74 Million Dollar Shiny Rock

That's right, the woman in the image above is holding the Pink Star diamond, which came in at auction for 73.99 Million USD. At 59.60 Carats it trumps the previous record holder, the Graff Pink, which was 24.78 Carats and sold for 45.75 Million USD. (Shown Right) If you can not tell the difference between the two, head back to elementary because one's square and ones an oval. Other than that however, you can't be blamed for not understanding why one is worth 30 million dollars more than the other based on some arbitrary value called "Carats".

A diamond's value is determined on the so called grade of the diamond. It ranks from  D to Z, D being the best meaning it is 100% clear, flawless gemstone. At Z they are a dirty brown or yellow and are not even sold as gems. So, if clear is better, why is the pink diamond selling for the most in history? Well, there are vivid fancy colors that people like to see in their diamonds, red, pink, blue, green ect. these are far scarcer than the translucent stones. In all honesty, the average diamond of a wedding ring is worth nothing in terms of it's rarity. The average wedding ring costs somewhere around $3,000 - $5,000 and would be worth not even half that were the diamond market not so horribly monopolized. Yes, De Beers diamond company can be thanked for the artificial pricing of diamonds. They are essentially the sole provider of diamonds around the world and have complete control of the South African blood mines. Countless times they have bought out there competetors and just threw money until all their problems were fixed, they've been in control of the market since 1887 and show no sign of stopping anytime soon.



http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/45768546804/diamonds-are-bullshit
http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/pink-star-diamond-sells-for-world-record-at-auction
                                                                        (One more for good measure)