Gem-quality artificial diamonds

• the Bear

  8 Oct 05, 23:43

  go read up about the history of De Beers, not as told by them but the real thing..
  
  they were a bunch of cutthroat thugs who strongarmed everyone into selling out to them.. thus creating the monopoly we know now...
  
  then they hoodwinked a whole planet into their "a diamond is forever" ad.. the most successful ad of all time...
  
  if you only knew.. before De Beers, diamonds weren't that valuable.. it's just that the artificial inflation by De Beers, and their stockpiling of the gem, slowly releasing them to the world that made them seem so "valuable"..
  
  in the past, diamonds were mostly used as tools..
  
  
  
  congratulations.. you now know...
  
  go do your research and be aware... btw, Dennis now has that very revealing book by Greg Campbell... if you want and he has finished with it, you may want to borrow it.. or to raid the library for it..
  
  here's the Amazon.com ad for it => Blood Diamonds
  
  

  Originally posted by Rhonda:

  I was just thinking that they might just resort to something like that but then, I thought, that would be a bit overboard.

• Rhonda

  9 Oct 05, 00:25

  OK, I suddenly remembered... the bluish shell thingies I was talking to you about are called 'Pawa Shells'.
  
  They are sometimes spelt as 'Paua' too.
  
  
  
  Here, we have a 925 sterling silver uniquely cast around polished abalone (paua) and mother of pearl. Isn't it mesmerising?
  
  BTW, I got that photo here : http://www.orcasurf.co.uk/acatalog/Necklaces.html
• Kuali Baba

  9 Oct 05, 00:34

  And I have pieces of turqoise, amethyst, agate, garnet and tiger's eye, among other things...I've forgotten the names of some of the minerals.
• Rhonda

  9 Oct 05, 00:34

  Check out this website!
  
  http://www.marcopoloni.com/ProductLine.cfm?ProductLineID=15
  
  After admiring the Paua shell products, take a look at the products offered by the other artists listed there!
  
  I love products like that - handmade and unique! And I love knowing that they have short write-up's on the artists themselves. Very 'wholesome'.
• Rhonda

  9 Oct 05, 00:36

  Originally posted by Kuali Baba:

  And I have pieces of turqoise, amethyst, agate, garnet and tiger's eye, among other things...I've forgotten the names of some of the minerals.

  Oh WOW!!!
  
  Mom deals with semi-precious stones and Swarovski crystals and she can tell one stone from the next. Your collection's pretty good.
  
  I'm waiting to inherit her jewellery!