[JoshuaEddy]

There is similar situation in the diamond engagement ring market, of all places! NiceIce, Beyond4Cs, Yourdiamondteacher, ProsumerDiamonds -- all affiliate marketing blogs that drive a lot of sales. No lawsuit yet to reveal the inner workings, but undoubtedly there is the same shadiness.

[rypskar]

The whole jewelry diamond market is shady and should be boycotted. It is a shame that many still fall for the marketing and think diamonds are rare

[msla]

The fact diamonds can't be tracked means they're all, effectively, blood diamonds, given that everyone in the chain has a huge incentive for people to believe they're not and absolutely nobody has any incentive to tell the truth about them if they are.

Lying about whether a diamonds is a blood diamond is the only move which makes sense, so everyone must assume every diamond is a blood diamond, as it is impossible to prove otherwise.

[Retric]

Owners of non conflict diamonds have an incentive to demonstrate otherwise.

However, the massive diamond glut means DeBeers has an incentive to buy up conflict diamond using proceeds from regular diamond sales. Which arguably makes all natural diamonds blood diamonds more directly.

[msla]

> Owners of non conflict diamonds have an incentive to demonstrate otherwise.

Right, but because diamonds can't be tracked, they're indistinguishable from the good liars who want to pass off blood diamonds as good ones.

> However, the massive diamond glut means DeBeers has an incentive to buy up conflict diamond using proceeds from regular diamond sales. Which arguably makes all natural diamonds blood diamonds more directly.

This is also a very good point.

[pbhjpbhj]

>diamonds can't be tracked //

That's a little surprising to me, don't minerals usually have characteristic chemical fingerprints that allow them to be located once the "fingerprint" has been established?

Doing a quick search now, eg https://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i18/Fingerprinting-Conflict-..., suggests I'm right in this assumption?

[msla]

That's a proposal, one, and, two, it doesn't mention anything about diamonds being tracked that way, only other ores. An important thing to do, but not entirely relevant to the discussion at hand.

My knowledge comes from my knowledge of what people have said about Brilliant Earth, which charges a premium based on the notion that its diamonds come from Canada.

https://iwantwhatitsworth.com/blog/brilliant-earth-diamond-s...

> Small problem: Everyone who’s worked in the diamond industry—for more than a week—knows tracking diamonds all the way to the mine is flat out impossible.

The only other info I can find says that diamonds could theoretically be tracked, but not in any way which implies they'd be tracked chemically, just that they could be tracked through a supply chain, in a way ultimately dependent on the goodwill and honesty of the diamond industry

https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-article/brilliant-earth-...

> Second, the video is incorrect when it states baldly, “Diamonds can’t be tracked.” It is true, there is nothing gemologically in a diamond that offers any proof of origin, as there sometimes is with colored stones. But there is no reason that diamonds can’t be tracked. Bananas are tracked. Coffee is tracked.

> If a manufacturer buys directly from a specific mine, establishing a diamond’s origin should be relatively easy. All it has to do is segregate those specific goods and then make its systems open to audit. For an extra 2 to 3 percent, I can’t imagine many manufacturers would have much problem doing that. (There are probably some manufacturers that would eat the diamonds if it meant an extra 2 to 3 percent. But that’s another story.)

> So just because diamonds haven’t been tracked traditionally doesn’t mean that is not possible—or that companies aren’t currently doing it. In addition to Brilliant Earth, the Forevermark, Canadamark, and Rio Tinto’s new Canadian and Australian diamond programs all make provenance claims.

I think I've made my case as to why I doubt this would be sufficient.

[ocfnash]

Possibly a good time to plug moissanite again: http://diamondssuck.com

[IgorPartola]

Odd. The arguments all make sense, but the prices I am seeing are nowhere near the quoted ones. Have the prices on moissanite jewelry been jacked up since this site was created or something?

[reverend_gonzo]

There's a wide range of prices. More often than not, you'll end up buying one that is custom made in an American lab, so it might not be exactly cheap, though it is cheaper than an equivalent diamond.

We bought moissanite because I absolutely refuse to support the diamond industry in any way. For what its worth, friends of our who are obsessed with image can't tell the difference.

[pbhjpbhj]

Is the sting in the tale (sic) that DeBeers (or its major shareholders) owns the moissanite company/production/patents and created the competition to secure both sides of the market?

[geoelectric]

Moissanite is largely (completely?) controlled by Charles & Covard, at least in the US. I don't see anything online indicating any crossover with DeBeers.