[...] De Beers had been an outspoken critic of synthetic diamonds. Company executives vowed never to sell artificial stones, and it participated in the diamond industry's "real is rare" campaign. It even developed a machine that spots lab-grown stones.
Also at Bloomberg and TechCrunch.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 31 2018, @02:52PM (3 children)
The only reason I'd buy my g/f a ring is if she lost or permanently damaged one of the rings she wears presently, hand-made ones from local tribal craftsmen from various parts of the world, effectively irreplaceable as a unique piece of art with a story behind it, but we could commision something similar locally I'm sure, we are friends with several local jewelry makers (who of course have many connections, so our choice of materials and techniques isn't limited). But while she has the current ones, there's no need for a new one. God we're boring and practical, but we like it that way!
But the bling ring thing is fairly explainable - it's simple showing off, showing off your mate, that is, not the ring: "I hooked one with so many resources he can waste it on ooooh-shiny". Spendthriftiness is a classic so-called "costly signal" in human mate selection. (Which is all fun and games until the loan needs to paid off, in some cases.)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @05:56PM
You might want to look into the legal side of things you don't have covered there, things such as hospital visitation and decision making, inheritance (those 50% of your company and flats for example), offspring and maybe even taxation.
The "marriage certificate" governments offer are really about the civil union (the legal bits) part of the equation, not marriage (a religious concept). The marriage part is skippable if you aren't of a religious bent, but the civil union part protects the surviving partner's interests should disaster strike.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 31 2018, @08:26PM (1 child)
Interesting definition of "local" you have there...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday June 01 2018, @05:17AM
Unless the tribal craftsman is smeared through a large portion of space-time, they're local. Kinda redundant.