For our anniversary I want to buy my wife diamond earrings. I bought her a lab made diamond bracelet in the past and she loved it, but said that she would rather have earth made diamonds because she wants it to retain value to pass on to our daughter.
Looking online I see many sites from jewelers that confirm what she claims, but I do not trust their bias. Is it true that man made diamonds that are considered ‘perfect’ are worth less in the long run compared to their earthen made brethren?
In: 1669
The value of diamonds is mostly set by how much people think they are worth. Diamond mines are able to extract more diamonds then people are willing to buy and man made diamonds are even cheaper yet again. The value of diamonds were propped up by a monopoly created by DeBears, and even though this monopoly is crumbling people still think diamonds are expensive and are therefore willing to pay a lot for diamonds. DeBears and all their vendors are still telling people that man made diamonds do not retain value in the same way as earth diamonds in an effort to keep the prices up. And this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy as people believe them and therefore are not willing to pay as much for second hand man made diamonds as second hand earth diamonds, not that there is a market for either.
Neither manmade or naturally occurring diamonds retain their value. The resell value of a diamond is less than the purchase.
The value of any object depends on market factors. Some of those factors are the supply available, the demand and consumer preferences.
Manmade diamonds have a virtually limitless supply which makes their market value lower than naturally occurring diamonds.
Overall for diamonds, they used to be semi-precious until a large and concerted effort by the De Beers organization advertised them as engagement rings. Hollywood and many others were employed as part of the effort.
Supply is restricted to keep processing high and public perception still causes people to believe they have value.
Buy what you like as it appears not what you think has potential future value. Most jewelry is valuable because of family ownership and nostalgia not because of resale prices.
[removed]
Earth diamonds are unlikely to retain value over the long term either.
If you want wealth to pass on to your daughter, jewelry is not the best choice. Why not just buy bars of solid gold?
[No diamonds retain value.](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/)
If you ever try to sell a Diamond you’ll find this out. In the absolute best case you’ll get maybe 50% if you can find the right buyer. 25% is a better bet.
You will not be able to sell to a jeweler, at least not without a LOT of hunting around. If you find one they’re not even going to pay you wholesale, because they have work and verification to do that they don’t with their actual suppliers. You may be able to sell to another person who does need a ring, but you’re doing a lot of legwork there and should expect to take a huge haircut on your initial “investment”.
Almost all the value in diamonds is marketing. The marketing history is also kinda hilarious. Before lab diamonds were economically viable the marketing was, paraphrased: “The most flawless Diamond is the most perfect. Buy your lady the most perfect Diamond you can afford to show her how perfect she is” and has now moved to “A natural diamond’s unique and irreplaceable journey through the ages has imparted on it unique traits to make it different from any other. Buy your lady a unique Diamond to show her how unique and irreplaceable she is”.
As a final point: If she’s planning to give it to her daughter then **all** the value to be retained is sentimental. She’s not selling it. There’s no profit. This is a family gift, so retail price and secondary market value is irrelevant.
No diamonds retain value, except super rare ones that are above a quality grade, size, or that have special rare colors.
Diamonds themselves are not very rare and are only expensive because people were fooled into thinking they are, by De Beers. The supply is artificially made scarce because there are endless amounts of new diamonds mined, used ones will never retain value.
Value is in the eye of the beholder.
Making profit on diamonds is nearly impossible as an individual, so what does it matter if you’re making a loss or big loss in value if it’s a present anyway. She’s not giving it to your daughter so your daughter can make a profit right? Otherwise don’t buy diamonds..
Lab grown diamonds are indistinguishable from earth made. The only way anyone can tell the difference is that the jeweler (upon sale) will register that diamond with you and laser engrave information into that diamond.
That information is strictly so other jewelers know to lowball prices if you try to sell it. If you can buy the stone loose and not give them a chance to laser engrave no one would ever be able to tell the difference.
Just start watching documentaries on blood diamonds and ask your future fiancé if she really wants little kids blood on her hands just for the sake of potentially selling something at a VAST discount down the road.
And this right here the marketing your wife and her friends have been spoon fed to believe. A real diamond is somehow better than a man made. Somehow a real diamond shows you love your significant other more.
Gold is the same way. It’s worth scrap value after it leaves the store.
IMHO, it’s irrelevant because you’re buying jewellery not a mutual fund. You’ll lose most of the value the second her earrings leave the store.
Get her earrings that look nice. If she’s not going to sell them in her lifetime, and doesn’t want her daughter to sell them, why does it matter what the resale value is?
Latest Answers