Bigger engagement rings?


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Is it just me, or are these young people getting engaged doing so with bigger and bigger rings? I see it often on Facebook, and they're almost all college students. Who can afford a 1 carat+ diamond in that time of life? It seems so unwise to start out thousands of dollars in debt, for a trinket. 

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Because my dad and brother are in the jewelry business, I always knew what I wanted. I was lucky that my brother helped me to design my ring, get the supplies at cost and actually make it. We didn't pay much for the ring, but it looks expensive (and is worth more than we paid for it). 

I'm just different than some people. I don't like debt. I have debt, but we don't go into debt for something as frivolous as jewelry. I also didn't want a big whoop-di-do for our reception. 

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Guest MormonGator
15 minutes ago, beefche said:

I'm just different than some people. I don't like debt. I have debt, but we don't go into debt for something as frivolous as jewelry. 

PREACH. I don't like debt either. 

Eowyn you are so right! LadyGator and I had a small wedding, small reception and she has a small, cheap diamond because we couldn't afford anything back then. We're doing better now and our friends who had extravagant, crazy expensive weddings are either divorced or in one case, still paying it off. In their mid 30s.  

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I like the saying,  "I want a marriage, not a wedding." 

I have a nice ring that my husband designed. Not over the top, but more than I expected from him. He paid cash for it, as I did for his. Same with our reception, which was small and simple but we were happy with it. 

Debt stresses me out. The first few years are hard enough without adding that to it. 

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21 minutes ago, Godless said:

I got lucky and found the one woman on earth who truly doesn't like diamonds.

 

My husband hates diamonds. But, he likes to point out that the only thing that can break his ring is my ring with the diamonds. He has a tungsten carbide ring that cost us very, very little.  

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I've noticed this, too! And it's very weird in the Mormon corridor where many of these youngsters are still in college... dude, where is the money coming from?

I've known people older than me that will upgrade rings in a decade or so if they really want the big diamond.

My husband bought my ring on clearance. I was so proud of him. The he recalled my love of pearls and figured he could have saved even more money with a pearl ring. But we do figure the diamond is tougher.

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I rarely wear my ring. I wear it when I leave the house (I work from home, so it isn't often that I leave the house). 

And my brother has told me horror stories of cleaning rings. I get so grossed out when I see TV cooks wear rings as they used their hand mixing things. He wears safety glasses and a mask when cleaning rings because women don't realize how much gunk gets into the rings from washing hands (soap doesn't always rinse), lotion, etc. I also don't get my ring wet unless it's being cleaned. Bro said that water will loosen the fittings. So, you'll see me with my ring between my lips or in a pocket if I'm washing my hands. 

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6 hours ago, Eowyn said:

Is it just me, or are these young people getting engaged doing so with bigger and bigger rings? I see it often on Facebook, and they're almost all college students. Who can afford a 1 carat+ diamond in that time of life? It seems so unwise to start out thousands of dollars in debt, for a trinket. 

bigger is better is usually a trend.... supposedly artificial diamonds help cut the price somewhat... or conversely you can get something bigger than a natural one for the same price.

still if you're going in for a diamond , thats going to be a pretty penny to say the least.

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17 hours ago, pam said:

I think if I were to ever get married again, I'd be happy with a simple band.

This would probably be my wife's conclusion too. Either a band or better built ring. She constantly removes it to do chores, etc. as to avoid snagging & losing the diamond.

17 hours ago, MormonGator said:

LadyGator and I had a small wedding, small reception and she has a small, cheap diamond because we couldn't afford anything back then.

 We paid for our wedding/reception center ourselves as college kids. Even paid for everyone to go to some BYU dance festival. It was all "small", but we saved for it and paid for ourselves, a point we look back upon today with pride. No debt, no help, no guilt about what others spent and solid sense of if you (our kids) want it, save up, because our parents didn't pay squat for us once we went to college. 

We paid our own college too. 3 part time jobs for me and full time school. Hard but we did it debt free. 

Edited by NeedleinA
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22 hours ago, Eowyn said:

Is it just me, or are these young people getting engaged doing so with bigger and bigger rings? I see it often on Facebook, and they're almost all college students. Who can afford a 1 carat+ diamond in that time of life? It seems so unwise to start out thousands of dollars in debt, for a trinket. 

The ability to show & tell (showOFF and tell) via the internet (Facebook) is that much greater now days. Bigger audience to show off how much "he really really really loves me". Choke, cough, barf.  Unwise = so true!

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22 hours ago, Eowyn said:

Is it just me, or are these young people getting engaged doing so with bigger and bigger rings? I see it often on Facebook, and they're almost all college students. Who can afford a 1 carat+ diamond in that time of life? It seems so unwise to start out thousands of dollars in debt, for a trinket.

There are several factors that determine cost or price with diamonds; size can affect the price but not as much as other factors.  It would seem to me that those seeking a reaction (noticed) for a "large" engagement ring accomplished their goal.  Generally it seem to me that young ladies (emphasis on young – not necessarily age) want to show off their engagement ring and men (not necessarily young) like to show off their woman.  Since a sincere smile of excitement on a lady enhances her beauty (and value?) – a wise man will plan well in advance to make sacrifices to insure his woman is excited about being engaged to him and will continue to keep her excited throughout eternity to be married to him.

 

The Traveler

Edited by Traveler
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32 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

The ability to show & tell (showOFF and tell) via the internet (Facebook) is that much greater now days. Bigger audience to show off how much "he really really really loves me". Choke, cough, barf.  Unwise = so true!

The other part to that..those that show off their rings on facebook and you are thinking, "That is the ugliest ring ever." :P  I had those thoughts just recently regarding a post on facebook.  

 

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Guest MormonGator
9 minutes ago, pam said:

The other part to that..those that show off their rings on facebook and you are thinking, "That is the ugliest ring ever." :P  I had those thoughts just recently regarding a post on facebook.  

 

She isn't kidding. The things she said about my sweet little bull terrier were hideous! 

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I asked my girlfriend of the time (now my wife) whether she'd be ok with a CZ instead of a diamond.  I figured she was a very practical girl.  And she realized we were both poor.  And I could get a much larger stone for much less money.  Later, as my income increased, I could afford to get her a better stone, etc.

She said,"Ahhhm... NO."

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Guest MormonGator
11 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

I think I would have preferred a plain band to a CZ.

I really admire that about you Eowyn. 

Do you think most women would feel the same way? I think they would. I think if they truly loved the guy they would not care about the ring. 

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8 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

I really admire that about you Eowyn. 

Do you think most women would feel the same way? I think they would. I think if they truly loved the guy they would not care about the ring. 

I'd like to think most women would, but I don't know if I could accurately say "most". I have more than a couple of friends for whom the ring was a pretty big deal. I told Faramir I'd be happy with a band, but I'll admit that I was delighted that  he wanted to design a ring for me. It's precious to me for that reason more than anything. Also, to be fair, CZ's look pretty cheap after they've been through some wear, so a band would be preferable to that, for me. I was so goofy in love (still am) that you're right in that I didn't care much. I just wanted to be his wife.

I've also developed a philosophical objection to diamonds since then, but that's another conversation. :) I think they're doing some pretty cool things with creating diamonds in a lab, but I don't think they're priced much better than the real McCoy. 

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Guest MormonGator
8 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

I'd like to think most women would, but I don't know if I could accurately say "most". I have more than a couple of friends for whom the ring was a pretty big deal. I told Faramir I'd be happy with a band, but I'll admit that I was delighted that  he wanted to design a ring for me. It's precious to me for that reason more than anything. Also, to be fair, CZ's look pretty cheap after they've been through some wear, so a band would be preferable to that, for me. I was so goofy in love (still am) that you're right in that I didn't care much. I just wanted to be his wife.

I've also developed a philosophical objection to diamonds since then, but that's another conversation. :) I think they're doing some pretty cool things with creating diamonds in a lab, but I don't think they're priced much better than the real McCoy. 

That's awesome.  So many wonderful things about that post. 

 

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