De Beers, Synthetic Precious Gemstones, Precious Metals & Asteroid Mining

The market for shiny things

[TL;DR Diamonds are worthless, precious metals are actually rare]

De Beers Group

Precious Gemstones

Synthetic Counterparts

Chemically speaking these synthetic gemstones are virtually identical. In fact, they would likely contain fewer impurities since it is not subject to nature. In China, these “precious” gemstones are manufactured at an alarming scale, and therefore cost virtually nothing relative to the price of natural gemstones. Don’t be fooled, diamonds are not rare nor should they cost as much as they do.

Precious Metals

“Aluminum Was Once One of the Most Expensive Metals in the World”

“Aluminum’s Strange Joruney From Precious Metal to Beer Can”

Noble Metals

Industry Use & Resulting Scarcity

What does this all mean? It mean’s there is a fixed supply of precious metals, unlike “precious” gemstones, and we are rapidly increasing our usage of these materials in a wide variety of industries. Tech is especially resource intensive and it is only becoming more all encompassing in our modern lifestyles. My piece of advice is to invest a portion of your wealth into gold, platinum, and possibly palladium as a means of wealth preservation. This asset class will undoubtedly beat many others, gold especially because its the “gold standard”, due to its inherent scarcity and high industrial demand.

Asteroid Mining

Now all of this about precious metals goes out the window if a technology such as asteroid mining becomes feasible. Which is very likely given SpaceX Starship will bring the cost/kg down well under $100, given everything goes to plan.