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Let's talk about diamonds: friend or foe? I love my ring, but lemme tell ya, saving up for, buying, and paying off that baby was not the hubs' favorite part of the whole wedding process - and probably one of the reasons it took us so long to get engaged. So why did we feel like it was so necessary?
Advertising, apparently. I recently read this article detailing De Beers' campaign in the early 1940's to equate a diamond ring with love and social stature. At that time, diamonds weren't really selling, and engagement rings weren't deemed a necessary part of the marriage process. Through clever marketing and market manipulation, they managed to keep prices and demand high. Sneaky, sneaky. "Nearly every American marriage begins with a diamond because a bunch of rich white men in the 1940s convinced everyone that its size determines your self worth. They created this convention - that unless a man purchases a ... diamond, his life is a failure - while sitting in a room, racking their brains on how to sell diamonds that no one wanted." Maybe "failure" is a strong word, but it does feel "important."
So, what do you think, loves? Diamonds - friend or foe?
Image via.
My fiance and I are not blessed with a lot of money. When the time came that he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, he couldn't afford a big fancy ring. And since it's important for us not to enter into our marriage with a ton of frivolous debt, he bought a CZ ring that he knew I would love. To me, it is not about the engagement ring and how many carats, it's about the commitment and making sure we are both happy. We will be saving up for real rings for the actual wedding ( nothing fancy at all ), but I don't understand the point of going into debt just for an engagement ring .. I found your info very insightful and it was interesting learning where it all started!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this! You put it so well, it really is all about the love between you (and not a piece of jewelry) that really matters. Congrats on your engagement!
DeleteI am not American, so I don't care about the ring that much. I just like pretty things generally. But I can see how the engagement ring thing is creeping into different cultures (Russia). It's all about business. But, I love this mani - it's gorgeous!
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