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Except in this case, the quartz watches would be better quality than the luxury watches I'm not sure your analogy has teeth.

• literalAardvark 11d ago
  The quartz watches are (way) better at time keeping. And the rest is just a matter of paying for luxury. The main reason the analogy doesn't really help is that the mechanical watch market absolutely cratered, and it's only being propped up by enthusiasts of cool machines. Diamonds can't really have that. They've already scammed the general population into using slave diamonds at monopoly prices for 30 years longer than they needed to, but no one is _passionate_ about slave diamonds.
  • tptacek 11d ago
    It's a poor analogy because mechanical watches and quartz watches aren't perfect substitutes and aren't purchased for the same reasons. Everybody's phone keeps better time than a watch; absolute accuracy isn't the exclusive measure. Lab diamonds and mined diamonds are literally identical products.
    • Der_Einzige 11d ago
      Now a days the imperfections themselves in the rings are what are valued in natural diamonds. People from India, thailand, Myanmar etc have not and probably won’t for a very long time abandon a strong preference for natural diamonds, regardless of how much “better” the lab grown ones are. This is a textbook case of “worse is better”.
    • dingaling 11d ago
      > and aren't purchased for the same reasons Yes, that's his point. Quartz watches have eaten the market for "I need a cheap portable time piece", like artificial diamonds did for "I need diamonds for tooling". Both mechanical watches and natural diamonds have therefore been pushed into a niche market of posers and the easily-influenced, who buy them for different reasons than the mass market. > Lab diamonds and mined diamonds are literally identical products. No, mined diamonds are inferior for any industrial task due to their flaws and weaknesses.
• hn_submit 10d ago
  Mechanical watches are a luxury item where the intricate craftsmanship is highly valued, even though they're completely obsolete compared to even the simplest quartz movement. That analogy doesn't hold for natural diamonds and the comparison therefore falls flat on its face.
  • pibaker 10d ago
    There will certainly be people who will pay a premium for certified 100% natural diamonds. But there is probably not enough to support the diamond mining industry as it exists today.
    • hn_submit 9d ago
      Like I said: there will be scams where lab-grown diamonds will be sold as natural ones which will ruin customers' willingness to pay more for them.