Wonder what Rolex recommends you spend?

[tutone]

I vaguely remember some DeBeers diamond ads recommending that one should spend three months salary for a diamond engagement ring. If pressed into a similar marketing plan, I wonder what Rolex would say? IMHO, for your first Rollie, one months pay would be good. Less if your wife/fiancee has a small diamond.

[Randy]

For the average WIS, 3-4 Months salary.

[HDHNTER]

Originally Posted by Randy

For the average WIS, 3-4 Months salary.

That makes me a proud member of the far below average WIS group, lol.
One month sounds just right.

[Numismatist]

You mean you people aren't spending ALL your paychecks on Rolexes

[RW16610]

That would seem about right, but it depends on what the persons situation is. Maybe they got lucky on some investments one month or two and could go all out. Stuff like that or selling / renting property.

[pepemaui]

I think my rolex AD would prefer if we spent every other paycheck there:)

[Tony-GB]

I used my brain & didn't spend any money on my Rolex-

just gave a kidney

[larissajay]

Yes, that would sound about right for a campaign by them, but just as I don't believe people should be buying into that DeBeers advertising, I wouldn't spend a month's pay on a watch. I love Rolex as much as the next guy, but I've still got other priorities!

[astcell]

I heard 2 months on the engagement ring. The third month must be to buy the gas to go look for the right one.

[Tony-GB]

Originally Posted by astcell

I heard 2 months on the engagement ring. The third month must be to buy the gas to go look for the right one.

LOL! Nice one!!

[GMTII Owner]

Spend what you can't afford!!!

[toph]

Originally Posted by GMTII Owner

Spend what you can't afford!!!

spot on

Thats exactly what they would recommend!!

[tutone]

Yes, I surely have to pay the mortgage, etc. first. Another limitation is what your significant other thinks (although most women would LOVE it if you spent 2-3 months salary on her diamond!) Been there, done that with the divorce thing, I mean paying for a house you no longer live in!

[Welshwatchman]

You've gotta love the bare faced cheek of DeBeers, haven't you?

Diamonds costs $58 a carat to mine, the rest is marketing. 960,000,000 carats in storage, carefully released onto the market.

How much do you love your girlfriend? Prove it with diamonds.

Don't want to be seen to be a cheapskate, do you?

[mfer]

Originally Posted by Welshwatchman

You've gotta love the bare faced cheek of DeBeers, haven't you?

Diamonds costs $58 a carat to mine, the rest is marketing. 960,000,000 carats in storage, carefully released onto the market.

How much do you love your girlfriend? Prove it with diamonds.

Don't want to be seen to be a cheapskate, do you?

That's really interesting...kind of sounds like Rolex (all marketing)




Where did you get those states. I'm curious about surplus of diamonds.

[crayfish]

Originally Posted by Welshwatchman

You've gotta love the bare faced cheek of DeBeers, haven't you?

Diamonds costs $58 a carat to mine, the rest is marketing. 960,000,000 carats in storage, carefully released onto the market.

How much do you love your girlfriend? Prove it with diamonds.

Don't want to be seen to be a cheapskate, do you?

Sorry welshwatchman - I don't know much about Rolex, but I do know about diamonds. Those stats are completely out of date and incorrect. Dealing with the last one first, there is no stockpile of diamonds any longer. That was sold down between 2001 and 2004 when they learned about Just In Time theory and the high costs of stockpiling - all that capital tied up wasn't doing much good to their financials.

Secondly, every mine has different costs per carat, and every carat has a different value - there are thousands of price-points for diamonds. This is because no diamond is the same as any other. Some mines are very profitable and some make losses. With the current boom in mining due to increased commodity prices, diamond mines are becoming less profitable as their costs spiral, and more are closing down (e.g. Jericho / Tahera in Canada).

As there is no stockpile, the price of diamonds is now driven entirely by supply and demand. Supply is currently flat and forecast to drop - no new mines have been found since the latest Canadian ones. Meanwhile the Chinese and other BRIC markets are steadily growing. 3 billion people means 1.5 billion women. If only 10% of those want a diamond when they're engaged or married - do the math. For the first time in decades, diamonds are probably a very good investment. Forecasts are that prices will grow significantly into the foreseeable future. The "marketing" you talk about has become a self-fulfilling prophecy - diamonds are becoming extremely rare.

I reckon Rolex should push for about 2 months gross salary on a watch - or 100% of your bonus (assuming your partner doesn't know about it!)

[astcell]

I dunno, 3 months' salary can buy a lot..... do you really want ONE stone, ladies?

[astcell]

Go to blue nile dot com and you can buy a 14 carat diamond right NOW. Go to any jewelry store and they say that diamonds over a carat are soooo rare, bu they all have tons.

I'd venture that ANY Rolex is rarer than a diamond!

[SPACE-DWELLER]

The Rolex watches I want are getting increasingly out of reach by the day due to the frequent price hikes.

[CHRONOLEX]

At least there's some resale value with Rolex, such that it trades and it's fairly liquid. With a diamond, there's almost no resale value. Dealers won't buy it back for nearly what you paid, and few people want to do a private deal because of the superstition associated with diamond resale. That's been my experience, anyway.

[PNR001]

What is the superstition about selling a diamond?

[Russ1974]

Originally Posted by PNR001

What is the superstition about selling a diamond?

I think it goes something like;

"She who sells a diamond, will reap the rewards. He who sells HER diamond, better remove all sharp instruments from the house".

[CHRONOLEX]

Originally Posted by PNR001

What is the superstition about selling a diamond?

I meant that when you deal a diamond privately, many buyers are turned off by the fact that it's not "new" and must have been previously associated with a failed wedding or marriage, ie the diamond is "tainted". Of course there are no "new" diamonds anyway so this is all just superstition. But still, I would take a pre-owned Rolex over a pre-owned diamond any day.

[nko51]

Rolex watch is not like a diamond. Rolex's come in different models true enough, but the price plus a 15% discount is it. Diamond comes in different shapes, sizes and quality. So whatever the cost of the rolex you want, versus your income is how much you should spend.

[crayfish]

In a way I agree with nko 51. I wouldn't settle for a Rolex I didn't want just because it was cheaper. Having said that my first is a Date SS - basically the cheapest I could get at the time, with a date. But that was before I got the bug... If it's a solid gold Daytona with all that bling I'm looking for, maybe it'll be 24 months' salary! As long as you eventually get the one you want...

[pwrslider]

Originally Posted by CHRONOLEX

At least there's some resale value with Rolex, such that it trades and it's fairly liquid. With a diamond, there's almost no resale value. Dealers won't buy it back for nearly what you paid, and few people want to do a private deal because of the superstition associated with diamond resale. That's been my experience, anyway.

I agree...NO ONE resells a diamond.....therefore its not an investment!

[astcell]

What about bad luck coming to all the previous owners of the Hope Diamond?

[CHRONOLEX]

Crayfish, but if you follow your projections, what does that mean in terms of marketable diamonds once the supply is ultimately depleted? Of course not everyone can afford large, super clean stones, so does that mean the producers are incented to flood the market with a bunch of small, eye clean stones to meet mass demand?

[crayfish]

The supply will still be there, just in ever decreasing grades (concentration) and therefore more expensive to extract. Demand will drive prices higher, making mines able to afford to spend more extracting diamonds, so they will go deeper, and mine lower concentrations.

Producers can't control whether they produce low or high quality stones. They cannot "flood the market" with any specific type or quality - they sell what they mine. All the stones come out together. The prices of all types of diamonds will increase, but some maybe more than others. Obviously the rarest (top quality) will increase by more.

[Welshwatchman]

Originally Posted by mfer

That's really interesting...kind of sounds like Rolex (all marketing)




Where did you get those states. I'm curious about surplus of diamonds.

Originally Posted by crayfish

The supply will still be there, just in ever decreasing grades (concentration) and therefore more expensive to extract. Demand will drive prices higher, making mines able to afford to spend more extracting diamonds, so they will go deeper, and mine lower concentrations.

Producers can't control whether they produce low or high quality stones. They cannot "flood the market" with any specific type or quality - they sell what they mine. All the stones come out together. The prices of all types of diamonds will increase, but some maybe more than others. Obviously the rarest (top quality) will increase by more.

I saw a BBC "Panorama" progam on the diamond industry which focused on the recent huge improvements in the CVC production of flawless diamonds, whereby they can now produce diamonds with a colour and clarity that equals and even surpasses mined diamonds.

They showed two ersatz versions of the 45-carat Hope diamond and they astounded the experts since they now could create flawless diamonds the same way as nature did, one Carbon atom at a time under incredible heat and pressure. It cost $1500 to make each diamond!



DeBeers ended up doing a multi billion dollar deal to burrow their way in to the channeling and distribution of these man made diamonds into the jewlry industry.

It seems that the big bucks are in diamonds for industrial use and the mega bucks are in diamond semiconductors that will revolutionise electronics over the next decade or so.

The jewelry side of it is nicely under the influence of DeBeers so a $100 2ct flawless diamond is not going to be allowed.