Millennial Trend: Diamond Engagement Rings Are No Longer Forever

[Saucerian]

My spouse got a diamond ring. Got a high quality gem and spent quite a bit. Don't regret it.

To me it's a symbol of the commitment, and a future heirloom that will have value, unlike a wedding party or other mundane living expenses. To each their own.

[dextersmith]

If you mean with gems, I imagine that might be true. Maybe search the womens jewelry, and see if there's something you like? There's always so much selection, that I'm sure you could find something ^^

I was looking for a white gold chain for myself at Birks, some moron lady tried to sell me a pearl necklace and told me the manliest of Persian warriors wore this into battle. I rolled my eyes and left. There was nothing at Cartier so I ended up getting a white gold chain with a diamond pendant from Tiffany. It was really cool but it was the only pendant they had for men. The chain is really really thin but nothing else could thread the pendant.

[Kelathos]

I think adults are generally able to make their own decisions regarding what they consider useful or not. Jewellery can be very nice, and if you have money to spare I don't see why you shouldn't spend it on such if that is what you want/like.

This topic exists because the next generation simply cannot afford rings. The rich aren't the only ones over the age of 18.

[A dot Ham]

Alternative view - $5K dumped into a CD is not likely to be worth much more than $5K in 10 years. Even invested more smartly with a typical return rate of ~7%, the expected value would be ~$7K. Barring some unlikely and catastrophic turn of events, it's quite unlikely that $7K will look like a relevant sum of money to my spouse and I 10 years down the road. Rings, on the other hand, of sentimental value that's pretty hard to calculate. We wear our rings every day, we have inscriptions on them that are personally meaningful, and so on. Does this require a pointlessly expensive stone? No, not really; mine is a simple titanium band. But is there a great harm in spending on the gleaming rock instead? Not really, unless you're low income or bad with money.

I am sorry but are really trying to refute economics with sentimentality.

The 2 don't mix at all.

Current Highest interest rate on CD is 2.75%

Over 10 Years that brings that up to $6375 vs a ring that will only depreciate. For a $5000 ring, you'd be lucky to get $1000 at a pawn shop the very next day.

Also I don't what you're doing but its not math. 5k invested at 7% over 10 years is $8500.

I bought my wife an engagement ring. Social norms... are social norms. But if we are talking about being smarter with our money. Buying diamonds is not smart, it is quite possibly one of the worst places to spend your money.

[Tulune]

Garnet is where it's at. Garnet is usually pretty cheap, and come in all different colors, not just the brown red most people think of. My engagement ring has an orange spessartite garnet. It was $400, the stone was cut and set by the local jeweler who sold it, it's one of a kind!

[Lady Dragonheart]

i never said it was fact.

You treat it as such, though.

[Magicpot]

Then you're wearing a low quality diamond. The good ones don't look flat or ugly.

The absolute best you'll ever get out of a diamond ring is annoyingly sparkling white stone that goes nuts when you shine light on it. Not something lots of people want to wear. Now a nice clean blue red or green stone on the other hand ...

[Tennis]

Pretty much everything is stupid to millennials. They're a bunch of negative Nancy's.

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It's a pretty sad relationship if it's based on who pays for gifts.

So you'd buy your wife flowers but make her pay half?

[NoRest4Wicked]

I know sapphires come in different colors but I didn't know of white. How are white sapphires different from diamonds? Visually or otherwise? Why does she prefer them?

Well, she already had several pieces of blue sapphire set in silver/white gold, so she's always favored sapphire in her jewelry. I'm by no means good at spotting gems or looking over peoples rings, but I can't tell the difference between a diamond and a white sapphire, so look wise it's the same to me. With her favor of sapphire, it wasn't much of a stretch to get her engagement ring and wedding band in white sapphire, plus she's practical and the money we saved by not buying diamonds let us buy our house much sooner.

[Spectral]

I am sorry but are really trying to refute economics with sentimentality.

The 2 don't mix at all.

Current Highest interest rate on CD is 2.75%

Over 10 Years that brings that up to $6375 vs a ring that will only depreciate. For a $5000 ring, you'd be lucky to get $1000 at a pawn shop the very next day.

Also I don't what you're doing but its not math. 5k invested at 7% over 10 years is $8500.

I bought my wife an engagement ring. Social norms... are social norms. But if we are talking about being smarter with our money. Buying diamonds is not smart, it is quite possibly one of the worst places to spend your money.

I think you're missing the point - even if you do math that gives you ten thousand, it doesn't change the point. Unless you're below middle income, this amount of money just shouldn't make much difference.

Put another way, I just don't really care about trying to quantify the "real" value of luxury goods.

[A dot Ham]

I think you're missing the point - even if you do math that gives you ten thousand, it doesn't change the point. Unless you're below middle income, this amount of money just shouldn't make much difference.

Middle class income being 25-75k/year, and 10K being anywhere between 14-40% of that yearly income. It does matter.

$10k pays for a year of college at an in-state university.

$10k pays 1/3 of the average new car

$10k pays for daycare for 1 year for a child 0-4

$10k is half of the 1% you need for a down payment on the average house

Why Are Diamonds Worth So Much?
7 Reasons Why Diamonds Are a Waste of Your Money
Diamonds Are Bullshit

I honestly can't believe you're still trying to argue from an economic standpoint that diamonds are worth it. Moreover you're going to actually try and convince me and everyone else here that $10k is simply chump change?

[MAGAmobile]

DeBeers needs to die. The sooner the better.

[Deleted]

The absolute best you'll ever get out of a diamond ring is annoyingly sparkling white stone that goes nuts when you shine light on it. Not something lots of people want to wear. Now a nice clean blue red or green stone on the other hand ...

I think this is exactly what makes diamonds so great in jewellery. How extremely pretty they can be in the right light.

[Teri]

Diamonds aren't special anymore since they can make them in labs now from pure carbon compression, so should get cheaper, also the earth does the same at about 200km depth.

It's the natural big and special colored ones that go for insane amounts of money because they are one of a kind, but those are usually too big for a ring.

Gold however is limited, yet a very controlled market.

[Jinpachi]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entr...b0be71dcf38aab



Great to see. Time to move away from spending so much on jewellery.

No, they are buying the cheap shit because they don't really expect to stay together. Low investment for low expectations. And the divorce rate in the U.S. confirms this.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I always felt like the "big white wedding" with rings and a cake costing 10000 dollars and all the rest was moronic, unless you have the finances and can fit it in without breaking a sweat... Needless to say, I hate those movies "Father of the Bride"... Grrmbl...

If one needs rings, I'd much rather have a mood-ring or something pretty that I still wouldn't fret losing.



I founds muh ringu!!

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No, they are buying the cheap shit because they don't really expect to stay together. Low investment for low expectations. And the divorce rate in the U.S. confirms this.

Weren't divorce rates abyssmal before millennials came along though...?

[Jinpachi]

I always felt like the "big white wedding" with rings and a cake costing 10000 dollars and all the rest was moronic, unless you have the finances and can fit it in without breaking a sweat... Needless to say, I hate those movies "Father of the Bride"... Grrmbl...

If one needs rings, I'd much rather have a mood-ring or something pretty that I still wouldn't fret losing.



I founds muh ringu!!

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Weren't divorce rates abyssmal before millennials came along though...?

Do you expect them to get better?

[Queen of Hamsters]

Do you expect them to get better?

I believe that the marriage is a social stigma enforced by religious groups, so no I do not, at least not in the west. And I don't see it as a bad thing really.

[Jinpachi]

Statistics prove you wrong. The biggest contributing factor to an impoverished society is the rate of single-parent households. Marriage, and the resulting families are the glue that holds societies together. And what you "believe" is irrelevant. You want to run around and have multiple sex partners? Do it while you're young and single. Don't get knocked up. I'm pretty sure that by the time you're 40ish that lifestyle wont have the same appeal.

[RayenDark]

Opals are gorgeous. Unfortunately they go to pieces when used in wedding rings, because they're soft. Same problem with Pearls, and, to a lesser extent, most other colored gemstones. The only colored gemstones that actually hold up well under the stress that is an engagement ring's lot in life are Diamonds, Rubies, and Sapphires.

I'd still rather have a Sapphire ring over a Diamond. I find Diamonds very boring.