What does a diamond engagement ring say about you? It's not good.

[barts]

Perhaps, one of the greatest scams perpetrated is the diamond engagement ring. A marketing scheme conjured up by the De Beers diamond syndicate when it was a cartel. It callously exploits notions of young love so that many women judge the degree of their fiance's affection by the size of a diamond, and impoverishes the poor groom to the detriment of the marriage.

But what does the diamond ring say about the lovers? It says both the lovers are fools to fall for such a scam; it says the bride is more interested in shiny objects and impressing her girl friends than building a home with her husband; and it says the groom lacks the moral strength to make sound decisions.

If two people truly love each other, and had an ounce of intelligence between them, they wouldn't waste 3 months of a the groom's salary enriching one of the most evil industries on the planet.

For more support for this view, see 7 Reasons Why Diamonds Are a Waste of Your Money.

Say "I love you" by not buying a diamond engagement ring and using the money saved on something to build a home and loving relationship.

[Thanatos]

I'd rather go with tungsten carbide or, if I have the money, powder-cast iridium. Nothing says I love you like a nigh-indestructible ring. Then again, I'm still single so maybe I need to get with the program.

[LetThereBe]

I've actually toyed with the idea of doing my own lost-wax casting for an engagement ring. I would either buy lab-grown diamonds or use some other stone.

I also am eternally single though, so I still won't be enriching said industry.


As a side note, I think the original purpose of engagement rings (not diamonds specifically) was a reasonable one. It was a kind of insurance for the bride-to-be, as I understand it... which was necessary when so few women were self-sustaining.

[Angry Citizen]

Rings are artistic, barts. They're not a "scam". Certainly people need to be more inventive - I, for instance, plan on using a star sapphire instead of a diamond. But to say they're a "scam"? Seriously? Are there any monetary transactions you feel aren't scams by the megarich designed to steal your wealth?

[Yarn]

My dad is building a car in the garage. My stepmother renovates some part of the house once a year. My mother is always taking dance lessons. Different people have different hobbies and interests, they aren't always cheap, and if girls want rings, well, consider it a little bit of pay back for the fact they will, in most cases, do a disproportionate amount of the work involved in raising the kids. On the otherhand, if they want something more practical instead, all they have to do is ask.

At the end of the day men are expected to go the extra mile when it comes to certain things. Women go the extra mile in other respects, and whether you like or not, that is how things work and it probably has a genetic basis to some extent.

[barts]

Interesting how many people have bought into De Beer's marketing strategy. As I have said in the past, if the human being was an intelligent species advertising wouldn't work.

[Yarn]

What does intelligence have to do with wisdom? What does wisdom have to do with base yearnings?

Here is a clip you woud like:

[rjh77]

I've been married 4 years and personally I would hsve been livid if my husband spent a lot of money on a diamond ring! We picked our wedding rings out ourselves, they cost less than $250 altogether. They are made of titanium and have a tiny diamond chip. I just don't see what spending 2 months salary on rings in the start of your marriage is saying about your future... maybe 'I love you honey, let's be in debt the rest of our lives together??' Seriouly, a married couple in this day in age is going to incur plenty of debt together without starting out that way!

[Zeebadee]

A diamond in a good setting can be very beautiful. If you see something you like, and can afford, and have a bit of respect for an old tradition, go for it. Surely your spouse would like to own something you consider worth the price of purchase.

As for the video, I kept expecting to see george bush appear.

[barts]

A diamond in a good setting can be very beautiful. If you see something you like, and can afford, and have a bit of respect for an old tradition, go for it.

A diamond engagement ring is not an "old tradition", it is a marketing scheme dreamed up by De Beers.

The most common misconception about engagement rings is that they're some kind of ancient tradition that's deeply embedded in human history in societies around the world. This is completely false. The idea of a diamond engagement ring is roughly a century old. Guess who invented the concept? Not surprisingly, it's the same people who mined the diamonds -- the De Beers diamond syndicate. How far did De Beers go in their quest to create demand for diamonds? Edward Jay Epstein notes in his famous investigative article:

"In its 1947 strategy plan, the advertising agency strongly emphasized a psychological approach. "We are dealing with a problem in mass psychology. We seek to ... strengthen the tradition of the diamond engagement ring -- to make it a psychological necessity capable of competing successfully at the retail level with utility goods and services...." It defined as its target audience "some 70 million people 15 years and over whose opinion we hope to influence in support of our objectives." N. W. Ayer outlined a subtle program that included arranging for lecturers to visit high schools across the country. "All of these lectures revolve around the diamond engagement ring, and are reaching thousands of girls in their assemblies, classes and informal meetings in our leading educational institutions," the agency explained in a memorandum to De Beers."

I have nothing against clever marketing campaigns, but this is different. It's not like with cars, for example. You know you need a car, so the car companies compete for your attention with their ads.

In this case De Beers spent millions upon millions convincing the public that they needed to buy a product that they basically created out of thin air (thin air that they alone controlled). 7 Reasons Why Diamonds Are a Waste of Your Money

Now, I get it that people fall for and even fall in love with products promoted with marketing schemes--I mean that's the whole idea of marketing schemes, isn't it--but, please, let's not get fooled into believing a marketing scheme is "an old tradition."

[rjh77]

Here is a site about the origin of the wedding ring "One version of the origin of the wedding ring states that, during prehistoric times, the groom would bind the bride’s ankles and wrists with grass, to keep her soul from escaping (some say it was really to keep her from running away!)..." Ouch! Click this link to read on
http://www.weddingshoppeinc.com/blog...-wedding-ring/

[LetThereBe]

A diamond engagement ring is not an "old tradition", it is a marketing scheme dreamed up by De Beers.



Now, I get it that people fall for and even fall in love with products promoted with marketing schemes--I mean that's the whole idea of marketing schemes, isn't it--but, please, let's not get fooled into believing a marketing scheme is "an old tradition."

Valuable engagement gifts are an old tradition. What is relatively new is that it would specifically be a diamond ring.