Am i wrong or does this mean lab grown diamonds are now (i) 5% the value of a natural stone a couple of years ago and (ii) sold at Walmart for the price not more than a Nintendo Switch game.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428434)

my prole gf has never been gifted a diamond before and i'm getting her a 2ct solitaire necklace and i expect her and her family to be over the moon at the extravagance.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428451)

Also feel bad for any guys who paid out $10,000 or more for an engagement ring the past few years.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428928)

as i've grown older i've come to appreciate this birdbrainedness. especially since i'm financially secure. trading a shinny rock for enthusiastic fucking and sucking isn't a bad deal.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428938)

You know what else I learned about the EU? You cannot purchase the copyright to a piece of artistic work from its creator without them having an attorney present. You can't buy, say, a business logo from a dude and say ok I own this now and can use it over and over royalty free. Even if they agree, the court will say no he had to have an attorney. Which I think the EU actually pays for in some capacity. Like they will actually use tax money to pay some random artist for an attorney in order to sell the rights to their art. This is for movies TV music everything. Kind of bizarre lol

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429036)

if you buy a high-quality chink watch of its own design that's not phony. if it's made to look like another brand it is. same with high quality handbag versus one imitating a brand.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429100)

What is wrong with a high quality fake watch?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429102)

a rolex is a rolex. a perfect imitation is still not a rolex, just like a perfect imitation of a work of art or historical artifact is not that thing.

if you have a high quality *watch* that's just as good as a real rolex that's not fake. but if it's made to be an imitation of a rolex it is. and if you wear it you're representing something that isn't true. it's per se phony.

nothing "wrong" with it but i think there's a qualitative difference between the real mccoy and a fake versus two different things of the same quality but one costs 1/100th of the price because it's not a high-end brand. ones pretending it's something it's not, one isn't.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429112)

My intellectual property! My design!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429124)

If someone thinks you own a nice watch even if it's fake, it's REAL to them! Fakes are real!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429155)

lab diamonds are REAL diamonds. a more apt comparison would be CZs versus diamonds.

you're being obtuse if you can't understand the difference between a FAKE and a REAL thing, versus two things of the same quality but one costing less because it's not branded.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429173)

You're just saying that people who don't have cslg money shouldn't be able to enjoy the same social status one gets from owning something other people believe to be very expensive. And I'm saying everyone who can afford a cheap Chinese knockoff ought to be able to enjoy it too. I think it's wonderful. Democratizatize social status. The ONLY people who are invested in hating people who wear fakes are people who feel like they are entitled to luxury goods and those who cannot afford it are not. And frankly, those people are sickening. They disgust me, and I hate them.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429199)

first of all, i don't care personally. i'm just pointing out that there is a qualitative difference between something FAKE and something REAL. a FAKE ROLEX is a FAKE ROLEX. a chink watch of the same quality that isn't aping a rolex isn't fake.

second, i think social status through veblen goods is gay anyway. ljl that i'm sitting her maf that proles are buying fake watches. i don't wear a rolex! frankly i think people who try to generate status through veblen goods are a bit pathetic. which makes those that try to *imitate* that even more pathetic and insecure. plus they're lying! they don't *HAVE* a rolex! you might as well drop a fake ATM receipt.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429210)

but lol ok marx. you're not advancing a classless society by rocking fake rolos, you're telling on yourself for how much you desperately wish you were a member of the upper class, so much so that you're willing to fake it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429274)

I know a chick with a fake LV bag and when she reveals it's a fake people's heads explode with rage because they paid 3k for the same thing.

Too bad she told me she was moving to California because of her belief in abortion rights. Not flame. Briefly thought she was based.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429281)

To buy a woman from her father's house.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428933)

Is seizing me, but I believe the stone

With all its flaws shines all more beautiful.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428970)

In blood and suffering if that is true.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428996)

Lab-grown diamonds have inclusions too. They are chemically indistinguishable from natural diamonds, but may have some different growth characteristics from the seeding process that you would need a microscope (not a loupe) to see.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428990)

edit: oh yeah i'm talking about just eying them with a loupe and using their diamond lasers or whatever. i'm sure there are methods to dig even deeper than that. what i mean is that even an experienced jeweler using ordinary tools would not be able to distinguish a quality lab from a very high quality natural.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429003)

Lab grown diamonds have improved remarkably and are indistinguishable from natural diamonds. They are so cheap to make the margins are preposterous. At wholesale, lab grown are like $100-200 for a 1 carat, versus like $3K for a real diamond. (And the lab grown will be of better color and clarity.)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428965)

Now it literally doesn't make sense at all until you get to ultra rare > 4 carat flawless cut stones that are just being passed around by billionaires at a % return that barely beats inflation

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428985)

UMC women and their striver cuck boyfriends don't know what to do now that even proles are walking around with MASSIVE diamonds. Guess what, even if cucky buys a Harry Winston ring for $150k, if ur coworker's prole bf cops dat lab diamond for 1/10 the price and a half carat bigger, then the whole world will know ur bf is a pathetic LOSER

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428995)

Zoomers and millennials want jewelry with a “story,” like their stupid tattoos and how they buy wine now.

But plenty of old money rich people are still buying diamonds and commissioning diamond jewelry. Though there is more interest in emeralds and sapphires lately, and color in general. Also, gold at $4,000 per ounce is preserving some value for smaller pieces.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49428997)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49429073)

Just this week, I got called out for wearing a rep.

I was out with my wife on our 20th wedding anniversary. Big night, fancy restaurant, reservation I booked a month ahead. I wanted to look the part. I’d been saving up for a real Submariner but… you know. Mortgage, braces, life. So I got myself a rep Daytona. Everyone online said, “Even ADs can’t tell.” Cool.

Dinner’s going great. My wife looks incredible, I’m feeling confident, like maybe the watch is the missing piece that finally makes me look like I know what I’m doing.

Then he walks in. You could feel him before you saw him, that posture, that presence. 6'5", shirt hugging his chest like it owed him money. Hair that looked both effortless and expensive. REAL Daytona shining on his wrist. He was a brunchman, if you know what I mean. He wasn’t even trying to dominate the room; the room just… adapted to him.

He's walking past our table and spots the watch. “Nice watch,” he says, friendly smile, hand on my shoulder like we’re old pals.

“Thanks,” I say, voice cracking slightly.

He pauses. Tilts his head, curious. “Mind if I take a quick look?”

Before I can say no, he pulls a loupe from his pocket, like he just carries one for moments like this. He studies my wrist for about half a second and nods slowly. “Yeah… that floating M gives it away. It's a rep, right?”

He says it kindly. Like a doctor breaking bad news gently. My wife’s looking down at her drink. I can tell she’s fighting a smile.

He pats my shoulder again, firm, reassuring. “Don’t worry, man. We all start somewhere.”

Then he looks between the two of us and says, “Do we dance?”

I stammer something like, “Not really,” and he laughs softly. “Shame.” Then, to my wife: “Would you mind if I showed him how it’s done?”

I don’t even know how it happens, but seconds later, they’re out there. And he’s flipping her. Not twirling, not dipping, flipping. Eight times. Perfect form. Controlled, elegant, powerful. The kind of flips that make you realize gravity’s just a suggestion for some people.

Everyone’s clapping. She’s glowing. I’m clapping too, because what else can I do?

He walks her back, nods at me with this friendly, devastating smirk, and says, “You’ve got a great woman there. Maybe one day you’ll get the real thing, the watch, I mean.” Then he winks and walks off like it’s just another night for him.

That was three months ago. My wife doesn’t bring it up, but something shifted. She goes out more. Laughs louder. Checks her phone more often. I tried to ask once if she was okay, and she just said, “I’m fine. You wouldn’t understand.” I looked at her phone and it's filled with screenshots of real men wearing real watches. I mean so is mine so I guess I can't be upset?

Our son calls me by my first name now. Keeps talking about some guy named Terry he met on Roblox. Apparently Terry “has a real Rolex” and “does back flips" and rides a bmx. He says Terry wants to be his real dad and asked me for money to fly to Romania. I feel like Terry is probably a predator but anytime I try to say anything to my wife or son they just ask me if I have a real rolex. My son leaves for his flight in 2 days and I'm a tad worried.

The other night I asked if he still thinks I’m cool. He shrugged and said, “You’re fine, for a starter dad.”

I just nodded.

My wife feels cold now like all respect is gone, she was wearing new sexy underwear when she went out with her tennis coach Brad at 8:30pm the other night. She said it was the only time she could train but I'm pretty sure the tennis courts are closed after dark? She said don't worry Brad's Rolex lume actually works so she won't be out too late and just laughed at me.

Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I replay that night the flash of the loupe, the faint smile, the perfect flip. I just wish I never tried to be a man that I'm clearly not. The worst part it I know that alpha is out there, flipping other peoples wives, calling out reps. Please take note of my cautionary tale.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49431615)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5797570&forum_id=2)#49455914)