Well, I'm not getting married or engaged any time soon, but I have posted picks of my current special lady friend who Drinsic certified as "not fat" and the one time the topic came up she was pretty adamant she wants nothing to do with a diamond for an engagement ring for similar reasons as me (conflict diamonds, intrinsically valueless, etc). She wanted something "antique looking" and mentioned a couple other gemstones she liked, not sure what metal for the ring itself. No idea how much something like what she wants would cost, but regardless, she's not after a huge diamond or spending 5 figures on a ring or something ridiculous. Shit, she got pissed when I wouldn't accept cash when I booked a flight for her, or when I sneakily bought her an expensive sleeping pad for camping (it has an R value of 6 and weighs like half a pound!).
So I guess I'm lucky enough to have found one of those one in a million chicks. I don't have overly strong feelings in terms of judging others for wanting a diamond engagement ring. I think it's fucking stupid and wasteful, but I don't think it's fair to judge someone's entire personality or virtue as a person based on that single issue. Just about everyone has their own stupid shit like they like to waste money, time or energy on for poor reasons that they've convinced themselves of. My woman's vice is being all in to organic and local food. So long as she keeps cooking me awesome meals with it, I ain't saying shit. I like fast cars and motorcycles, despite their having no marginal utility advantage over cheaper models that can possibly justify their cost. I spend a lot of money on recreational equipment and clothing (skis, bikes, camping equipment and so on) that I probably don't use enough to justify. I might wear a suite three or four times a year, but when I buy a suit it's a fairly expensive Canali or similar. Sue me I guess.
That's not true at all. I'd say that a pretty significant portion of women these days don't give a shit about diamonds. Whether it's 10% or 30% I have no idea, but a lot of girls I know think they're ridiculous.
Yeah, I don't really agree with this either. I like making my woman happy. If a 5-10 thousand dollar diamond ring is going to send her over the moon when I ask her to marry me, then that's the cost of doing business I guess. Granted my financial situation is different than most people (but not necessarily relative to people on these boards, most here are making pretty good money it seems), so that colors things as it wouldn't necessarily be a choice between the ring and being able to go on a cruise, nicer honeymoon or whatever else.
Easy come, easy go.
I don't think so. A 5 dollar canvas bag is every bit as functional as a $3,000 Vuitton one, or however you spell it. Buying expensive hand bags and purses and shit in my opinion is really little different than wanting an expensive engagement ring. They're both conspicuous consumption that serve to advertise your ability to spend lots of money on prestige items.
