A friend of mine owns 500 acres of diamond mines in Africa. He took his 1st dig last week and has mined some gold and diamonds already. Can u believe that?

Yes I can


I just ( 5 minutes ago ) cleaned the 4 diamond studs I am wearing today

They are my birthstone though not really a favorite of mine ( white/clear ones )
I am looking into getting some coloured ones. I like the blue green and
yellow ones

Diamonds..

Never liked 'em. They're my birthstone too, but I've never had one nor wanted one.

FunkMistress said:

Well is you DO get one, can you send it over my way?

FunkMistress said:

I don't see what the big deal is. It's just another natural stone.

Graycap23 said:

All depends on the carat, the cut and yeah sometimes colour.. diamonds are timeless..

REDFEATHERS said:

But many stones are timeless. They just restrict its supply and charge ridiculas prices 4 it.

FunkMistress said:

Mine were all gifts

I have my grandmothers engagement ring valued around 22 grand. I sometimes think of selling it though I know I never will

The only diamond I bought for myself so far is a stunning 2k black diamond
of course

Graycap23 said:

Ok, stick to your ziconias

REDFEATHERS said:

I don't do cheap.....but I don't really get humans attraction 2 certain things that don't have any REAL value. It's a strange human condition.

REDFEATHERS said:

And, if they're pink, yellow or especially blue, they're even more yummy!

Graycap23 said:

Of course I can. As my poli-sci professor already told us 20 years ago in a SCAP class, the great wars of the future will no longer be based on ideology, rather than resources. It's no big secret that the world's imperialists and would be power mongers are now scrambling like crazy to get their hands on a piece of starving Africa. China is colonizing there as we speak. The continent is so rich in natural resources: they've got the oil, they've got plutonium up the wazoo for making nuclear weapons, and yes, they've got the diamonds and gold that tend to fund some rather nasty business around the world.

I just hope that your friend is treating his workers well and is at least not using child labor. The opposite of which is fairly commonplace in the African diamond mining industry, not to mention how the industry props up some rather brutal continental regimes that would make Saddam Hussein era Iraq look like a day on the set of "Sesame Street"

Empress said:

Oh yeah.. but I wanna black one..

Graycap23 said:

It is mostly the story BEHIND them..

REDFEATHERS said:

So do I. Now I have my chance 2 get a very NICE one.

Graycap23 said:

NOW you want one? You just said you didnt see what the big deal is..

REDFEATHERS said:

I'm talking about the assigned inflated value. There are many things that humans like that don't cost an arm and a leg. Have u seen the price of a 3 or 4 caret diamond?

Graycap23 said:

my Mum had a jewellery shop..

REDFEATHERS said:

So u know about the MARK-UP on this stuff. It's unreal.

Graycap23 said:

I guess it depends on what one's definition of "real" value is.

We all know that the amount of land one owns for example, has a money amount attached to it for banks and how they deem your worth in society.

However, I could very well understand how if one traces the origin many of the diamonds on the common market, and discovers how the mining of the diamond in the country where it originates is used to prop up a dictatorship that denies citizens basic human rights, is in a constant state of war using militias comprised of women and children who are kidnapped and brainwashed by way of rape and sensory deprivation...well I could understand how a person would choose a different gemstone or even a cubic z. knowing things like that.

Some people find "real" value in not supporting the the brutality that takes place so we can run around "flossing" in public in an effort to keep up with (or surpass) the Joneses.

Just a thought

Ottensen said:

Its very telling that Africa is one of the most resource rich continents on the planet, yet her people amongst it most poor.

Even more telling is the fact that Africans have to rely on aid from foriegn countries while said countries are making profit hand over fist from Africa's resources.

Colonialism is indeed, a b***h