Are Diamond Rings a Foolish Idea in Relationships / Marriage?

[The Giant Noodle]

I was engaged. Once.
I had the hall booked. She had the dress. I bought BOTH of those stupid rings. Engagement ring...... $3200 and then found out that I need a wedding ring too!!! :shock: What the hell man!
A ring on the finger is supposed to be a SYMBOL.... not something to toss away thousands of dollars. Get a gold ring thats $200 or something. Take the rest of that money and save it! Invest it. Spend it on something useful!

-----------------------------
Hey! I just emptied a total of $4000 on something!
You did? What?
A shiny band you put on a finger with a clear glass-looking thing on top.
What does it do?
Not a ****ing thing. It just sits there. In fact it can be used as a weapon against you!
My GOD man!!! :shock: Who thought of this???
Some marketing A-holes that wanted to make money by making men feel guilty.

 

[Gipper]

You can pick which one you'd rather marry - a logical creature, or a woman.

If you want the latter, be prepared to shell out for the rock.

 

[Johnny]

It's nice if you can afford it.

You should get a ring that fits your budgets. If the two of you are working entry level jobs it's asinine to piss away money on an expensive ring when that money could go to starting your life together.

If you're rich than **** it. Why not? No point in bring rich if you're not enjoying it.

 

[zimmer]

It's a great racket. Illogical but great.
Such a great racket Warren Buffet owns a jewelry store.

Those rings are symbols so wifey doesn't get hit on... a lighthouse that says... "taken"... but as one buddy likes to say; I've never seen a ring plug a hole

.

 

[Laila]

Waste of money.

 

[zimmer]

Waste of money.

You're my kinda girl...

.

 

[RightinNYC]

They're not inherently foolish, but I've seen some people spend far more than they can afford because the girl had unrealistically high standards for the type of ring she wanted.

That type of attitude is an early warning signal that lets you know you should be running as fast as you can in the other direction.

 

[zimmer]

They're not inherently foolish, but I've seen some people spend far more than they can afford because the girl had unrealistically high standards for the type of ring she wanted.

That type of attitude is an early warning signal that lets you know you should be running as fast as you can in the other direction.

Speaking from expereince?
They're not inherently foolish, but as noted above, a simple gold band does the trick.

Funny story about jewelry. A buddy of mine has pretty good contacts; he comes from a family of industrialists and spent time with the DuPonts, knows many of the royals in England, spent time chatting with Maggie Thatcher... the guy is very well connected. Well, back 40+ years ago his Mom went to a lavish party donning jewelry that came as prizes from bubble gum machines. Story has it that many loved her jewelry. Scrutiny was a little less stringent in those days, and who would have had the audacity to pull the among the priviliged classes.

.

 

[tacomancer]

It depends entirely on the people in the relationship. Whenever I offer to buy my wife jewelry, she tells me she would rather spend the money on something that is useful or an investment.

 

[Laila]

You're my kinda girl...

.

Heh.
:3oops:

Diamond rings for weddings is a concept that is largely dominated in the West. No married person I know have a diamond ring, it's useless and the same money can be spent elsewhere on something more useful.

 

[molten_dragon]

I'm of two minds about this. I don't mind the symbolism behind an engagement/wedding ring, but I don't like the "I have to have a huge rock or I won't marry you" mentality that some women have. I especially hate the "you should spend two month's salary on an engagement ring" dreck that jewelry stores try to shaft you on.

My wife's engagement ring is not the typical diamond solitaire. It is a custom-made 18k white gold band with a half-carat round-cut sapphire flanked by two 1/8th carat pear-shaped diamonds. It was not horrifically expensive and she loves it far more than she would have one of the cookie-cutter diamond solitaire rings that the jewelry stores try to get you to buy. Our wedding rings are quite simple, and both of them together cost less than her engagement ring.

 

[Shayah]

I think it's a situational decision. If a diamond is not a financial burden and the couple wants to go this route, I don't see any problem with it at all.

 

[Gipper]

Personally I don't get the backlash of these new lab-created diamonds. I'm not talking cubic zirconium - that stuff is obviously fake as hell. But I have a man's ring with the lab diamond. It sparkles like a diamond, and can even cut glass. It's even been said that trained gemologists (or whatever you would call them) would have difficulty distinguishing between them and natural diamonds.

I'd just get my fiancee/wife a ring like that. You can get a 2-4 carat solitaire like that for under a hundred, and NOBODY can just look at it with the naked eye and tell it's not a "natural" diamond. All the flash, a fraction of the cash.

And that's the reason to buy a diamond, isn't it? So people can go "oooooooooooo"? Mission accomplished.

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

Personally I don't get the backlash of these new lab-created diamonds. I'm not talking cubic zirconium - that stuff is obviously fake as hell. But I have a man's ring with the lab diamond. It sparkles like a diamond, and can even cut glass. It's even been said that trained gemologists (or whatever you would call them) would have difficulty distinguishing between them and natural diamonds.

I'd just get my fiancee/wife a ring like that. You can get a 2-4 carat solitaire like that for under a hundred, and NOBODY can just look at it with the naked eye and tell it's not a "natural" diamond. All the flash, a fraction of the cash.

And that's the reason to buy a diamond, isn't it? So people can go "oooooooooooo"? Mission accomplished.

Lab created diamonds are diamonds for all pratical purposes

The backlash is from the diamond industry, which stands to lose a lot of money as created diamonds reduce the artificial shortage of diamonds in the market, driving up the price, and profits

 

[Cold Highway]

For the amount of money you shell out, I would say so but then again I made the decision not to get married since I have no interest in having children.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I love jewelry - I use to have a business. I still craft it for myself - all kinds. Fancy gems, gleaming silver, rugged titanium.

But I don't *like* diamonds. :shrug: I don't like the diamond standard. The faux belief that diamonds are forever, that they represent something . . . and things of that sort . . . I most assuredly don't like the crap that brainwashes men into believing this way by default.

The *ring itself* being there is representative enough for me to be satisfied.

If a man wants to buy a ring and propose he *should* get to know what his partner will be pleased with. A man should *know* what his partner likes *before* buying something that's so - permanent. If you have no clue what your partner will be pleased with then perhaps you should get to know your partner's tastes a little better before buying a ring/proposing - this can be done with an upfront question about certain things, or by window shopping and just noticing what your partner looks at while in the store.

That being said - my husband believed in the diamond standard. . . but couldn't afford it and bought me a faux diamond ring. . . which I developed an allergy to after a while . . . and he replaced it with yet another faux diamond ring :shrug: I don't like the diamond-ring look . . . but he gave them to me so I like the rings for that reason and I wear them for that reason.

But do I like the way the rings *look* - no, I do not.

Also - whenever the kids were born I couldn't wear the first ring he gave me at all because it was too "tall" - it would flip around on my finger and scratch the kids up with the prongs that were on top. It was impractical, in my opinion, and would snag my hair, get caught up on my sweaters and everything else just because of the design.

So - guys - please become more in tune with your partner's tastes and wants. Don't just *assume* she'll want a diamond - remember - it's not the diamond companies who should be happy with your money, it's your partner who should be happy with your selection.

 

[MaggieD]

Personally I don't get the backlash of these new lab-created diamonds. I'm not talking cubic zirconium - that stuff is obviously fake as hell. But I have a man's ring with the lab diamond. It sparkles like a diamond, and can even cut glass. It's even been said that trained gemologists (or whatever you would call them) would have difficulty distinguishing between them and natural diamonds.

I'd just get my fiancee/wife a ring like that. You can get a 2-4 carat solitaire like that for under a hundred, and NOBODY can just look at it with the naked eye and tell it's not a "natural" diamond. All the flash, a fraction of the cash.

And that's the reason to buy a diamond, isn't it? So people can go "oooooooooooo"? Mission accomplished.

I think that's a great idea. A cubic zirconia is virtually undistinguishable to the naked eye and tough to tell under a loupe, so much so that most of them have CZ etched on them to avoid fraud. A nice CZ in a gold/platnium band. If a gal's not happy with that, it portends reeeeeal trouble, imo. Spend the money saved on a wedding or honeymoon or whatever.

Diamonds aren't even that rare. If DeBeers Diamond Cartel didn't regulate the market, it would flood and prices would drop enormously.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Indeed - they're quite common, now.

For 2 reasons - #1, they're just not as naturally rare as other gems. #2 - the market is saturated with them because you cannot reprocess them (like metals).

If someone wants a unique and rare gem they should go for Serindibite, Taaffeite, Benitoite, Majorite. . . all have striking color and unique histories behind how they're form. A majorite, for example, is only formed by the impact of a meteor.

Of course- they're so rare they're likely unaffordable. But if I was going to spend a year's salary on a gem it wouldn't be a diamond.

 

[MaggieD]

$675 Cubic Zirconia set in 14K gold. Save your money!!

 

[Aunt Spiker]

View attachment 67112321

$675 Cubic Zirconia set in 14K gold. Save your money!!

Yeah - save your money for something else because that things ugly as sin.

 

[MaggieD]

Yeah - save your money for something else because that things ugly as sin.

You post up a picture so I can insult your taste. Ha!

 

[Josie]

I'm single. I would be disappointed if my boyfriend spent a ton of money on a ring. I don't like the solitarie diamonds because they stick out and get caught on things. I like the simple band rings....and only ONE ring.

This one will do:

www.WeddingRings.com

 

[MaggieD]

I'm single. I would be disappointed if my boyfriend spent a ton of money on a ring. I don't like the solitarie diamonds because they stick out and get caught on things. I like the simple band rings....and only ONE ring.

This one will do:

www.WeddingRings.com

Lovely, Mellie -- both the ring and your sentiment.

 

[Laila]

This one will do:

www.WeddingRings.com

That is beautiful.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

You post up a picture so I can insult your taste. Ha!

I already stated I don't like how my rings looks . . . but wear it becuase of what it means.

beatya to it