Many gem experts in the jewelry business have come out and announced that buying a diamond engagement ring is a waste of your money—it isn’t the investment you’ve been led to believe. Discover 5 reasons you shouldn’t want a diamond engagement ring and you’ll be set to fully enjoy an engagement adornment that better reflects who you are while making a solid investment.
They Aren’t An Ancient Tradition
We’ve all grown up with this notion that engagement rings are an ancient tradition that humans have used to signify their committed love to another person. However this is untrue. The idea of the diamond engagement ring is around a century old. Unsurprisingly, the idea was created by the De Beers diamond syndicate in their quest to promote their own business through the use of a marketing psychology techniques. They branched out into the world, into our schools, and told people that diamond engagement rings equal lasting love. This is a fiction that they created.
Diamonds Are Not An Investment
Diamonds are not an investment. Their resale value is typically much less than you bought it for. Its worth does not increase, it most likely will decrease—by half of what you bought it for. In short, a diamond is a retail product just like any other. If you really want something sparkly look at some other gemstones. They will generally cost less than diamonds and are just as beautiful—if not more so. Rubies, emeralds, and sapphires are all excellent ring choices, but there are other stones too that will sparkle and shine for much less coin.
You’re Bound to be Swindled
Diamond prices are generally going to be jacked up. What you pay for them will be much more than their wholesale, or actual, value. Gem dealers make a killing every year on how much they make selling their crystalline product. Furthermore, they control the market and choose when to raise and lower prices—seemingly on a whim. Ultimately, you end up paying more for a product that you have been taught you need and will end up being worth less the minute you take it out of the store.
You’re Kind of Wasting Money
If you still really want a diamond engagement ring, that’s fine. It is your choice. But be reasonable about how much money you spend on it. Everyone always tells you that your gent should spend two month’s salary on a ring—if he truly loves you. But that was, yet again, another concoction made up by a marketing company trying to sell diamond rings. When you are just starting to build your life together, why waste two month’s salary on something that will depreciate? We’d recommend saving or investing it. You’ll see far greater returns if you do.
A Diamond Isn’t Love
Too often you hear things like, “You don’t really love her if you don’t buy a 1 carat diamond.” Or “He doesn’t really love you if blab la bla”. But a diamond isn’t love. If a man just buys a woman a ring to stop her whining he doesn’t really love her. A partner should be excited to create and spend a life together, not buy each other expensive things.
