Man-made Diamonds

So, last night me and the boyfriend were watching mythbusters and they started trying to make their own diamonds.  I decided to look up man made diamonds online...um turns out they're really cheap.  A 1ct loose stone is about 250$.

My question is, do you think it's acceptable to get a man made diamond for an engagement/wedding ring?  To me,  it looks the same, costs a lot less, and the money can be spent on something more important (like a house). 

Just figured this was a topic for discussion as man made diamonds haven't exactly broken into the jewelry market much.

Better than contributing to the diamond industry in Africa...

i'd skip the ring all together.  it's a symbol of patriarchy and the history of women as property.  i think of engagement rings as the human equivalent of peeing on tree.

wow that last post was pretty intense. I honestly have looked at these "fake" diamonds and I think they are beautiful, I actually mentioned to my bf that I wouldn't care if he wanted to get me those since they actually can have more sparkle than a real one.

I don't think it matters what kind of ring you have as long as you are both happy with it.

Peeing on a tree, give me a break!

if you prefer, it's like staking a claim.  marking territory, claiming ownership, whatever.  when men are expected to wear them, i'll reconsider.

What happened to proclaiming one's love for one another, or would that be to romantic?

Edit:  If you want to discuss the meaning of engagement rings start a new thread, this one is about diamonds.

I don't think that most women who want to get married feel that they have to wear a ring.  They want to wear the ring.  They like the ring.  And in this day and age, if they don't want to wear a ring, they don't have to.

As for the man-made question, it doesn't matter to me.  I've got a nice ring (that I like and like to wear) and don't need or want any more jewelry anyhow.

I don't care about the whole symbolism thing but I have to tell you, if one of your main concerns is what kind of diamond you get, you're pretty much a b'tch.

I think if you're both in agreement on the man-made diamond, get the man-made diamond. Ostentatious engagement rings always struck me as being the woman's version of a man's big red overcompensation sports car.

Now, when I die, make me one of these. Literally.

i don't know that i'd call it being a b*tch...perhaps if it's THE main concern i suppose.

but I do agree that there are MANY MANY more important things to spend money on rather than a stone.

Original Post by dreadfulpenny:

Now, when I die, make me one of these. Literally.

i wonder how much fossil-fuel energy it takes to turn human remains into diamonds.

not to mention - ew.

I find it's very acceptable, like previously said, better that than to encourage the diamond killings...

Also you can look into the canadian certified diamonds... They are real diamonds and a bit more expensive that the regular ones...that's what I have and I absolutely love it...and I'm not feeling bad when I look at it as I would surely do if it was a regular diamond coming from I don't know where...

I like the real thing.  Even with other stones.  I know with the emeralds you can tell the difference

Whereas it makes a zillion times more sense to pump human bodies full of embalming chemicals and put them in hermetically sealed boxes to not-rot in the ground. Or to use that fossil-fuel energy to cremate them.

It's not like the diamond drips ichor, and if you're going to have a blood diamond, have it with donor blood.

Original Post by jasmine62:

I like the real thing.  Even with other stones.  I know with the emeralds you can tell the difference

Even when it's at the cost of someone's life?

I think making myself into a diamond is pretty awesome.  it'll get a little creepy if you have a whole jewelry set out of relatives, but i'd still go for it nevertheless.  I agree that embalming is a strange process, plus with all this talk about stealing organs from dead bodies and such (not that i'll have any to steal since i'm going to donate anything that's usable) freaks me out a hell of a lot more than being made into a diamond. 

I think it's perfectly acceptable to get a man-made diamond ring especially considering the pricing and ethical practices of diamond industry.  I was really excited to hear a while back on NPR about diamonds with certificates telling you were they came from because the diamond mining industry does horrible horrible things in africa still.

Original Post by dreadfulpenny:

Whereas it makes a zillion times more sense to pump human bodies full of embalming chemicals and put them in hermetically sealed boxes to not-rot in the ground. Or to use that fossil-fuel energy to cremate them. 

i wanna be either compost or a med-school cadaver.

btw, canadian certified diamonds are "the real thing."  they're just from canada, where the people who do the mining are protected.

on the "staking a claim" thing... I've seen more couples recently where the man has worn his wedding band after the engagement (pre-marriage) and the woman has worn her engagement ring or wedding band.  I'd never heard of it before the last few years. But several of my friends did this after engagement, and so did my mother and step-father. I think it's nice and "equal" to do something like that.

My husband actually investigated manmade diamonds around the time we were shopping for engagement rings.  Although they are more luminescent, they are also not as white as real diamonds.  We ended up purchasing a real diamond.

In retrospect, it didn't really matter that much, because I almost never wear my rings.  I would say it doesn't matter, as long as both parties KNOW that it is a manmade diamond.

On another note.... I totally want to be made into a gemstone when I die.  :)