Are diamonds in the UK smaller than in the US?

[Pandora II]

I bet it was nice quality, right? Diamond size just doesn't correlate to social status or even income here, but quality is important

G, VS2, great cut...

 

[Black Jade]

Interesting thread. But I am not sure apples are being compared to apples.
We do have a class system in the US, too, much as we deny it. There is definite 'old money' here and what is essentially an aristocracy,too, in places like New England. These people do not buy big diamonds and tend to look down on those who do in a very polite way.

It is considered 'nouveau riche' and vulgar in those circles to flaunt ANYTHING and I don't think I've ever seen a diamond as large a carat on these very wealthy peoples' fingers. Only the most wonderful quality, though. And inherited is definitely better.

They have smaller everything--I was just on a trip with some of them and some business people who have made money (but have not always had it) and I was noticing how much larger the pearls were on the necks of the businesswomen. The really wealthy women were wearing pearls too, but very discreet-nothing over 7-7.5 mm definitely (and often a lot smaller, but very lustrous).

These people do not join Pricescope. Neither are they seen on American tv shows or in magazines. They do travel a whole lot but probably slip under the radar when they do as they are always quiet, always discreet and work very hard to not be noticed, so are nobody's idea of what an American is. (They are always highly educated, too and often multilingual).

 

[rosetta]

Yes, on average the diamonds are smaller, but there is a lot of what I call reverse snobbery too. For example, people will freely comment that anything over 1 carat is tacky and showy, even if they've never even seen a 2 carat in their lives (and think a 2 ct is twice the size of a 1 ct....) and even if it's high colour/clarity. Makes me wanna shake them. C'mon people, stop being so mean-spirited!

I get the most compliments from women who wear fine jewellery themselves and catty comments from those who don't. I assume they are speaking from a position of ignorance (they really are) and brush them off.

I'm not convinced the UK public are as knowledgable about diamonds as the US, on the whole. Besides, all our money is going on securing a postage stamp size bit of this island to call our own

 

[vsc]

but there is a lot of what I call reverse snobbery too.

This! I've seen this on the continent a lot. Some of my relatives don't even wear gold jewelry, but instead some modern ceramic or alternate materials.
Somehow it's seen as a bad thing to "flaunt" wealth. The attitude is that wealth is either inherited (undeserved) or obtained by cheating/crookery (even less deserved).
There is also a romantic notion (for engagement rings) that carat should not matter and that a guy should not have to "bribe" or "buy" you with an expensive ring. The expense being so one-sided is seen as a sort of archaic return to bride prices and things of the sort.

 

[rosetta]

but there is a lot of what I call reverse snobbery too.

This! I've seen this on the continent a lot. Some of my relatives don't even wear gold jewelry, but instead some modern ceramic or alternate materials.
Somehow it's seen as a bad thing to "flaunt" wealth. The attitude is that wealth is either inherited (undeserved) or obtained by cheating/crookery (even less deserved).
There is also a romantic notion (for engagement rings) that carat should not matter and that a guy should not have to "bribe" or "buy" you with an expensive ring. The expense being so one-sided is seen as a sort of archaic return to bride prices and things of the sort.

So agree. Whenever someone sees my ring for the first time, and then instantly feels compelled, apropos of nothing, to defend their ring ("oh I didn't want a big rock that would catch on things/I like dainty stones/we didn't want to get into debt like you/big stones are so tacky") I know I've hit a nerve. I want to say to them: we weren't talking about your ring, until you just brought it up, and made it seem like a competition when it clearly wasn't. And thanks for the assumptions and spiteful implications. You're only making yourself look foolish. But mostly I just do this------>

 

[AmeliaG]

Yes, on average the diamonds are smaller, but there is a lot of what I call reverse snobbery too. For example, people will freely comment that anything over 1 carat is tacky and showy, even if they've never even seen a 2 carat in their lives (and think a 2 ct is twice the size of a 1 ct....) and even if it's high colour/clarity. Makes me wanna shake them. C'mon people, stop being so mean-spirited!

Yeah, you're right. There is a brand of elitism that says if everyone knows how valuable it is, it isn't really that valuable. Everybody knows that larger diamonds are rarer and more valuable than smaller diamonds even if they don't know anything about diamonds so the more extreme elites want something that is very valuable that nobody who is not in the know thinks is valuable. Let's face it, the great unwashed masses when they encounter a 2 carat diamond are not ooohing and aaahing over the excellent cut, clarity, or color. That bugs some people.

This creates the market for the small D IFs. Money-wise they're very valuable but in a small size, nobody will notice and for some people nobody noticing is part of the point of the elitism.

 

[Black Jade]

[Yeah, you're right. There is a brand of elitism that says if everyone knows how valuable it is, it isn't really that valuable. Everybody knows that larger diamonds are rarer and more valuable than smaller diamonds even if they don't know anything about diamonds so the more extreme elites want something that is very valuable that nobody who is not in the know thinks is valuable. Let's face it, the great unwashed masses when they encounter a 2 carat diamond are not ooohing and aaahing over the excellent cut, clarity, or color. That bugs some people.

This creates the market for the small D IFs. Money-wise they're very valuable but in a small size, nobody will notice and for some people nobody noticing is part of the point of the elitism.[/quote]

Yes, this is absolutely true. There are two kinds of elitism, definitely. One is, I have more money than you and I'm going to show it by the stuff I wear/have. The other is I have more money AND more class so I don't need to show anything off, except in discreet little ways that only those 'in the know' will get.
The grandfather (or grandmother) who makes the money tends to do #1--he's the nouveau riche and he's insecure. The grandkids tend to do #2, as they've had the money long enough to feel truly superior--so much so that they don't need to let anyone else know they feel superior, if you know what I mean.
European money stays in the same families a long time so there's a lot of #2. In the US, there are old money families but mostly they keep under the radar and Americans tend to make and lose money quickly, so there's a lot of #1. Americans also tend to pay more attention to advertising (maybe because they don't have 'ancestors' to tell them, we've always done this such and such a way, so look to t.v. and other ads to figure it out) and the role models in the US for how to spend tend to be the Paris Hiltons and Kim Kardashians. And, in spite of the 2008 crash, there are still plenty of Americans ready to wield the credit card for things that they believe will give them 'instant status."

Both kinds of elitism are obnoxious. One would like to think that everyone getting a diamond was either seeing it as symbol of love, or as beautiful thing that gives pleasure no matter what the size and that someone would get a D IF because they LIKE a D IF, not because it makes them better than others and that someone else would get a large diamond because they like the way it looks, not because "everyone will notice' and they will always win in that comparison game that we know goes on way too much among recently engaged so-called 'friends' AND their fiances (contrary to what many think, men play a large part in the my-fiance-has-a-bigger-diamond than-yours-does parlor game that is so obnoxious (and that few can now really afford).