I will just say this up front. I'm not a jewelry person. Never have been. Nevertheless, most of my friends are.
So as we all embark on hitting that 25 mark, I'm beginning to hear such statements as "it must be white gold with a one-carat, princess cut diamond" or "I'm not saying yes to anything worth less than three carats." Of course, they are talking about engagement rings.
Mind you, some of these statements are coming from single women who can barely keep a significant other for more than two months. Some of the other women do have boyfriends, but those guys are barely staying afloat with their regular monthly bills.
So I decided to ask this inane question: "What would you do if it wasn't a real diamond but a cubic zirconia?"
Without including all the profanities hurled my way, I'll just say the answers were all in the negative.
I don't see the big deal. I once dated a guy who would purchase me expensive jewelry at any given moment. And by all accounts, it was nice jewelry and some of it included diamonds. Mind you, this guy also did many things to hurt me and sometimes the jewelry arrived to symbolize an apology.
And then I look at my grandmother. She never had an engagement ring or a wedding ring because my grandfather just didn't have the money. What she did have was 30 years of marriage to a man who was a good husband and a good father.
Now, I know some women with huge diamond rings who barely survived two years of marriage before divorce entered the picture.
So give me a good, hard- workingman with a cubic zirconia any day over one who is not with a three-carat diamond any day.
So how important is the content, size and shape of an engagement ring to you? Would you let it act as a measure of your relationship?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Diamond vs. Cubic Zirconia and everything in between
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6 comments:
I know what you mean about people demanding a lot out of a ring. One of my friends worried for weeks that if her boyfriend got her a platinum engagement ring (which she wanted) she might be allergic to it. Give me a break.
A diamond of any size would be nice for me, although I would understand if it had to start out cubic zirconia until he/we could afford a diamond. It's the fairy tale and stereotype: every girl wants a diamond.
This is a tough question for me. I don't ever wear rings, let alone much jewelry at all. I honestly hate the feeling of rings on my finger. I've always wondered what I'll do if someone has the balls to propose to me... and I suppose I can't really judge till the time comes!
I think, assuming I could handle wearing a ring, I'd be like Rose- willing to start out w/ something smaller, but I'd probably want the real thing eventually. I do have an appreciation for quality jewelry, even if I never wear it!
Well let me jut tell you it's not important until it happens. I too thougt it didn't matter when I was single.
Now what my husband and I did was set a budget, then went to Atlanta's Market (you have to know someone in order to get in)and built my ring. Yeah, yeah I know it doesn't sound romantic but I got what I wanted at a great price (my ring ended up 1/3 of the price of a regular jewlery store).
And really I believe it is just as important to the man as it is to the woman. My husband loves when other women comment to him 'on what a great job he did' and when other guys comment to him 'that he must be doing well'. Another thing I did was choose quaility over size. My ring is a bit smaller, but is near perfect clearity.
Now don't get me wrong, if you simple can not afford it, it's not worth putting that extra strain on an already stressful time. But if you (and by that I mean him) can wing it, it's worth the extra price.
I could care less about the ring. If a guy proposed me I would insist that it was conflict free or a moissanite. It's about the MARRIAGE not the ring.
I speak from experience when I tell you the diamond really does not matter. I have been married to my soul mate for nearly a decade. My husband has mentioned several times he wants to get me a bigger ring, as mine is very small and not at all 'showy.' Wearing my ring reminds me of some very happy times ('the good ole days', so to speak) and helps remind me how far we have come together.
The effort to get a ring, be it big or small, says that a guy is committed. He bought jewelry --- that's just a step away from purchasing tampons at the grocery store.
For those of us who are a bit more jaded, a ring is nice because it gives us something to pawn after the break-up to pay for the trip to the beauty salon for the post-break-up makeover.
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