How we got brainwashed into diamond e-rings

I fell in love with a Tanzanite ring, but researched it and found that it would scratch easily during every day wear. And if anyone would scratch a ring, it would be me. My knuckles are always scraped up from something. So I went with diamonds, and I love it

@Kriistin was the guy an exhusband or did you break up an engagement?

Just curious, those who have gemstones like opal, ruby, aquamarine, morganite, etc., did your jewelers explain to you how fragile these stones are? Are you planning on being super careful, not wearing it daily, or just replacing it eventually?

Don't get me wrong, I love gemstones, but moissanite and diamonds are just so much more durable and IMO a wiser choice for a ring that most people wear daily.

@Swin, it's amazing marketing that you couldn't say about most products. The only comparable one I can think of is tobacco up until the 1980s and maybe iphones today (but even that I don't think has reached the same scale)

One of the reasons I have moissanite. (Also because it was originally discovered in meteorites and it is sparklier (higher refractive index) than diamond.) But, honestly, if you love diamonds go for it.

Jenny, it also is seen is makeup and clothing today. I mean, why do we have more than five shirts and two pairs of bottoms? Marketing.

Why has the makeup industry boomed in the last ten years? Marketing.

It goes back to selling the "idea" over the product. Love over diamonds. Happiness over a new highlighter. Fulfillment over some expensive new handbag. It's a good think to be aware of because it can easily trap someone.

ETA: Something about my comment seems snarky and I can't figure out what it is. But, I'm being serious. Marketing is super fascinating to me because of how powerful it can be.

I've read that before! We're suckers for great marketing! ;-P

ETA- i must have missed the passive aggressive comments- i didn't see anything- the op was sharing something she's not known before- it was interesting-

I have a black diamond- love it- most black diamonds are made in the lab- there are natural ones but they are super expensive and hard to find- based on what I read a few months back....

I don't think I've ever seen a mossinite in person before. When I got my e-ring, I wanted a natural diamond because I had some vague notion that it symbolized pure, enduring love. But my parents never had a diamond or even a gold wedding ring so I hadn't really thought about how I came to get that impression - perhaps from other women comparing diamonds or the whole squealing thing when you show off your ring? Amazing though that it's all a result of de Beers wanting to sell me stuff (well actually FH). He has said that walking into a jewelry store as a young man is like a lamb walking into a den of lions lol

I've heard those things about the diamond industry. Actually, I think the wedding industry, as a whole, is a racket!! My e-ring is a sapphire center stone with diamond halo. I wanted an aquamarine halo (FH's birthstone) until I found out how delicate they are. I didn't want an everyday ring that was so restrictive.

Marketing does wonders. Did you know that for two years people tried to get customers in grocery stores to use shopping carts? They even went so far as to pay people to use them so the idea would catch on. So many things we do/use in our society because marketing is so powerful.

I love my diamond, I love the gemstones I have in other jewelry too. It's all personal preference and no one should be shamed for a damn thing.

@MMB LOL at rubies being fragile. No. Rubies are very durable.

Geez- well this thread got some seasoning on it.

Some of y'all need to hold the salt though.

@Swin, I'm just impressed by how an industry was able to change demand so pervasively and for such a large ticket item. The way they did it was just astonishing to me - apparently back in the day very few people even had engagement rings at all, nevermind diamond ones

Maybe brainwashed wasn't the right term to use although it certainly feels like it. The weird thing is this article in no way changes my perception of my ring (love it!)

Love me my diamond.

@Jenny, Totally, especially because this is such a huge thing in the US but not in lots of other places. A couple years after we moved to the states, my dad bought my mom a diamond ring. In Portugal, everyone just has simple bands, and when my parents got here they felt out of place. It's pretty crazy actually.

Marketing and tradition. That's why we get diamond rings and nice homes and BMWs and buy designer products. But regardless of how they became the "it" thing that everyone wanted, diamonds certainly have a specific meaning in today's society and have become an engagement tradition over the decades. I would never judge someone for having a diamond or moisannite or any other type of engagement ring, but I think it's silly to shame those with diamonds or assume they're brainwashed and don't know about this background (I think most of us do).

Also, I just like a big ass sparkley diamond... sorry not sorry.

I've never cared about an e-ring. I only have one because FH'd late gram passed it onto him. When I talked to FH about getting engaged, he said he would like to pay off my student loans (omg, amazing!) But I ended up with the ring for sentimental reasons.

My parents are from China and my mom for a long time just had a plain alabaster ring. It eventually snapped and she didn't get it fixed or replaced. Interestingly since I've gotten engaged she's been pestering my dad for a proper diamond because "they've been married for decades and all her friends have nice rings." Apparently the vow renewal thing was also invented to sell diamonds later in life. My mom's been to a couple and now she's angling for her diamond

@Svetlana - it was a broken engagement. Hence why he got the ring back. He bought it "wholesale" so he could get full value but was only able to resell it for about half the price anyway. Honestly, if he had spent half the time and energy he did into making my life more difficult post break-up into our partnership things wouldn't have ended the way they had - so it was for the best. He was not the most mature individual. Probably why I have a slightly less positive connotation with rings only

By the way, this does not change my ability to covet and admire others' diamond rings - just one being given to me by a partner.