Why should a husband/boyfriend ever buy an actual diamond when alternative is there?

My wife and I got engaged 30 years ago while in college. All I could afford at that time was a small diamond, which she loved. Years later we are doing very well financially, but we are both practical. I offered to buy my wife a larger ring as an anniversary present, but she refused. She insisted I buy a CZ instead. It's a beautiful ring that cost hundreds instead of many thousands. Our house is paid off, our cars are paid off and we have no credit card debt. Take that to the trailer park No Name.

good job. i don't regret buying the ring, but when i think about it logically, it's pretty stupid. luckily my wife and i make good money and live within our means. sure would be nice to have all of that ring money back though...

It is pretty crazy when you look into De Beers Diamonds on how they craftfully marketed diamonds and made it into a must have item to get engaged. In the 1930s, people did not even get engagement rings. My grandparents only had gold bands and they only put them on during the wedding ceremony. De Beers brought out the whole "Diamonds are Forever" slogan during World War II, had TV and Movie directors write in couples using a diamond ring to get engaged into their shows, shot photographs of famous people sporting diamonds and put them all over, and focused on the high school and junior high girls and guys to make girls want a diamond engagement ring and the guys feel like giving a diamond engagement ring was something that was needed to show their love.

Shoot diamonds actually are not that valuable. Try to sell one back, you will only get about 30 to 40 percent of what you paid for it.

However, with that said, I will still buy a diamond ring for my girl. It is something that she wants and has dream of for years, why try to spoil it. And trust me, in a girl's mind there is a big difference between a cubic zerconium(sp) and a diamond. For them it is a status symbol, even though they know that it was all crafted up by a marketing campaign. Kind of like how they want a certain necklace from Tiffany's, but do not want one that looks the same from Wal-Mart. It is half the price, but they would not want to show it off to their friends. Besides, even if you fool her into thinking it is a real diamond at first, think about the rath that will reign down onto you when she finds out (and she will find out down the road) that it is a fake.

peer pressure

I'm an Arab American, and I just asked my mom if diamonds were a huge part of the Arab wedding experience.

"No, but you do get lots of gold."

So maybe every culture has its wasteful spending thing. The diamond ring takes the place of the dowry that used to include lots of other stuff, so I guess it's more concise, if nothing else. I agree with what one of the other posters said, if you can't get this very simple step, then you probably shouldn't think about getting married because it's a strong indicator of financial problems later.

I'm an Arab American, and I just asked my mom if diamonds were a huge part of the Arab wedding experience.

"No, but you do get lots of gold."

So maybe every culture has its wasteful spending thing. The diamond ring takes the place of the dowry that used to include lots of other stuff, so I guess it's more concise, if nothing else. I agree with what one of the other posters said, if you can't get this very simple step, then you probably shouldn't think about getting married because it's a strong indicator of financial problems later.

bingo! wrote:

I smend about $800 on a very small engagement ring, and my wife loved it. She didn't give a rats ass about the ring itself, she just wanted me to propose. She actually told me not to spend much on it, for the same reasons that Dr. Phil has been posting.

That being said, I did get a real diamond.

You are an idiot.

Perhaps I was too harsh.

It was a costly mistake. You should listen to your wife.

Dr. Phil wrote:

a sham

I found this an interesting read:

Not sure how much of an agenda the author has, but as a business guy I understand the product marketing aspect of it -- a very successful one indeed.

By the way, my country was never included in their marketing strategy, so no german guy is supposed to buy a diamond at all -- absolutely NO issue! I have never, ever heard someone talking about diamonds with reference to an engagement ring or whatever.

listen to your wife wrote:

Perhaps I was too harsh.

It was a costly mistake. You should listen to your wife.

Didn't he listen to his wife? $800 is not that much for an engagement ring. It's about $700 more than I paid but still is within reason.

My wife and I got her engagement ring at a pawn shop. She knew it was stupid to pay for an expensive ring when we were first starting out.

A lot of guys reading this thread are thinking about whether they would spend that much on a diamond or not for their lady, if they could get away with CZ (they can; most jewelers can't tell the difference), or whether they make the right choice in what they've already done with their purchasing.

I'm wondering if you could buy CZs and sell them off to pawn shops for a profit. I expect you could.

My wife would have killed me if I spent $ on a diamond.

I had a family diamond that was already set, and she loves it - it makes her feel like she is responsible for part of my side of the family.

Read the history of DeBeers and diamonds. This is a manufactured market.

Look at charts of the price of diamonds over the past 10-15 years. Botswanna has bailed out of the cartel, and prices are down 50%.

If you are marrying somebody who values the price tag of things (and there are many many men and women like that), then buy a diamond.

Can someone tell me what a CZ is ?

quick question for ya wrote:

Can someone tell me what a CZ is ?

CZ is short for Cubic Zirconium (I think I spelled that correctly...). It is the same as a diamond in almost every way, but there are ways to differentiate the two. Cubic Zirconium is a far less expensive rock than diamonds are, despite the inability of most people to tell the two apart. A study of professional jewelers demonstrated that even with the aid of microscopes designed for examining the quality of jewels, they have trouble telling the two apart. Better microscopes make the difference more apparent.

Verzibadass wrote:

I'm an Arab American, and I just asked my mom if diamonds were a huge part of the Arab wedding experience.

"No, but you do get lots of gold."

So maybe every culture has its wasteful spending thing. The diamond ring takes the place of the dowry that used to include lots of other stuff, so I guess it's more concise, if nothing else. I agree with what one of the other posters said, if you can't get this very simple step, then you probably shouldn't think about getting married because it's a strong indicator of financial problems later.

Actually the gold has value in that giving gold is pretty much the same as giving money since all money is based on gold. The reason why you give gold at weddings is not to waste money but to invest it. In some countries, wives aren't allowed any property but jewelry in a divorce, thus if you gave her money, the husband would get it. You give gold because so that if the marriage doesn't work out, the wife will have some money to survive. Same reason why they give girls tons of gold bracelets on their birthdays and such, kind of as emergency cash.

Can you buy CZ at any jewelry store ?

Per the Kay Jewelers ad: "Every kiss begins with Kay"

Wrong.

Guys want something that ends with K.

Sorry.... wrote:

Actually the gold has value in that giving gold is pretty much the same as giving money since all money is based on gold. The reason why you give gold at weddings is not to waste money but to invest it. In some countries, wives aren't allowed any property but jewelry in a divorce, thus if you gave her money, the husband would get it. You give gold because so that if the marriage doesn't work out, the wife will have some money to survive. Same reason why they give girls tons of gold bracelets on their birthdays and such, kind of as emergency cash.

Uhh... money isn't based on gold anymore.

asasmzcxv wrote:

Uhh... money isn't based on gold anymore.

it isn't??!?!?

oh....SH!T!