More Wives Look to Upgrade Engagement Rings

Submitted by anthony on Fri, 2010-06-04 19:31

Story here. Excerpt:

'When Elizabeth Robichaux Brown got married nine years ago, she made a vow to love her husband, for better or for worse, until their dying days.

She did not make that same kind of commitment to her ring.

So, a few months ago, she did what more and more women are doing: She gave her original engagement ring an upgrade, placing two stones which she calls "the twins" on each side of her solitaire diamond.

"When I first got my ring, it was like, 'OK, I like this ring.' But I knew that eventually I would make it a different type of ring," she said. "I got a carat-and-a-half pear when I got married, but I always knew I wanted two pears on the side."

While Brown added on, some women are trading in their original engagement rings and wedding bands for something else. No longer seen as a symbol to be worn for an eternity, rings are being upgraded like some people trade in cars or remodel an aging kitchen.'

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They need to be bigger and more expensive, too. The bloodier, the better, while we're at it, though more often i am betting this kind is emotional.

Why after all these decades of feminism do women still expect, and often insist, on getting diamond rings as part of an engagement to marriage -- a practice which, in only rare circumstances, is a desirable idea for either party?

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2010-06-04 22:19

There are two things that separate me from most women. I hate shopping and I'm not that into jewelry. And ever since the diamond business has been exposed, I have been specifically against diamonds (my wedding ring is made of Hawaiian gold - no stones).

Diamonds are historically a woman's coveted item, but I think men are catching up. Especially black men seem to be obsessed with the stone. This seems odd to me since it is the African people that are being maimed in the diamond mines and killed in connection with the diamond trading industry.

Black entertainers, rappers, and athletes are loaded up on diamonds. As the Boston Celtics won the Eastern playoffs last week, I noticed one of the players holding up his young son during the celebration(looked to be about 2 years old) and the child had about 2 karats in each ear!!

As a way of showing humanitarian support, especially since my kids are of African decent, I wont ever buy a diamond. I have tried to speak to some black men about this, but they don't seem to want to get on board.

I really have no idea why people would waste their money on diamonds.

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Submitted by Kris on Sat, 2010-06-05 01:15

That truly is just shallow; not a whole lot you can really do about it though. I just thought the sentimental value would mean more than the glamour. In any case I'm quite sick of all the diamond commercials and whether she keeps the ring unchanged or is awaiting an upgrade (in which case you'd simply be buying jewelry for the engagement) I don't like the idea of it.

On a broader note I really despise the commercialization of love, add to that when its commercial after commercial of men buying things. The thing I do on something like valentines day is treat it special and put work into it but don't spend much money. If the day matters to her that is fine by me and ill oblige but I just hate Hallmark crap so much I wont let them profit off me. I also expect the gestures to be mutual.

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Submitted by fondueguy on Sat, 2010-06-05 02:02

manonthestreet

I never brought my wife an engagement ring. She also provided her own wedding ring. She also asked me to marry her and as an inducement told me that it would not cost me anything - which it didn't. I did this thing reluctantly and to my dying day I will wish I had not.

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Submitted by trotter on Sun, 2010-06-06 10:21