The Proliferation of Huge Engagement Rings

[KillarneyRose]

Has anyone noticed that everyone is getting big engagement rings lately? My favorite babysitter just stopped by to show me the 1 carat, platinum set engagement ring her boyfriend surprised her with last weekend. I know 1 carat isn't a rock per se, but both the future bride and future groom are only 19!

I ran into the 21 year old who gave my girls swimming lessons and she proudly showed me the 1.75 emerald cut from Tiffany she got for Christmas. What's up with that???? It's the same size and "brand" as mine, but I was 24 and I had a boyfriend who:
a. spent all his time out to sea so had saved up beaucoup bucks and
b. was a nuclear engineer in the Navy which meant $10,000 "nuke bonuses" every couple of years.

Oh, Pooh! Excuse my rude rant. I have an inner ear infection so I'm grumpy. Big diamonds for everybody! Yea!

Signing off now to take more Dramamine and go back to bed..zzzzzz


But I'd STILL love to know how these boys afford them! lol

[SSS1365]

Well... perhaps the clarity and/or color aren't that great. I mean I know there are plenty of diamonds that are bigger than my .53 carat, but are less expensive because mine is pretty good quality. Otherwise I really don't understand either how people who are 19 can afford that. Unless they're drug dealers

[greeklawgirl]

If the grooms are only 19 and 21, the only thing I can say is that the jewelry stores must be saying hello to their good friends Visa, Mastercard, and American Express! Either that or they have been saving for YEARS, or their parents maybe gave them some assistance.

That is a hefty debt to be taking on so young. I wish them much luck.

BTW, I hope you are feeling better soon, Killarney!

[CutiePie2000]

1) Maybe they're illegal conflict diamonds and therefore cheap since no one will touch them with a 10 foot pole

2) Maybe that 'diamond' is really a cubic zirconia and the girl doesn't know (Hey...it could happen - just because someone says it's a diamond, doesn't make it so)...the fakes these days are pretty good

3) Maybe they think that the bigger the stone, the longer the marriage will last (sheeyah, right!)

[AlphaFrog]

I've noticed this too...my best friend who's 20 (finace is 21) had a .34 and that's just the "temporary" until he can get her a new one....the one she has picked out is a .81. Am I the only one who's satisfied with my .2??? I love my ring...the diamond isn't big, and it wasn't expensive, but it means just as much! Actually, I think a bigger diamond would ruin the look of my band, it's got really awesome engraving that a bigger diamond would cover.

[33girl]

OK at the risk of sounding like my dad, their parents probably have three mortgages on their house and buy everything on credit and live beyond their means, so the kids think that's the way to live.

A lot of the "rocks" I see (when compared to my mom's beautiful 1/3 carat with side stones) are ugly and tacky - just a big stone in a crappy setting, just to say you have a big stone. If Mr 33 ever pops the question, I hope that he has more imagination than that.

oh, and if you have teeny hands, here's a newsflash: big solitaires look really stupid.

[sigmagrrl]

I have beautiful hands with long fingers, so I need a beautiful ring. To me, gaudy and flashy do not equate beauty. It equates "showoffish-ness" and "needs to prove how much he loves me with his wallet". I want a ring that is balanced with my hand AND height. I also cannot have some thin ass band that I will overwhelm...

[CarolinaCutie]

I agree with whoever said that the rings may not always be high quality. (aside from that emerald-cut Tiffany number... ) I work in a jewelry store, and we sell 1 carat rings for as little as $1299, but they are ugly as sin. Some people don't understand the concept of quality over quantity.

Personally, I don't get it... I have big hands and I will probably want a bigger ring. But when I think about $10,000 (the amount spent on a ring by someone I went to high school with who just got married), I think about what ELSE I could do with that money instead of putting a big hunk of carbon on my finger.

[FiReKraCkEr]

Actually, I don't need a ring...my grandmother left me her 1.75 carat diamond ring. Princess cut, with two round stones on the side. I wear it every now and then....

If my dude comes along, I'll just use my ring. It's not the ring that counts to me, it's the meaning behind it...

Ok, enough of my sappy smush

[MoonStar17]

It is true Ive noticed more and more that bigger seems to be the trend. it makes me think that these rings are either bad quality or fake...

i have tried time and time again to explain this to people before, the bigger the ring, doesnt nescessarily mean "bigger" amounts of love...or devotion...or etc...

has anyone seen the premier issue of lifetime magazine?? in the first few pages of all adds there is this diamond ring in all platinum that has a HUGE rock on it, and little rocks all around the band, in the inside, on each side..the band almost looks like a square ring of diamonds all around...ill try to find a pick and post it. it is beautiful no doubt..but who could wear that and feel safe!?!?!?!

id be perfectly happy with a princess cut platnium ring with maybe two small side stones...
daydreaming of the day....*sigh*

[Sistermadly]

Mine wasn't huge, and I just got mine about two and a half years ago. The stone is only 1/2 carat, but the way that it's set makes it look much larger. It also means more to me that my DH took the time to design the ring himself rather than just picking out what was available.. that's something that no huge rock can compare to.

[KappaStargirl]

KillarneyRose, where have you been? Don't you know that the bigger the ring, the more he loves you?

</tongue-in-cheek>

I think this is just more of a reflection of our SUV society (oh, I am so going to get in trouble from those of you with SUV's...eep, you know I love you all anyway). Everyone has to have everything bigger than everyone else's. Never mind the cut, color, etc. of a diamond, it's the size that people notice first, so that's what's most important. I'll stick with my 1.03ct EGL Ideal Cut, tyvm. I'm with MoonStar...I'm willing to bet that a lot of the rings are not well-cut, or a good color.

Hope you feel better, sweetie.

[sigmagrrl]

Question: Let's say your guy proposes with an antique ring (used to belong to his great granny, or something) and you really don't like it, what do you do? I mean, I've got to like it to wear it (my hands/rings are my signature), so I can't wear something I don't like. For example, let's say great gran Bertha wore gold. I HATE GOLD, what's a fiance to do?? I feel bad, but I do want something I love...Thoughts?

[CutiePie2000]

Originally posted by KappaStargirl
KillarneyRose, where have you been? Don't you know that the bigger the ring, the more he loves you?
</tongue-in-cheek>

Yes, add that on to my "the Bigger the Rock, the longer lasting the marriage will be".

FWIW: I saw the world's biggest diamond at Birks (think Tiffany, only Canadian). They had it on loan from someplace. It was a private reception and you went into a little room (separate from the reception), up to 4 people, and there was an armed guard in there and everything and then they brought it out. It was about the size of a golf ball and it was ugly, cloudy and yellow! So you see, size is not all...the C's (cut, clarity and colour) are important as well.

perhaps suggest having the diamonds in the ring reset to something you like better? That way, it will still have some of the symbolism and history there, but it will also be something you like.

We were just ring shopping this weekend, and while I hope to wear my grandmother's engagement ring (which is small, I'll admit, but I think it's beautiful, it has meaning, and it looks great on my hand)... I did get drawn in by some of the fancy platinum rings and more flashy diamonds myself. When it comes down to it, though, I think I'd take a milk cap ring, as long as it came from him