I have a big diamond (but tastefully done) engagement ring, but only because it’s an heirloom. For my wedding band, I picked a thin, plain white gold band, and it cost around $50 if I recall correctly. If it’d been my choice about the engagement ring, I would have bought one with a much smaller gem, and maybe something like tanzanite instead.
I laugh when I see those “buy diamonds so she’ll know you love her” commercials, and my husband couldn’t be happier. He knows I prefer computer hardware as presents.
The ones I remember are subscriptions to Sports Illustrated. Of course I always wondered how a husband oogling semi-nude women (because that’s the only issue worth printing–you can get better quality sports reporting on ESPN) somehow increased marital stability.
I have a cubic zirconia engagement ring set in sterling silver. It cost about $15. Including shipping from the website where we ordered it.
I didn’t, and still don’t, see the point of expecting Gunslinger to spend money he doesn’t have to buy me a rock on a metal circle. I’d much rather receive an engagement camera, or an engagement Hudson Hornet, or an engagement down payment on some land.
I like sparkly things, but not outrageously overpriced ones, y’see?
Thanks Wabbit: I knew I was forgetting one of the items on the ‘get yer guy THIS’ list! (Of course, you need to make sure that the swimsuit edition is included with the subscription, else it can’t be on the list.)
Actually, let me make an addendum. My ideal engagement ring would be something antique. In that case, it wouldn’t even need to be real. My grandma died last year and I have her engagement and wedding rings, both set in white gold, small rings, and I would be perfectly happy wearing those because they’re a bit art-deco. The ring’s not going to determine my marriage.
I will admit to liking a big, fat diamond. I was sickened by the prospect of selling my engagement ring from my first marriage, so I sold it to my mom. That way I could still have visitation rights, anyway.
When Mr. Jane and I got together, he bought me a small (between 1/4 and 1/3 carat) diamond solitaire ring for our first Valentine’s Day - we already had one another’s names tattooed on our bodies, so he figured what the hell. Three Christmases ago this year, he took my sister shopping for me and they selected a one-carat solitaire, which I love. It’s beautiful, I like it, and it makes me happy. I also use it as an excuse to make time to get my nails done every two weeks, which is something that makes me feel “pretty” :rolleyes:. It looks nice with a French manicure. And did I mention that I like it and it makes me feel good? I figure I can always hock it if times get rough.
I guess it makes me shallow and airheaded, and my marriage possibly less intimate, but I don’t mind being given tangible, expensive gifts by my husband - whether it be my rings or the car he bought me in March. I’m honest about it, though.
You’re the best, Elly. Please fly down to Orlando, Florida and have a chat with my dear Kathleen. And 99% of her female friends.
My sweet angel is great, though - she understands that the ring itself is just a symbol of committment, and doesn’t want me to go into debt just to get a big diamond. Just a little 60-point diamond will do.
I know I’m setting myself up to be labeled a total sap, but…
I like deBeers commercials. Mostly for the background music, but the one where the guy rents the old theater out for just himself and his wife to show their wedding films on their anniversary is a neat idea.
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And if you want to slap a label on that, SLAP AWAY!
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I like my diamond engagement ring. It’s the Cursed Family Diamond, my mother’s engagement diamond, given to her by my father who dumped her some 35 years later for the bleachblondehussy in the water office. I had it reset into a band I designed, so it’s very simple and neat.
However. IF my husband and I reconcile, I intend to have a different ring. I want a whole new start, and somehow it’s important to me to have something symbolic. Doesn’t have to be expensive–preferably a vintage ring or something very simple, and probably not a diamond. jane_says, if I makes you feel good and you like it, why not? Everyone has different things that are meaningful. I hatehateHATE anyone buying me roses, but I know other women who love to get them.
The diamond commercials depress me. They’re obviously pitching a line that works or they wouldn’t spend deep ad budgets on it. But the underlying message…yeech. I always wish for an Onion-like text scroll across the bottom, like “For the most shallow person in your life, buy the ultimate sparkly cliche!”
That said, I’m more than a bit hypocritical about this.* I thorougly enjoy folks who have FUN with it in vintage, glitter-queen tradition. You know, the cheerfully tacky sorts who don’t pretend to give a fling about good taste. I like dumpy old ladies in sneakers and nylon “sport” sets, blithely wearing all their diamonds because they have 'em and like 'em.
Admittedly, this makes no consistent sense.
Veb
[sub]*I don’t particularly like diamonds. I had the one–that I didn’t want–from my wedding ring remounted into a tear-drop pendant. Actually it’s much prettier, because the loose mounting lets light catch the facets. I still hardly every wear it.[/sub]
Personally, I’d like a diamond. But not in a ring. And preferably in the rough. (It’s the only major stone that I don’t currently own in my rock collection). I would not, however, want one as an engagement gift; I’d rather find it myself, in Arkansas or something.
As for rings…they matter not. I don’t like wearing them very much, as they feel weird. I suppose at marriage, a thin gold band would be in order, but that’d mostly be, IMHO, to please the SO and the 'rents.
By the way, I have nothing against people who like big jewelry. If you really like it, go for it! But the whole marketing method of “you better spend three months’ salary (at least) on her engagement ring or you’re scum/buy her an anniversary diamond or you’re a slacker/make her love you with diamonds” stuff is crap. Trying to push lots of big jewelry and tie up so much guilt in a purchase that expensive is just sad.
I wouldn’t and I’ve never worn a bit of jewlery in my life.
You sell the diamond and can buy your stuffed reindeer and have lots of money left over for other things: reindeer steaks imported from Lapland, for instance.
yes, I know about the horrible situation regarding diamond mines, but shit, I’m a magpie! LOVE THEM. All jewlery. This could have something to do with the fact that my Great-Grandfather was a goldsmith.
The center stone for my engagement ring is the stone from my Great-Grandmother (the aforementioned grandpa’s wife)
It’s not even a carat, but it is a beautiful stone and it has so much sentimentale value, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The wedding band Mr. Cynical bought for me also has diamonds.
I apologize for being a such an embarassment to today’s women,
but I’m keepin’ my rings!
Miss Creant, I don’t think it’s an embarrassment at all! What’s offensive to me (and I think most of the folks in this thread) is the obligation the diamond industry tries to foist on people. The de Beers ads don’t expressly do that, of course, but everyone hears about the “rule” of however-the-hell-many weeks’ salary for an engagement ring, and the hoo-ha of women competing over the larger ring* and it’s tough not to feel disgusted. If it’s something you genuinely like and want to do, enjoy it.
*When a law-school friend, “Jane,” got engaged, her fiance gave her a medium sized iceberg in a platinum setting. Jane wasn’t much of a show-off, in fact she worried more about getting robbed - but she appreciated the generosity. The funny thing was the reaction of a mutual acquaintaince, “Bitsy.” Bitsy was herself engaged - *and made her fiance get her a new, larger ring since the first didn’t measure up to Jane’s. *
