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If prices drop drastically...

I didn’t learn about MMD’s until a thread that I inadvertently started a while ago. I say inadvertently because I posted in RT without realizing that there was a whole forum dedicated to MMD! As I am looking to upgrade my natural diamond, I considered the option of an MMD, so I think this thread is a very timely one and very relevant. One of the bragging points about MMD’s tends to be the price point. Most posters seem to value the value in the cost but after reading these articles, and pricing out some for myself, I would be reluctant to go this route.
 
anangel said:
but if someone buys mined diamond jewelry with the intention of selling it for a fat profit a decade later, especially after banging it around in an engagement ring, I think they will for the most part be disappointed.
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That's not true. I purchased a 3+ct GIA graded diamond for my wife in 2005 and I can guarantee you that her stone is worth much more today than 15 yrs ago. I can make a good profit if I decided to sell the stone today. As for the future prices of MMDs? it can only head south as more and more factories open.
 
Dancing Fire said:
That's not true. I purchased a 3+ct GIA graded diamond for my wife in 2005 and I can guarantee you that her stone is worth much more today than 15 yrs ago. I can make a good profit if I decided to sell the stone today. As for the future prices of MMDs? it can only head south as more and more factories open.
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...but to @anangel’s point, you have to admit you’re the exception not the rule. There aren’t many people walking around with 3+ct PS-quality diamond engagement rings.

And to the original post, the question isn’t “will MMD prices drop?” but rather, “as an owner of MMD, how will you feel when they drop?”
 
Also around the time of buying my anniversary ring, hubby picked out his next fast new motorcycle. Both are technological feats that depreciated as soon as they left the store and neither were intended to be assets counted towards our net worth. A couple years later, both of us are still satisfied with our respective acquisitions, and clean our toys regularly so they shine.
 
Dancing Fire said:
That's not true. I purchased a 3+ct GIA graded diamond for my wife in 2005 and I can guarantee you that her stone is worth much more today than 15 yrs ago. I can make a good profit if I decided to sell the stone today. As for the future prices of MMDs? it can only head south as more and more factories open.
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There are definitely investment grade diamonds out there but most people either aren’t in a position to spend six figures on a rock, or prefer to put large sums of money into other types of investments.
 
MelloYello8 said:
There are definitely investment grade diamonds out there but most people either aren’t in a position to spend six figures on a rock, or prefer to put large sums of money into other types of investments.
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I don’t think diamonds are necessarily investments but it’s good to know that they are a stable commodity if one finds themselves in a bind. As I read a lot of these threads, including the one that I inadvertently started, I found the common denominator among those who chose MMD over natural to be the value. Some in fact argued that the price is the only difference between the two types and I have to be honest, I was beginning to feel a bit duped—like if I had only purchased MMD, I’d be sitting on thousands of dollars of savings that I could invest. While it’s true that i
Could have invested 30 to 40 percent of what i spent (as that amount would be the actual savings) I would feel duped bc prices are dropping rapidly and I would only be thinking about the money that I would have spent on a ring that Continues to devalue..I think we have to recognize that the origin of the stone—how it was created—the process—is a differentiating factor between MMD and natural and because of it, it carries a monetary value that many didn’t appreciate at first. For most hobbyists—origin is important. Artwork, for example, is valued bc it was created a certain way vs the mass reproduction—even if both pieces are made of the same materials. Many people already knew that and are feeling vindicated. Many who didn’t appreciate that are feeling duped and I sense that’s why some are getting upset by this thread.
 
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@nala I remember your post (I’ve been reading PS for many years but only just recently made an account).

I’ve read so many posts about MMD and it feels like they often devolve into a lot of animosity with people basically arguing “you’re wrong! MY investment was better!” back and forth at each other. I’d like to see more of “my luxury purchase was better FOR ME and I considered these issues that might be meaningful to you as well.”
 
When I had to sell my mined diamonds, which were of average- mass market quality, and also put a family diamond up for consignment, I was in a bind and needed the money. I was appalled at how low they were valued on the resale market. Now, maybe I got ripped off. Or maybe that’s just how the game works. I got literally pennies on the dollar for the mined diamonds, and yes, I shopped them around. The gold was worth more than the smaller stones, though I had certificates. I got $200 for my great- aunt’s engagement diamond, on consignment. This was after jewelers had declared the stone worth $4-5,000 to my mother. I would have done better on the private market, but didn’t have months or years to wait.

When I was able to buy jewelry again for pleasure, I vowed to never sink any significant amount of money into mined diamonds again. Like any luxury purchase, I don’t view them as investments. Lab diamond is a sunk cost. But I view mined diamond the same way. Lab diamond allows more purchasing power and higher quality for your money. That’s it, for me. It’s enough.
 
Dancing Fire said:
That's not true. I purchased a 3+ct GIA graded diamond for my wife in 2005 and I can guarantee you that her stone is worth much more today than 15 yrs ago. I can make a good profit if I decided to sell the stone today. As for the future prices of MMDs? it can only head south as more and more factories open.
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@Dancing Fire there is a reason I specifically said for the most part.
I appreciate and respect that you put the time, effort, and money out to buy your wife an investment quality diamond, but for the bulk of people that are buying average quality, smaller diamonds, or even worse, purchasing maul quality jewelry such will not be the case in my opinion.
 
Dancing Fire said:
That's not true. I purchased a 3+ct GIA graded diamond for my wife in 2005 and I can guarantee you that her stone is worth much more today than 15 yrs ago. I can make a good profit if I decided to sell the stone today. As for the future prices of MMDs? it can only head south as more and more factories open.
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Have you accounted for inflation? :tongue:
 
123ducklings said:
I’ve read so many posts about MMD and it feels like they often devolve into a lot of animosity with people basically arguing “you’re wrong! MY investment was better!” back and forth at each other. I’d like to see more of “my luxury purchase was better FOR ME and I considered these issues that might be meaningful to you as well.”
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Agree. To each their own. While I’ve rationalized spending money on a quickly depreciating accessory in my previous post, my primary reason at the time for electing lab again (my e-ring from 2007 is lab too) was ethics and not price. At the time, the price difference between my lab yellow diamond and a mined high-ish color white diamond wasn’t all that significant (although there was a huge difference from a natural fancy vivid yellow, which really doesn’t exist in round cuts outside of Harry Winston). However OP asked how one feels about losing money and my reaction is that I had considered that but I could not bring myself to support an industry that I did not assess had gone far enough to ensure conflict diamonds were blocked from the supply chain. Unfortunately I no longer trust the current lab diamond market either.
 
I have several MMD i bought from Lightbox. If they go down in value I won’t be upset, I will buy more.
 
OoohShiny said:
I'm afraid that I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.
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My point is quite simple:

"If history tells us anything, it is that today humans are not that attracted to fake shiny things like cheap lab grown rubies anymore :tongue: lol"
 
VDK1 said:
My point is quite simple:

"If history tells us anything, it is that today humans are not that attracted to fake shiny things like cheap lab grown rubies anymore :tongue: lol"
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Do you own a man-made diamond? This thread is asking for discussion from owners and potential buyers of MMD.

Lab-grown rubies are somewhat irrelevant to the original post, but since you keep bringing them up you might be interested to know that fans of colored gemstones are still regularly buying precision-cut lab-grown rubies for $70/carat. We’ll likely see a similar premium market in MMD as people like Yoram and Rhino continue to embrace them.
 
VDK1 said:
My point is quite simple:

"If history tells us anything, it is that today humans are not that attracted to fake shiny things like cheap lab grown rubies anymore :tongue: lol"
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I see you're trying to start the 'fake' nonsense again...

We've already had that discussion on this part of the forum and nothing's changed since then. MMDs are still chemically and physically diamond, just slightly different to Mined stones.

You could perhaps leave those of us who think MMDs are an excellent new technological development (that also looks very attractive to the eye) in peace?


As my mother always used to say - if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
 
Dancing Fire said:
YES! :praise: :tongue:. IMO, People will be shocked 2 yrs from now on the price of MMDs.
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I hope so - I need me some bling ;)) :D


Mind you... the way the global depression is kicking off, no-one will have any money to buy anything anyway! :( lol
 
Thanks to everyone who has commented on this post. I appreciate the different points of view and it's given me a lot to think about. I personally don't think that lab diamonds will end up the same as lab gemstones since mined diamonds and gemstones have different levels of overall general desirability to begin with (not that gemstones aren't lovely). It will be interesting to see how it plays out, especially as the more desirable labs begin grading them.
 
AprilBaby said:
I have several MMD i bought from Lightbox. If they go down in value I won’t be upset, I will buy more.
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+1 Buy low, sell high! I generally assume that jewelry has no resale value when I buy it, especially lab diamonds. I do like optimizing for value though (psychologically), which is why I've only bought Lightbox lab diamonds. I doubt it will get much cheaper, but the Bloomingdale's sales tell us that likely they could be $400/carat.
 
VDK1 said:
My point is quite simple:

"If history tells us anything, it is that today humans are not that attracted to fake shiny things like cheap lab grown rubies anymore :tongue: lol"
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Lab created gemstone, like lab diamond, are chemically and optically identical to natural mined stones. Now that you mention ruby, I saw a gorgeous custom bezel set pear lab ruby ring, on another board. I would absolutely wear a ring like that, with pride. Using lab created gemstones gives consumers more options across the board, to have more high quality, beautiful pieces in our jewelry collections.
 
123ducklings said:
@nala I remember your post (I’ve been reading PS for many years but only just recently made an account).

I’ve read so many posts about MMD and it feels like they often devolve into a lot of animosity with people basically arguing “you’re wrong! MY investment was better!” back and forth at each other. I’d like to see more of “my luxury purchase was better FOR ME and I considered these issues that might be meaningful to you as well.”
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Bravo. Thank you for saying it.
 
I would love to have an ideal cut lab diamond. And if purchased through a vendor like Distinctive Gem, it comes with a trade up policy. So, when prices drop, I can trade it in for a big ol’ rock - won’t that be fun?!
 
Rosebloom said:
I would love to have an ideal cut lab diamond. And if purchased through a vendor like Distinctive Gem, it comes with a trade up policy. So, when prices drop, I can trade it in for a big ol’ rock - won’t that be fun?!
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Really??. If that's true then you can start with a 1 ct now then trade up for a 2ct as prices drop in the future, and the best of all w/o any money out of your pocket.
 
I bought a lab diamond from distinctive gem and am wanting to trade up, but wasn’t sure what Jonathan’s policy is. I emailed him but haven’t heard back. What is his policy?
 
Cat1234 said:
I bought a lab diamond from distinctive gem and am wanting to trade up, but wasn’t sure what Jonathan’s policy is. I emailed him but haven’t heard back. What is his policy?
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On his Private Reserve lab diamonds, you have to spend 1.5x of your current diamond. The policy is listed here:

www.distinctivegem.com

The Private Reserve

Here in the private reserve are diamonds I've personally vetted and stock in way of Laboratory Grown Diamonds. On this page we also feature the opportunity to custom cut the diamond of your dreams. To learn more about the custom cutting process please visit my new page about that here...
www.distinctivegem.com www.distinctivegem.com
 
Kim N said:
On his Private Reserve lab diamonds, you have to spend 1.5x of your current diamond. The policy is listed here:

www.distinctivegem.com

The Private Reserve

Here in the private reserve are diamonds I've personally vetted and stock in way of Laboratory Grown Diamonds. On this page we also feature the opportunity to custom cut the diamond of your dreams. To learn more about the custom cutting process please visit my new page about that here...
www.distinctivegem.com www.distinctivegem.com
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Do you know if that covers custom cut stones? I was so excited about getting my diamond, I really didn't pay attention to info about upgrading. I'm still not certain after reading the link. @Rhino can you please verify.
 
Diamond Girl 21 said:
Do you know if that covers custom cut stones? I was so excited about getting my diamond, I really didn't pay attention to info about upgrading. I'm still not certain after reading the link. @Rhino can you please verify.
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Hopefully Rhino chimes in, but from the webpage, it looks like custom cut stones do qualify.

"Here in the private reserve are diamonds I've personally vetted and stock in way of Laboratory Grown Diamonds. On this page we also feature the opportunity to custom cut the diamond of your dreams. To learn more about the custom cutting process please visit my new page about that here. These diamonds are backed with a lifetime trade up policy of 1.5x and our normal refund policies."
 
Kim N said:
Hopefully Rhino chimes in, but from the webpage, it looks like custom cut stones do qualify.

"Here in the private reserve are diamonds I've personally vetted and stock in way of Laboratory Grown Diamonds. On this page we also feature the opportunity to custom cut the diamond of your dreams. To learn more about the custom cutting process please visit my new page about that here. These diamonds are backed with a lifetime trade up policy of 1.5x and our normal refund policies."
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Thanks! That's how I understood it as well, but then I thought it might just apply to pre-cut vetted diamonds. I'm sure I'm over thinking this.
 
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