According to this
report on Bloomberg.com, Gemesis is planning on selling 1 million carats worth of man-made diamonds next year.
The major Diamond mining companies like De Beers, Anglo American and Rio are getting a little nervous. They undoubtedly come out with a marketing campaign to squeech sales of "fake" diamonds. Here's what John Teeling, founder and chairman of African Diamonds Plc. (a Dublin-based mining company in which De Beers has a stake) says.
If you meet a woman that you are going to spend the rest of your life with and have babies with, are you going to give her a diamond made in a lab in Pittsburgh or are you going to give her the real thing?
Teeling doesn't seem to be worried about it. But I own shares in Anglo American (AAUK) which owns 45% of De Beers so I am!
Synthetic diamonds cost about 70% less than real ones and you need a machine (which was developed by De Beers at a cost of $17 million) to differentiate between the two.
If your fiance or wife couldn't tell the difference would you sneak in a synthetic? Maybe justify it by paying the same price but getting a rock the size of your big toe?
Labels: personal finance
I wouldn't have a problem spending less for a synthetic diamond, and I don't think most people would. There might be a slight stigma surrounding them at first, but I think it will eventually pass.
I personally am not big on jewelry, so spending several thousand dollars on a stone isn't my idea of a good investment. That said I did buy my wife a very nice wedding ring. :)