Engagement Ring Cost Equation Question

[tomtom]

And does anybody know the conditions under which diamonds are mined? Scary! I don't want any part of that.

 

Yeah what Bogen said, Canadian diamonds are certified blood and cruelty free

Arc'teryx sells diamonds? Cool.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I think that Dberdinka is onto something here. There are plenty of conventions and customs in society that I don't especially care for, and would leave out of the blueprint entirely if I were designing the world, but the reality is that one has to contend with such things from time to time.

 

The fact of the matter is that the notion that one must solidify an engagment with a Diamond ring is indisputably a modern, marketing driven convention, thanks mostly to the power of DeBeers. There was really no way that the average guy could ever dream of being able to afford a diamond ring until the early-to-mid 20th century. DeBeers also limited the supply of Diamonds they would sell in any given country by the number of expected engagements that would occur in the said country. Etc, etc, etc.

 

However, the bottom line is - even though I may know all of this - if you don't cement the engagement with something that shows some sacrifice on your part, be it in the form of a diamond, a ring from ore you dug out with your bare hands and smelted yourself, etc - every person that she knows she is engaged is going to think you are a cheap, shiftless, p.o.s. and wonder about her choice. There's a price to be paid for going against the grain - I say pick your battles.

 

Yeah, that's what I was getting at with my needling... but people were playing the idealist / PC card...

[dryad]

a ring from ore you dug out with your bare hands and smelted yourself

This sounds pretty cool. Maybe it would look something like ...

[Pandora]

a ring from ore you dug out with your bare hands and smelted yourself

This sounds pretty cool. Maybe it would look something like ...

 

Whoa, that's the kinda ring I could go for! Maybe the only one.

[Distel32]

a ring from ore you dug out with your bare hands and smelted yourself

This sounds pretty cool. Maybe it would look something like ...

 

I would only marry nolse if he gave me that ONE ring, no other ring would EVER do

 

she is harsh

[lancegranite]

It's a cool tradition to use heriloom stones from your/ her family.

I was given a diamond from my grandmother's wedding ring.

We put it into a new setting that looked exactly like her old ring.

My mom cried.

It was cool