# Engagement/Wedding rings - What makes a diamond so important? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822 "2007-07-15T03:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/61 "2015-07-04T00:18:49Z")
I would prefer an alexandrite set in platinum, or a morganite set in rose gold. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/62 "2015-07-04T03:29:31Z")
Thanks everyone for the well wishes and such! I was ambivalent about reviving an eight year old zombie but I’m glad the update was appreciated and that there’s some more conversation to be had on the topic. IMO, the best arguments for the diamond were **kittenblue’s** comments about its durability and tendency not to clash with other articles. Those were very good points. I’m lucky my fiancee shared my views on diamonds and practicality in general. Getting her ring size for the engagement ring was actually like pulling teeth. She was afraid that I was going to get her something expensive that she wouldn’t like, and she’d be pressured to like it anyway due to its cost. And then I go and get her an $80 silver ring engraved with the script she’s devoted most of her adult life to studying. It was a nice surprise for her. On the other hand, if she’d had her heart set on a diamond, I’d have advocated for an estate sale, a lab grown diamond, or one that was tracked and less likely to have been involved in conflict transactions (I hear Canada sources some diamonds like that). As it was, the silver Linear B ring was a hit and she was totally on board with tantalum versions for the wedding bands. She even hand drew the symbols herself. I can’t wait to get married to this broad =) ---
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/63 "2015-07-04T03:30:11Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I can’t wait to get married to this broad =) I can’t wait to get married to this dude! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/64 "2015-07-05T23:19:24Z")
I’m not at high risk of buying a diamond. I collect rocks and cheap gemstones that I’ve had since I was a kid, along with other junk. I still have it in my basement. I will never buy an engagement ring with a diamond. I would break of an engagement rather than supporting De Beers. I prefer opals. And fossils, maybe that could be put into a ring. I know a few goldsmiths that make nice rings, mostly of steel I think. Steel is a great chioce! I also had a few used ring, and cheap silver rings with cats eye and turquoise, and they are nice. Or meteorite. Or candy rings. If I ever should need to get a diamond, I will buy a fake, or maybe grow an alum crystal and coat it. They look really nice, if not really sparkling, but you have the satisfaction of doing it yourself. If someone wants me to go out and use a lot of money on junk, I’d suggest otherwise. I’m not at high risk of marrying either, but there goes. Who knows, but I would not buy her a diamond ring. De Beers is evil itself, and probably the worst company ever. Hopefully I’ll never have anything to do with that shit. If you absolutely need a wedding ring, you can do whatever else than buying a diamond ring. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/65 "2015-07-06T00:55:00Z")
There are synthetic diamonds that are far more perfect than ones found in nature, and have been for years. Though I think sapphire is plenty hard for most intents and purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/66 "2015-07-06T15:51:04Z")
> [@bump](#): > > FWIW, both Princess Diana and Princess Kate had blue sapphires as the main stones in their engagement rings, so there’s some big-money and big-tradition proof that it doesn’t absolutely have to be a diamond. > > A relatively big sapphire can be had for the price of a not so large or grand diamond, and is interesting and will likely get a lot more commentary than a plain old diamond. Or at least that’s what my wife tells me about hers… Hardly surprising they both had a sapphire - it’s the same ring. I wonder how that went down - “here, have my dead mother’s engagement ring from her failed marriage”. Coloured stones are actually pretty common in the UK - but almost always in conjunction with diamonds. [This kind of thing.](http://www.beaverbrooks.co.uk/search?text=sapphire+engagement+ring) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/67 "2015-07-06T15:55:29Z")
Why do threads like this always devolve into reverse snobbery? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/68 "2015-07-06T21:06:10Z")
> [@bump](#): > > FWIW, both Princess Diana and Princess Kate had blue sapphires as the main stones in their engagement rings, so there’s some big-money and big-tradition proof that it doesn’t absolutely have to be a diamond. > > A relatively big sapphire can be had for the price of a not so large or grand diamond, and is interesting and will likely get a lot more commentary than a plain old diamond. Or at least that’s what my wife tells me about hers… [It’s actually the same ring.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engagement_ring_of_Diana,_Princess_of_Wales) ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/69 "2015-07-07T11:29:39Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > There are synthetic diamonds that are far more perfect than ones found in nature, and have been for years. > . Yes, but all those synthetic diamond manufacturers seems to have been bought up or co-opted by DeBeers, and they now (at least as of 2015) sell their diamonds at an adjusted scale - i.e., they list them as ‘synthetic’ diamonds but price them at about 80-90% of natural diamonds cost. There is no getting around the DeBeers monopoly just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822/70 "2015-07-07T12:29:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why do threads like this always devolve into reverse snobbery? Its hard to be a snob over the hardest substance known to man to have ever been pulled from an under-paid diamond miner’s ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engagement-wedding-rings-what-makes-a-diamond-so-important/411822.md?page=3)