Bold statement to make about 3,500,000,000 people. That thinking rationally is impossible for their heads.
For what's worth my girlfriend already made it clear that she would be very upset if I ever bought her such expensive jewellery, precisely because of lost opportunity cost in things like enjoyable trips through Europe, attending concerts/plays and that sort of actually meaningful experiences. So hey, there goes your theory?
Unless someone's seen a study on this, neither of you is more right than the other.
Some will hear nothing more than 'not a diamond', and some will say 'you wasted how much'.
What're you going to do, if you're even thinking about it you're obviously set on her, so it only matters how she feels about them to the extent that you know!
> Unless someone's seen a study on this, neither of you is more right than the other.
Well, if one person makes a blanket statement about all individuals in a group, and the other disproves that with a single individual to which the statement does not apply, one of them clearly is more right than the other.
Ok he should have said "many" or "most" : does it change the underlying face behind his statement ?
I don't have any statistics, but it seems obvious the group of women desiring diamonds is bigger (to say the least) than the group of women not interested by them.
Without generalization there can be no reasoning, because you can always find outliers that disprove any claim.
I guess I was being a little tongue in cheek, but I’m mostly implying the discussion is not as simple as ‘hey this is really expensive, what about this cheaper alternative’. It’s a delicate thing because for many people it’s one of four things they probably dreamt about their whole life - marriage, ring, baby, house. There’s a lot of emotion behind all of it.
I’d love to be able to convince her that the ring money would do great in a Vanguard fund instead :p.
Edit: Looks like I have to put this disclaimer, for many people the things I listed above are milestones (not for all).
Well, you don't put emphasis on the price. I recently got my wife some diamond earrings. I would have bought her mined diamonds, but was considering lab produced stones. What is the difference? The difference is that lab stones are essentially "organic" diamonds - they cut out the suffering and corruption (pesticides) from the production of something nice. She liked the idea of getting a product that is part of an ethical supply chain. I enjoyed getting a nicer stones for half the price.
Dude, I had to talk my now-husband down from dropping two months' pay on a pretty sparkly. I’m so glad he didn’t surprise me with one - we were able to get something that I love wearing and feel less self-conscious about.
Suggested spending guideline: if you’re well off, spend about what you would on what you’d consider to be a great but not ridiculous gaming rig on her engagement present, and make sure she wouldn’t rather have a great gaming rig, sewing machine, musical instrument, etc. than a ring.
Addendum: I was later upset when he sold all his stocks during the 2008 crash because he thought he’d need the cash for our wedding - the wedding my parents were happily paying for, because Texas. A little more communication on both our parts would have prevented that loss.
Have you ever seen moissanite? Its generally shinier and has more luster than a diamond. Some people in the know might be able tell by how much it gleams vs a diamond, but most people will just think you have a really awesome diamond. It's not a cubic zirconia
For what's worth my girlfriend already made it clear that she would be very upset if I ever bought her such expensive jewellery, precisely because of lost opportunity cost in things like enjoyable trips through Europe, attending concerts/plays and that sort of actually meaningful experiences. So hey, there goes your theory?