Let's just say it.... "Diamonds ... that'll shut her up!" - Ron "Tater Salad" White

A giant planet (roughly the size of Jupiter) made of crystalline carbon (ie diamond). Carbon is an interesting material, conductive, polymorphic ( graphite, graphene, diamond, etc..) and stable (were based on it). If there was any planet which rock creatures could evolve it would be there. Powered by the pulsar star it orbits, lithovoric life could flourish under the blue sun.

-ddn

It would never be worth it for this specific planet. Mainly because diamonds aren't that rare and don't hold much value. The value we attribute to them is only due to a markup at retail and superior marketing. A handful of people control all the diamonds in the world, and even buy back large amounts to control the flow to the markets. If all the diamonds in the world were available for sale the price would drop lower than most gemstones (rubies, emeralds, etc.).

If it was a planet made of sex, it would take about 2 years to advance the technology enough to get there. Diamonds are not valuable enough.

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What about a planet made of gold? or oil?

I also think this is fairly funny.
A planet of gold, perhaps reachable with current tech, could come handy I suppose.
Oil? After we run the spaceship on solar/fusion for centuries? Just say no.

Dudes, it's just carbon! We can make them artificially anyway... even from pets...

I would imagine gravity on that planet would be quite strong. To compress and entire carbon core into diamond would require some tremendous pressures. Even if the outer atmosphere is completely gone, I'd imagine its mass would be sufficient hight enough for stuff to never leave the gravity well once landed on it. Also, stuff will be fried by the neutron star nearby.

Now every woman in the Western world is going to pout when they get their engagement rings, because they didn't get the biggest diamond evar.

Dudes, it's just carbon! We can make them artificially anyway... even from pets...

"No problem dear. Could you hold this kitten while I try to find a printing press?"

A planet of gold, perhaps reachable with current tech, could come handy I suppose.

At the very least it would finally end the gold bubble

Doesn't earth already have a ton of diamonds, but corporate greed (De Beers) puts a throttle on their selling and jacks up their prices to make them seem more "rare"? Albeit I'm not 100% certain of their quality...

Doesn't earth already have a ton of diamonds, but corporate greed (De Beers) puts a throttle on their selling and jacks up their prices to make them seem more "rare"? Albeit I'm not 100% certain of their quality...

Possible. Plus marketing push that ties diamonds to weddings also seem to drive the demands for diamonds.

I always thought this kind of thing only exist in scifi stories. It's actually there now!