“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” said the iconic Marilyn Monroe, but the millennial generation, apparently, prefer having food on the table and their taxes paid. While everyone seems to blame Generation Y for “killing” industry after industry, when it comes to expensive things like gemstones, it all makes sense. Research shows that millennials tend to marry later in life than their parents and grandparents. They are also more focused on prioritizing their finances, as well as the ethical problems that come from the gemstone industry. And after all, when you look into it, are diamonds really worth it?

Sure, they are extremely hard and durable and have a high dispersion of light which gives them the characteristic “fire” that people seek, but they are also severely overpriced luxury goods. And what or who is to blame for that? Marketing. Back in the 1930s, De Beers started advertising diamonds as ‘a must’ for engagement rings, successfully manipulating consumer demand. While almost universally believed to be extremely rare, and therefore expensive, these white gemstones are actually quite common with an estimate of 26 tonnes produced annually.

It seems like millennials are just catching up and realizing that diamonds are not that special, and this Tumblr thread on cheap jewelry is a great example. So scroll down below to read what people had to say on fake diamonds and tell us what you think.

This tweet from 2016 questioning why millennials don’t buy diamonds received a lot of attention

When people of Tumblr got together to answer the question and share advice on gemstones

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