Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond industry

[kenny]

There are few openly gay men who love diamonds and post here.

From time to time we hear about straight men not wanting to wear diamonds because they associate them with femininity.
We hear women here say, basically, "Not on MY man!"

I respect diversity.
No problem.
If diamonds are not for you or your man that's fine.
I do not want to turn this into a fight over everyone being the same, the "right" way.
People vary.

But PS is influential.
There are a zillion lurkers for every poster.

Do you think us gay guys posing about our rocks here helps or hurts the diamond industry's chances of selling more diamonds to straight men?

I can see it both ways.
On one hand men may see my ring and say, "Hey that's cool. Why not?"
On the other hand he may see it and say, "See, wearing diamonds is gay."

 

[dragonfly411]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny - I think it'll depend on the individual. People vary as you say. There are straight men who like to wear diamonds and they might be positively influenced.

Even better though, more gay men might be influenced to buy/take interest in diamonds!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny - I think it'll depend on the individual. People vary as you say. There are straight men who like to wear diamonds and they might be positively influenced.

Even better though, more gay men might be influenced to buy/take interest in diamonds!

This.
The diamond industry will never be hurt by sexual preference. That's ridiculous.

 

[Bleed Burnt Orange]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I think it helps. Personally, I think of it as seeing a diamond on a man, regardless of sexual orientation. I think seeing more diamonds on men period, helps!

Besides...there are a lot of straight entertainers and athletes that have A LOT of diamonds on their wedding bands! And...for the record, I would love my fiance to want a diamond or two or a few on his wedding band. He just not a flashy guy. My ring is the size it is because of that.

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny - most regulars know your sexual orientation, but I doubt that those gazillions of lurkers do... chances are most of then don't hang around the hangout, where that's most likely to come out . Heck, unless they do, they can't even be sure whether you're male or female, screen names being what they are.

ETA I suspect that the wonderful men's rings posted on PS, especially in the eye candy thread, can only help!

And I really, really wish the guy who asked for help buying a very high end diamond ring (a year or two back) would come back and show us what he ended up with!

 

[TooPatient]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't think it hurts. Might even help.

Seeing more men with diamonds is good because then the rest of men can't really use the "men don't wear diamonds" argument.

Both of the guys I work for wear rings with diamonds.



ETA -- YOUR diamonds are amazing and, if anything, cause bunches of people to run out to buy!

 

[kenny]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Thanks TP.
I forgot to add this.

Sure, some will go one way.
Some will go the other.

What I'm asking is overall will openly gay men posting their diamonds here result in more or fewer sales of diamonds for straight men to wear?

 

[TooPatient]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Thanks TP.
I forgot to add this.

Sure, some will go one way.
Some will go the other.

What I'm asking is overall will openly gay men posting their diamonds here result in more or fewer sales of diamonds for straight men to wear?

Personally, I think it will either result in more sales (as men with diamonds become more widely accepted) or have no real affect.

I mean.... consider the steriotypical well dressed = gay idea -- you don't see men running around dressed as slobs. Same with women and short hair or carefully trimmed nails, or.......
You get the idea.

 

[AGBF]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I think diamonds on men is becoming less of an "issue", less of a thing straight men have to get homophobic about, now that rappers are wearing a lot of bling. I loved the story of the football player who lost a heavy weight diamond stud during practice and had his teammates out on the field with him searching for it. I think diamonds for men are becoming more mainstream.

Deb/AGBF


Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

 

[soocool]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I certainly don't think gay men hurt the diamond industry.

When we were planning on getting new wedding bands, my DH emphatically said he wanted diamonds in his band. After getting it a few of his friends saw it and went out and got diamond wedding bands as well.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Thanks TP.
I forgot to add this.

Sure, some will go one way.
Some will go the other.

What I'm asking is overall will openly gay men posting their diamonds here result in more or fewer sales of diamonds for straight men to wear?

straight or gay... your the man Kenny i love your style... i wore a diamond ring until it was lost in a robbery.

 

[zhuzhu]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't think sexuality of men or women influence diamond sale one way or the other.
Why? have you been asked to model in a diamond ad, Kenny?

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't see how anyone who loves diamonds could hurt the diamond industry. (I know lots of straight men who wear diamonds.) As others have said, it depends on the individual. People who don't want to wear diamonds probably never will want to wear them. People who always wore diamonds will continue to wear them.

 

[anchor31]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't think sexual orientation has anything to do with diamonds... The men who say they wouldn't wear diamonds and the women who say they don't want their man to wear them puzzle me. My DH, my father and my brother all wear band with diamonds on them and they are very manly men, wearing very manly bands.

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Gay men do help start male fashion trends - I suspect the "metro-sexual" style started with fashion-conscious gay men - and generally I think that the more men are seen wearing diamonds, the more acceptable it will be. Specific to pricescope though I do recall one ring that I suspect might have provoked a "too gay for me" reaction from some men. I'm thinking it was one of QueenMum's rings but I might be wrong there. I loved it - a simple solitaire set into a band that was just as wide as the stone, maybe a tad narrower - but I know some men thought it was too "feminine" for a man to be wearing. Would that turn them off to wearing diamond rings? I suspect it would just become another argument against for those who were already so inclined.

 

[zhuzhu]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't think sexual orientation has anything to do with diamonds... The men who say they wouldn't wear diamonds and the women who say they don't want their man to wear them puzzle me. My DH, my father and my brother all wear band with diamonds on them and they are very manly men, wearing very manly bands.

My husband does not wear diamonds. He simply does not like them or any other jewelry on him in general (except for the wedding band, of course).

 

[suchende]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I personally think gay men are early adopters. What's "gay" one season is trendy the next, and modern the season after that.

 

[HopeDream]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Helping!

Gay or straight, I think that men are either diamond guys or not. And if guys hang out on PS long enough, they start buying diamonds for themselves. I do think that being able to see fantastic photos of manly bling could tempt a diamond guy to get something larger and tension set insted of your typical band set with melee. PS is great for showing guys options they never knew they had.

It seems to me that that aspects of femininity come up with how the diamonds are set (delicate settings with curves vs bold blocky settings with lots of straight lines)

I don't think you're scareing anyone off with your dazzling asscher, octavia, or the Kenny Collection, and I don't think the peresence of openly gay posters has turned PS into "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". If anything, I think the fact that a vast majority of PS members are women reinforces the idea that diamonds are a feminine thing. We need more men here.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Actually when I think of men wearing diamonds I think of rappers. I am sure they are very helpful for the economy and the diamond industry.

 

[anchor31]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't think sexual orientation has anything to do with diamonds... The men who say they wouldn't wear diamonds and the women who say they don't want their man to wear them puzzle me. My DH, my father and my brother all wear band with diamonds on them and they are very manly men, wearing very manly bands.

My husband does not wear diamonds. He simply does not like them or any other jewelry on him in general (except for the wedding band, of course).

Hm, I think that might not have come out the way I intended. I wasn't speaking of men who don't like jewelry, but men who think that wearing diamond is feminine or gay.

 

[HollyS]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny, frankly, I find that to be a perfectly asinine question.

 

[AGBF]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny, frankly, I find that to be a perfectly asinine question.

Holly-

Didn't you ever hear that there are no stupid questions? I forget the rest of the saying, though. It's, "There are only stupid something or others". But with my terrible old-age memory, I can't think of it. So I'm going to have to rely on your good faith to fill in the rest of the adage. It must be a wise saying, because it is oft repeated.

Deb


Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny, frankly, I find that to be a perfectly asinine question.

That gets my LOL-iest post of the day award!

 

[Tuckins1]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

I don't think gay men help or hurt... They are consumers and advocates as much as us ladies!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Kenny, I honestly don't think a few openly gay men posting about their diamonds on a diamond forum on the internet has any influence whatsoever on diamond sales to men in the grand scheme of things! So you are safe and free to share all your beautiful stones with us!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

My husband has diamonds in his wedding band. I don't think he was or would be influenced by anyone or anything other than his own taste.

So...No.

 

[movie zombie]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

i think the industry is just interested in sales and have no idea why anyone would even think that gay men hurt or help the industry. its all about sales.


MoZo

 

[rockzilla]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

My guess is that by the time they get to PS, most straight guys have a strong preference one way or another on diamonds for themselves. As such, seeing diamonds on other guys (gay, straight or otherwise) on PS would likely have negligable impact.

I'd imagine that other social and media interactions (whether with friends, on television or in movies) would have the greatest impact. If they see their friends wearing diamonds, or people they admire on TV, they are more likely to consider it for themselves. If they are in a social circle where it is unheard of for men to wear diamonds, or if they do not identify with the celebrities they see wearing diamonds, it is much less likely they will aspire to have diamonds of their own.

 

[diva rose]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

My guess is that by the time they get to PS, most straight guys have a strong preference one way or another on diamonds for themselves. As such, seeing diamonds on other guys (gay, straight or otherwise) on PS would likely have negligable impact.

I'd imagine that other social and media interactions (whether with friends, on television or in movies) would have the greatest impact. If they see their friends wearing diamonds, or people they admire on TV, they are more likely to consider it for themselves. If they are in a social circle where it is unheard of for men to wear diamonds, or if they do not identify with the celebrities they see wearing diamonds, it is much less likely they will aspire to have diamonds of their own.

Great post Rockzilla.

I agree - by the time they get to PS they are either here for the following reasons:
1. planning on getting a gift for their partners/proposal

or/and...

2. they like diamonds/gems etc

I think a lot of men don't mind diamonds. Think about the leading watch designers. Often they have diamond or gem encrusted watches for men and they are not targeted at the gay men market.

My DH frequents the watch forums. He has 3 small diamonds on his wedding band. Would he sport a big sparkly rock on his finger? Most likely not. Besides the fact I'd take it for myself. He understands why I like them and has an appreciation for beautiful stones. However he just wouldn't wear one for himself unless it's on a watch because he is a watch person. He likes watches, cameras and cars.

Would he be influenced because gay men like diamonds - no - sexuality doesn't matter to him or me.
I'm not going to lie, for some people it does matter but I am hoping that with time majority of the public will not care about someone's sexual preference.

 

[LGK]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Actually Kenny, I've showed your asscher collection to my husband and your (SO's) Octavia is the *only* bling I've ever showed him that really got him interested- he stared at one of your amazing pics at it for quite awhile. He would definitely love one just like it. If it was, you know, cheap, lol.

He does like jewelry actually- he has several bands he wears as RHRs (though not at the same time), that found at the antique mall I work at. And he wears a chunky sterling bracelet most of the time. One of his RHRs is a Verragio with a number of round brilliant melee diamonds.

So, I guess at least in my husband's case, your collection actually has made him more likely to want jewelry