Rarity Bankrupts DeBeers
The Trouble with Unicorns IV
Rarity Bankrupts DeBeers
Admiral Biscuit
Rarity felt like she'd been put in a barrel and rolled down a hill. A week's worth of meetings at the United Nations had been such a mind-numbingly boring way to spend time she couldn't imagine how anyone would ever want to do it for a living. She actually felt a pang of sympathy for Princess Twilight. As soon as they got back to Ponyville, she was going to treat Twilight to a full day at the spa, never mind the expense.
She at least was free today, and she fully intended to spend her free time window shopping. Humans had imagined clothes and fashions she'd never dreamed of, and a new clothing line inspired by New York fashions would be just the thing to kick off the spring season back in Equestria.
Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys, JC Penny, Lord & Taylor—so many famous fashion houses, all clustered together in downtown Manhattan.
She took her time choosing her outfit for the day, finally setting in on a simple sweater and matching scarf, accented with a pair of diamond-chip earrings. It was a chilly but sunny February day, not quite cold enough to warrant a hat or a coat with a hood, especially since she'd be going in and out of stores all day long.
The hotel's doorman offered to hail a cab for her, but Rarity shook her head. She needed some fresh air to clear her head and flush out the last vestiges of the endless stream of meetings.
All morning, she browsed. She went into Barney’s with no intention of actually buying anything, and felt a little bit guilty at the salespeople who fawned over her.
She hadn't imagined that the stores would sell little accessories and impulse items, and, even better, they would deliver them to her hotel for her.
A little touch like that might be just the thing for my boutiques in Canterlot and Manehattan, she thought. And small sales—that was something she'd considered, but never really followed through on. It seemed so bothersome to keep track of that inventory. A quick mental calculation of the volume of small items crossing the counter suggested that she would do well to reconsider: small things added up. They accumulated.
She was in the middle of examining a pair of Philip Lim hybrid lounge pants when her stomach gave off a rather unladylike grumble. Of course Barney’s didn’t have a clock; they wouldn’t want their customers to be distracted by the passage of time.
Hmm, I passed Reichenbach Hall on the way here—that looked nice.
💎
Rarity wandered a bit after lunch, to give her meal time to settle.
She almost passed Tiffany and Company without more than a passing glance, but through the corner of her eyes she saw a middle-aged man at the counter trying to pay for a small box with a credit card. As she watched, the clerk shook his head and slid the box back across the counter, away from the customer.
A minute later, he came out of the store, head hung low.
It was none of her business, and any native New Yorker would have just walked on, but Rarity didn't.
“You look glum,” she commented. “Let me buy you a coffee next door.”
The man glanced at the building. “I appreciate it, but I’d rather not go there.”
Is there something wrong with Starbucks? “Very well, then. If you’d prefer to stay outside . . . oh, where are my manners? I’m Rarity.”
“Arthur.”
“Is there anything I can do to help you?”
He crouched down on the sidewalk to put himself on her level. “I just—my wife and I have been married 25 years, and she's done so many good things for me. I wanted to get her a pair of diamond earrings for Valentine’s Day, but my credit card was declined. . . .”
“Now darling, don't you fret. You look like a good man, and I'm sure your wife appreciates all that you do for her.”
“I suppose you're right,” he said. “After all, she’s stuck with me for this long. But it doesn't feel right to not be able to get her something that I know she wants, something that will make her happy.”
“Indeed.”
“Something that will make her feel like I feel every goddamn morning when I wake up next to the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world.”
“A lady does love little trinkets and tokens of affection,” Rarity observed. “Things that make her feel beautiful. Perhaps . . . yes, love is the most important thing.” She lit her horn and unfastened her earrings, floating them in the air between them. “Would she like these, do you think?”
Even before he could answer, Rarity dropped them in his outstretched hand. Arthur studied them briefly, and then shook his head. “I—I couldn't possibly afford to buy these from you. They're worth a fortune.”
“Buy? I had meant for you to give them to your wife as a gift. They're just clear diamonds.”
“Just diamonds? They must be worth twenty grand.”
“Impossible.” Rarity waved a hoof at him dismissively. “Mister Arthur, I insist that you take these to your wife.”
“She'll think that I stole them.”
“Tell her that you described her beauty to me, and that I insisted.”
💎💎
Rarity hadn't really paid much attention to the jewelry at the clothing shops; she preferred to make her own to match her outfits. Settings could be done by Karat and Millgraine to her specifications—she wasn't very good at silversmithing.
It nagged at her mind, though, so she went into the store and got right to the point. “Just now there was a gentlest—man in here enquiring about a pair of earrings.”
“Yes, our Elsa Peretti Diamonds by the Yard. Would you like to examine them?”
“Please.”
He pointed through the display case at the set in question. They were considerably smaller than Rarity had expected. Well, human ears are smaller than pony ears, she thought. I hope he wasn't refusing because they would look gaudy on his wife's ears. No, he looked sincere, and anyway they weren't very large diamonds.
“How much do they cost?” It was rude to be so direct, but she just wanted to satisfy her curiosity, and then get back at looking at clothes.
“One thousand two hundred twenty five dollars.”
“For clear diamond earrings.”
“They’re .16 carat, in a platinum setting.”
“They’re awfully small for that price,” Rarity said, glancing through the display case. There was a similar set nearby that was slightly larger—nearly the size of the ones she’d given Arthur. “How about those?”
“Fifteen thousand two hundred. They’re 1.2 carat.”
“I see.” Rarity didn't see, not at all. Diamonds like that were nearly as common as dirt. Spike sometimes snacked on them. “Thank you for your time.” She turned tail and left the shop.
💎💎💎
Her hotel room had a telephone, and she'd gotten the hang of using it quite quickly. Calls to jewelers and suppliers around the city verified that the price was not out of line, and that the primary cost of the earrings was the diamonds.
She found a book on gems, and she drank up the information, learning the local lingo so people would take her seriously.
Whenever she was on hold—which was quite frequent—she sketched out dress designs and considered her possible future in New York City.
There was no space she could afford to rent in any of the downtown areas. Even a license for a dress cart—something she'd considered building after seeing a hot dog vendor hawking his food—was prohibitively expensive.
Rarity had somewhat anticipated that, and had mentally debated selling her clothes in some other store. That came with the advantages of a lower up-front cost and an established clientele; the biggest drawbacks were a loss of creative freedom and the possibility of contractual obligations that could continue even after she went solo.
But it turned out that the diamond market was quite lucrative on Earth. A few days’ work in Equestria, and she'd easily have enough to sell to a supplier for a very good profit, even charging a far more reasonable price for diamonds than DeBeers did.
💎💎💎💎
Her first batch of diamonds sold very quickly, and netted her more than enough money to pay upfront for a five year lease on a small storefront just off Fifth Avenue—close enough to attract an exclusive clientele, which was more to her liking anyways. She had no problem with Saks selling hundreds of copies of their dresses to the public; her artistry was supposed to be unique.
Her first few months in business just flew by. The store wasn't turning a profit yet, but she didn't care. Working with humans was challenging; dealing with their body proportions and kinematics and wariness around her magic were constant problems, along with their pathological fear of disrobing, which ultimately lead to inaccurate measurements and necessary adjustments to their clothing after they'd tried it on.
Even Rainbow Dash isn't this difficult to fit for a dress, Rarity thought as the final appointment of the day left sans dress. The bust needed to be taken out and the hips tucked in; the woman had undergone a crash diet and breast augmentation while Rarity was crafting her dress, and naturally had not bothered to inform her designer of those facts.
I should work on that dress right now. But she was curious to see how many of her diamonds had made their way to jewelry displays. Seeing the discount diamonds would cheer her up.
💎💎💎💎💎
The salesman in Tiffany’s naturally had no idea where the diamonds in the pendant had come from. Why would he? But Rarity knew; her gemfinding spell could easily distinguish between native Equestrian diamonds and Earth diamonds.
The price, of course, had not diminished one bit, despite the discount diamonds. She walked back out of the shop, deep in thought.
💎💎💎💎💎💎
“I am not a greedy pony, Applejack.”
“Ah never said you were. Prissy and stuck-up, Ah mighta said that a time or two.”
Rarity ignored the barb. “You remember when Flim and Flam came here with their cider-making machine. Did you ever think for a moment that you could make lots of money with such a machine?”
Applejack nodded. “Ah might’ve, fer a minute or two.”
“And you also might have thought that even if you didn't have enough bits to buy such a machine, that any of us girls would have been happy to help you.”
“Are you askin’ me for a loan? 'Cause you could just come right out and say it. Ain't no sense beatin’ around the bush.”
“No, I am not.” Rarity reached a hoof across the cafe table. “You and I, we're both business mares, but we care about quality. I won't have a thousand ponies wearing copies of the exact same dress, no matter how much profit I could make on them, any more than you would have been happy selling as much cheap cider as the market could bear.”
“'Course not!”
“Even if that could potentially make you the richest pony in Equestria.”
“Well.” Applejack shifted her hat. “Ah have to admit on the face of it, that does sound appealin’. We could live a life of luxury, and never want for nothin’ . . . but Ah wouldn't be happy. Not with all the bits in the world. Ah'd rather be with my family on the farm.”
“I've been thinking about it for a month, and I came to the same conclusion about myself.” Rarity sipped her tea. “Let me tell you about Arthur, and the diamond earrings he wanted to buy for his wife.”
When she'd finished her story, Applejack shook her head. “It don't make a lick of sense. Clear diamonds ain't worth much. Can't do nothin’ with them except trade them to dragons for forgework.”
“Some spells use them for a focus as well. Mostly foal stuff.” Rarity took another sip of tea and then set the cup aside. “Thank you for coming to tea with me. Now I have a few things I need to plan.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“Destroy a corrupt market.”
💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
Getting clear diamonds by the bucketful wasn't terribly difficult for Rarity, but getting them by the wagonload was, unless she wanted to spend all her free time mining, and she didn't.
Luckily, not too far outside Ponyville, there was a warren of Diamond Dogs who did spend most of their day mining. Unluckily, they were none too fond of Rarity.
“Pony tricked us.”
“You foalnapped me first.”
She waited until they'd considered that, and turned it over in their minds. She had to admit that overall, she'd come away the winner after the foalnapping. Hopefully they wouldn't remember how many carts of jewels she'd gotten away with. They looked to have a new leader, and he kept greedily eyeing the bucket of gems she'd brought with her.
“We not get tricked again by whiny pony. What we get? We want gems.”
“And you shall have these, and more. I'll use a spell to show you where all the good gems are around your warrens—those are for you. All I ask for in return is all the clear diamonds that you dig up.”
“Why you want those?”
She smiled. “I have my reasons.”
💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
The hardest part was flooding the market. There were lots of people who were very rich, and were very concerned with staying that way, and there were many ways to manipulate the supply in their favor.
Fortunately, Rarity understood this principle.
She also came to understand the stock market very well, and while nobody on the production side of things wanted there to be a glut of diamonds on the market, there were plenty of investors who were willing to sell stocks short or use put options or engage in any of the myriad other ways that one can make an immense profit on the stock market at somebody else's expense.
A third of her diamonds just disappeared due to theft before they could be sold, but that didn't bother her one bit. Ultimately, the thieves had gotten away with nothing of value—it was no different than if some miscreant had stolen the contents of her garbage can before Cherry Berry could take it. They would find no market at all for their ill-gotten goods.
💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
“I'm so mad at you right now.”
“Whatever for, darling?”
Twilight just kept looking out the penthouse window. “You know why.”
“Perhaps I did get a little bit carried away,” Rarity admitted.
“You collapsed the diamond market.”
“Yes.”
“You bankrupted DeBeers. Completely. And Alorosa—you bankrupted them, too. Rio Tinto lost a quarter of their value.”
“I fail to see the problem.”
“You can't just go crashing global markets like that, Rarity.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know that would happen? I just saw that clear diamonds were quite overpriced on the market, and I thought I would help out.”
Twilight shook her head. “You knew exactly what was going to happen.”
“Is it my fault that their entire business model was based upon making an artificial demand for a simple chunk of carbon?” Rarity brushed her mane back. “This is no different than Starlight convincing everypony to give up their cutie marks, and us deposing her and returning everypony’s cutie marks.”
“I don't think it's the same at all.” Twilight finally turned to face Rarity. “But I'm not entirely sure it isn't, either, so point to you.”
“And that turned out alright. Everypony learned a valuable lesson.”
Twilight sighed. “Just . . . don’t do it again. Please?”
“You have my word. Cross my heart and hope to fly. . . “
“. . . Stick a cupcake in my eye. Ow.”
“Twilight, I’ve had my fun as a diamond salespony, and it’s time to go back to fashion.” Rarity sat down on her couch. “Nopony else knows it was me, do they?”
“I don’t think so.” Twilight looked out the window. “There’d be an angry mob with torches outside if they did. Actually, I wasn’t sure it was you, not at first. But then I remembered Spike had been helping you mine a lot of dross.”
“I ought to have gone further into the badlands.”
“You should have. How’d you get all the diamonds in, anyway?”
“Bottled water. Crates and crates of it.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “How . . .”
“The minerals—I said that ponies needed special minerals in their diet, and that’s why it was spring water, and why we have salt licks.”
“You’ve never tried a salt lick.”
“Well, not since I was in school,” Rarity admitted.
Twilight giggled. “That was pretty clever of you. Clear diamonds would be completely invisible in water.”
“They fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”
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Oh... It. Is. ON
This is the reason why goverments dont want cheap space access. If you aim for brute force asteroid mining, that is take several large solar sails with you in a collection of high quality inteligence robotic craft, the simplest method is to use the sails to focus sunlight onto the asteroid, and boil it. At the least, particles in space radiate and cool down quickly, and the different materials condense at different rates. You could start with sail sheets, graphene etc, then keep collecting like, eventually having slabs and blocks.
The other thing about not specifically seperating, is that by the time you have ten times global total gold deposits banked up, you have ten times global total of every other material as well. And youve probably boiled a single one of ten thousand similar sized rocks.
And so far, youve made no money, spent no money, but youve been building a massive mining fleet, and noones been getting tax returns from it.
A battleship will blow you out of space, but a mining ship will Eat you.
Wonder how much Rarity wouldve got for a thousand caret pink diamond?
8733961
"Pink diamond? Why, those are just absolute gaudy trash. I have fifty of them collecting dust in the back trunk."
Since perfect diamonds are now being synthesized for scientific and industrial applications, the Debeers cronies are desperately trying to convice people that they're somehow inferior.
Maybe Rarity can dig out that old evil spellbook that let her make gold and crash the human gold market as well, since it's worthless except as an electrical conductor.
8733961
Apart from the cost of getting the original fleet into space and the trillions spent in research and development inventing the whole process in the first place. Plus it would take quite a long time to do.
And of course the only known place to sell gold is back on earth and it might be a little difficult to get it all back again and make a profit on it.
Do not, under any circumstances, mess with Fashion Horse when it comes to gemstones. Otherwise, this happens.
Also, given how the spells in D&D that use diamonds as components usually raise the dead, it greatly amuses me that Equestrian spells that use them as foci are considered foal stuff.
8733997
Organic diamonds! Locally... er... ethically... uh...
Organic diamonds!
Rarity, I think I love you quite a bit more right now.
8734012
If mining bots can work accurately enough with 3D printed clockwork in iron, sapphire and glass so that they can asemble another of themselves in a year, so the bot is the material, Voyager has been out there for over 40 years and even normal launches can take a decade to sort out.
It doesnt matter how small or simple the first unit is, Could be ten tons, could be 100 kilos, all it needs to do iis get far enough out with enough time that its drive can work. Or failing that, make it look like a road car and get the test launch to do all the work.
So, what happened to tTwU 2 and 3?
IV? Why IV?
And the inventory of small products. Don't get me started on that. It is a nightmare.
The first thing I thought of when I read this was Estee's "One Tenth Bit".
Surely she must understand that diamonds are more rare on Earth, shouldn't she?
8734305
Diamonds are considerably more common on Earth than you think. They would be much less expensive if not for strenuous efforts over decades to drive up demand and artificially restrict supply. Granted, they're not practically vendor trash here, but there are multiple companies that could tank the diamond market if they really wanted to.
Well glad Rarity did some good! Only if more people understood how those companies are completely screwing us it would be funny. Diamond in the smaller sizes are completely common and they are charging an arm and a leg for rings with them.
8733997
Gold was valuable becuase it was once one of the ways a government backed its currency. There are plenty of people who think we need to go back to this way. Today it is valuable because the governments wants to control the majority of the supply. The exchange rate for the Dollar to Bit must be heavily in favor of the Bit.
Extra and
There's also the fact that diamonds are so much because of the marketing campaign surrounding them. Before 1950, no one really cared about them; they were actually considered to be cheap rocks that served as decoration for the more impressive gems. Then a bunch of guys hit on the idea that 'Diamonds are Forever' and that 'Every girl should have a rock on her finger', so they flooded the market with ads and jumped the price from a couple hundred bucks to thousands over night.
Classic Rarity.
i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/020/284/Face.png
You take that back!
Wunnerful! But... whar be II and III?
Interesting, but I think it would have had an extra bit of impact to show one of the diamond dealers-just earth ones-freaking out about the sudden proliferation.
As it is, we feel satisfaction at them getting their just desserts, but it's only vague. It's a fair bit like having a monster story with a monster that eats babies, but we never see the monster and it's killed off by hunters we see for a few paragraphs near the end.
I mean, sure, there's satisfaction it's dead, but at the same time there's not much excitement to it.
It's a nice story, but Rarity's going to have her work cut out for her.
According to Bain and Co, the world production of diamonds of all types (rough) is 133 million carats per year, or (calculates) 26.6 metric tons. (yea, Google!) So if she brings in two tons of diamonds, that's about a month of production. Admittedly, for *finished* diamonds of a particular type, the numbers would be much lower, but still... Dang.
8734044
They are good for...
um...
Your health! Yes, your health, of course!
You don't want to know the things they put on the synthetic diamonds... like, too much pressure. Our natural, organic, vegan diamonds are gluten and stress free. Buy them. For a lot of money.
8734515
Those were when the grand physic theory unification happened (a bunch of numbers here and there, the last state the universe will be is scenario 42), and when Big Mac discovered the Big Mac and the Mac, and uporpusely invented the Little Mac, a consumable device that banckrupted both Apple and Earth's apple market.
Also, Luna made a microwave explode on somw point.
Wow, a human - equestrian story I actually really enjoyed! Congrats, that takes work. And I loved Rarity and an economic force of nature.
Yes.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/5/11/1151776.gif
Admirable show of restraint to not show how much Rarity just either obliterated or improved several small African nations. The immediate fallout of crashing the blood diamond market vs the long term repercussions would probably take another entire story just as long to go through in bullet points.
Hey, I'm gonna jump in here.
Two of my younger siblings are in the jewelry business. One as a diamond setter, the other as a diamond cutter. My uncle, who they work for, is a Gemologist. And while this story is certainly funny... its not factual.
Let's address some common misconceptions.
DeBeers owns a monopoly!
To an extent, this is true. There's two bits two DeBeers: the diamond company run by Nicky Oppenheimer and then DeBeers Group, a coalition of various mines, cutters and polishers who ensure that the industry is self-policed for pricing and quality. Is there a controlled cost, perhaps. This coalition is the LARGEST one such out there, holding a colossal share of the worlds market. I'm sure some price control goes on, the same with oil, or water, or anything else. If people worked for the cost, they'd make no money and no incentive to do it. But one company isnt gobbling up all the stones and holding them from the rest of us like a miser. Its like an industry Union that sets standards.
Millions of diamonds are produced each year!
Also very true! As someone said earlier 133 million carats per year are produced. But there's a SIGNIFICANT difference between an industrial grade diamond which is used for drills, lasers, computers, glass, windows, bits, or engraving and the kind you were on your finger. 99.999% (this isn't a joke number, its very factual) of diamonds are inherently worthless aesthetically but have dozens of uses outside of the jewelry world. But the crystal clear ice diamonds that jewelers pride themselves on, those are valuable because they ARE so rare. They're free of major debris, contaminants, and geological shifts or feathers. And, even bits of those are rare. Same with emerald, sapphires, and rubies. Those stones are really common. But the crystals themselves? The kind made into jewelry? Those are treasures of the earth.
Industrial
invedia.co.uk/images/products4_abig.jpg
Ice
sc02.alicdn.com/kf/HTB19KHZKFXXXXcHaXXXq6xXFXXXU/Precious-White-Rough-Diamond-Stones.jpg
And yeah. They're rocks. Nobody ever denied it. But they're rare rocks, the same way that a fossil of a dinosaur is a bunch of rocks. And a fossil is more valuable than some sandstone or anything else. Someone might pay millions for a fossil. And why not? Its the legit thing.
They're not worth that much, they're just shiny rocks
This is the part that pisses me off. 100%. Because behind every shiny rock is someone like my siblings. People who spent years and years in school, and then years and years at their craft and skill to MAKE something. To learn how to cut and polish, countless hours, so that the sparkle is just right, or that the shape captures all the best features. You're paying for a lifetime of professionalism and skill.
You're paying for the guy who dug it out of the mine. The guy who identified that it was worth something. The guy who cut it and its many facets. The guy who polished it to the perfect shine. The guy who designed the mountings it rests in. The guy who made the jewelry it sits in. And the guy that set it. All on a micro scale. Diamond jewelry take such a long amount of work, skill, and a wide range of professions to come to their final fruition. When you pay $3000.00 for a diamond, you're paying for a piece of art that took months of works, with years of skills and education. And the 4 Cs, Carats, Color, Cut, and Clarity all pay importance to this price. Some things are simply rarer than others.
Synthetic Diamonds are just as good
I mean, I guess. Yeah, they have the same features. But they're not green, not ethical for the amount of energy taken to make them, and at the end of the day are just frauds. You can have a copy of a painting hanging on your wall. You can drink Bud Light instead of Budweiser. You can support the Pats over the Eagles. You can drink grape juice instead of wine. You can give silk roses instead of real. But a fake is still a fake.
I'd buy a diamond because a nice one is a piece of art. I like the appeal of the real, that when the earths conditions were just right for this stone, and that man, in his infinite skill and power, cut it to beauty and set it in beauty. I know its people like my siblings who can turn something from a rough rock and make it sparkle like a star.
So yeah. I'm biased. Im a watchmaker and people dismiss my craft, my education, and my product. Why wear a watch when we all have cell phones. And they're my siblings, so Im always gonna protect them. But I whole heartedly believe what I say, and frankly, while the story itself was funny, you've also belittled the trade, skills, and work of an entire industry of artisans and craftsmen with the same repetitive lines and concepts and very little understanding of the other side of it.
They might not be unicorns who can magic things to perfection living in a land with perfect gemstones of perfect color and clarity. But they work with what they have, and do deserve that final price tag. The same way any craftsman or artisan deserve to be paid for their labor.
8734044
8734592
Actually, I've heard that the synthetic diamond people have started referring to their product as "Conflict Free" diamonds. After all, no one fought, bled, and died for them like the diamonds coming out of the mines in some African shi... crap-hole nation. Now that's a brillaint marketing campaign!
8734518
Wow. Did a Debeers agent kill your parents or run over your dog or something?
I mean, sure, I have no problem hating a giant monopolistic corporation that artificially inflates the price of it's product. But I don't know how much pleasure I'd get from reading about the high level CEOs who jump out of windows when they realize their corporation if broke and their pensions gone. Or the low lower level managers and flunkies who find themselves unemployed and unable to support their families. Or the diamon cutters and setters at the bottom of the hierarchy, who suddenly find their hard earned skills almost worthless. After all, who cares if you screw up the first few cuts? Diamonds are cheap after all!
Why, I bet you're the kind of person who laughs when the second Death Star explodes, giving not even a moment's thought to all the poor innocent contractors who must have been working on that project! You monster
[I shouldn't have to clarify this, but just in case: that was all sarcasm, of course.
]
now what mischief will the other tribes provide?
Iiiiit's a mystery - Earth's economy!
The Rarity had an idea. An awful idea. Rarity had a wonderful, awful idea.
(I'm pretty sure most Contact stories I've seen have actually banned precious metals and gemstones from being brought to Earth for this reason. In fact, isn't Silver Glow's Journal one of them?
)
8734360
Governments wanting to control the supply is at best a secondary reason, as only a small percentage of the gold above ground is in governmental reserves. That secondary reason is subject to the first: that there are 5000+ years of human cultures who valued gold.
8734820
Regarding shiny rocks and synthetic diamonds not being as good:
If a synthetic diamond can be cut and polished so that an unassisted human, even a professional, cannot distinguish it from a natural one, then there should be no reason why it's not as "good" in a decorative sense.
8735078
I can get kinda get what he is saying. It may look identical, but feels cheap for being artificial. At least that's what I think he was saying.
8735078
Eh, genuinely poor example. That's like saying that that a painting reproduction cannot be distinguished from the original by an unassisted mook. It LOOKS similar, and for some people, thats enough.
But otherwise, its a fraud. There's a bunch of methods to determine the man made ones from the natural diamonds. I'm not saying they dont have a place in the market, but let's not pretend they're the same as the genuine article. Chemically, sure.
A painting is just paint after all.
needs closing quotations.
days'. on Equestria.
8735109
But what makes the naturally formed one more valuable?
The value should be in how it is artistically presented, and there is no difference in getting an artificial one into that state than a natural one, once the cost of producing or mining the crystal is passed.
And perhaps the value of fine art is not the best comparison, given that the fine art industry is also corrupt. The beauty of the art and the skill of the artist are not the biggest factors in determining the value of the art.
(In your previous comment you said artificial gems are not green or ethical. I don't know about how green they are, but at least you can be far more confident that no slave labour was involved in its production.)
While this is great, where are Trouble II-III?
8733960
Don't f
with Rarity. 
8733997
If only she hadn't promised Twilight not to. . . .
8734012
I think that's the biggest problem. I'd guess (although I don't know for sure) that unless the price of gold really skyrocketed (no pun intended), it's just not economically feasible to mine for it in space, even assuming that you could locate some.
Gold can also be produced in a particle accelerator, although the last time it was done, it cost millions and only produced atoms of gold; it can also theoretically be harvested from seawater, although again, not economically.
8734044
Exactly.
Huh, I didn't know that. Although I'd like to pretend that I did, and necromacy is something that foals learn in magic kindergarten.
Eat recycled food! It's good for the environment and okay for you.
8734068
Rarity is best pony.
8734121
Stories 2 and 3 of the trilogy will be along sooner or later.
8734230
Because it's the fourth installment of the trilogy. 2 and 3 just haven't been published yet.
I'm so glad that we generally don't have to deal with that at the shop. We've got so many nuts, bolts, and washers.
8734259
It's a trilogy, and I'm just publishing the stories out of order, 'cause that's how I roll.
Thanks!
8734305
I can't deny that the fact it was Barney's (as opposed to some other fashion house) was an allusion to Estee's story.
Or her mention of small things accumulating.
Of course she does. But she also understands that they don't have to be.
8734356
Especially if you dig down to the
nougat-ycore of the Earth.Which, if I remember correctly, was largely DeBeers' doing.
Back in the day, DeBeers was one company that could have (not sure that they could any more; they don't control as much of the market as they once did).
8734360
I don't know if I'd say completely screwing--at a guess (not an expert) ones that aren't as pretty as the ones we want to see in jewelery are pretty cheap . . . there was an episode of Cody's Lab where he got industrial diamonds by sweeping up after a road construction project . . . if those had been gemstone quality, they would have been worth thousands; since they weren't, they were only worth cents.
According to one quick google search, governments hold about 30,000 tons of gold in total; private individuals hold about 100,000 tons, both in jewelry and other worked gold, and in bullion.
If it's actual gold, then yeah.
Which is also funny, because it seems like gold is kind of worthless to the ponies, too.
lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FoAi5ZV9I2w/U1wzBby955I/AAAAAAABJzk/JHIzYYuXFSk/s1600/TheRoyalPrincessCleaningBrigade.png
8734367
Fixed! Thank you!
8734400
That's a really big factor in their perceived value. It probably wouldn't surprise you to know that DeBeers was behind the 'diamonds are forever' marketing campaign, would it?