my brother bought his ex a 1.96 carat ring, nearly flawless, the diamond itself cost $18k AUS, the ring and setting was about $6k (my brother knows the family that owns Viviens jewellers- a large jewellery chain in Oz) anyway it COST $24, but retail would have been over $30k, so i was told, i dont know shite. anyway, she called it off two weeks before the day and gave it back to him, i guess it wasnt to be, my mum ended taking it and stuffed it in her safe with all the other crap. (give me a watch and im happy).
as for the difference between $2k and $20k, yep u can see it, i learnt about the C's- cut, clarity, colour, carat and COST!!!!!! generally the crap diamonds arent purely clear (is that grammatically right??) and it has flaws- cracks etc when seen under magnification. to the avg shmoe like u and me, it means nothing, but to women when they are comparing rings, then i guess it does.
i never heard about the 2 months of saving business. i always assumed u bought her a ring that was significantly special and the price was a side issue.
i dont understand, low maintenance??? hell only the dongs are low maintenance, the really hot ones are the ones that need a lot of work, they party like crazy, socialise like no tomorrow and are always doing stuff to make them look good. low maintenance!!! i dont think there is such a thing as gorgeous women and low maintenance, it goes hand in hand cause they know they're hot shit and can demand the extra attention.

 

Black S2k
Low maintenance doesn't mean that a woman isn't hot or gorgeous, or that she won't rock your world, it just means that she will maintain herself and you don't have to.

BTW...if you ask the majority of the members of this board why they drive the S2000. They would probably say because it looks great, you can drive it hard, it gives you unlimited pleasure, and all with the low maintenance of a Honda.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by turbo_pwr
[B]DMX - 6 months salary?

 

DeBeers controls the diamond industry. Debeers is a cartel and a marketing organization that promotes heavy spending on diamonds, which while somewhat rare, are not anywhere near as rare as their controlled distribution might make them seem.

Do what Americans did before they where brainwashed by DeBeers, and what Europeans still largely do: Buy her a truly rare ruby or saphire, maybe surrounded by a few smaller diamonds for accent.

 

pfb is dead on, DeBeers is the cartel of the diamond world and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon (although there are attempts to break this).

Anyhow, I think a diamond of reasonable size and quality will not cost you 3 months+ salary. If the love you get in return for it is not 10,000 times more valuable than the ring, there is a big problem there.

I spent approx $5k used on a ring, which wasn't painful. Its nice and not gawdy...no damn way am I spending 3 months wages on a chunk of ancient carbon.

Vince

 

I say find a woman who has realistic expectations and life will be alot smoother. After researching quality, clarity, Gem Society ratings etc for a few months, I offered my wife (then GF) a choice of Diamond rings and found that she really wanted a Saphire! AND she wanted a smaller rock b/c it would look stupid and gaudy if the rock were bigger than say, 3/4 ct. Ok, so I was REALLY lucky. The point is though, there are ways to find out what her expectations are, and if she's a true believer of the 2/3 months crap, you really gotta think about ALL her expectations and see if its gonna fit your life etc.

Personally, I think if you get a high quality diamond on a platinum setting, it shouldn't cost you more that $10k, especiall6y if you are in a larger city where there are wholesalers who also sell to the public (i think LA, NY, and SF all have jewelry centers). Good luck!

 

Well...I spent about $1500 on my fiance's diamond...
that was about 1/2 of my month's salary...

I told her...sorry...but for being 19yrs old...I need other things as well...

I would say don't spend nething more then $1500-2grand...

Just my $.02

 

Thanks for the advice and insight from everyone!

I definately understand the different C's, and I can probably tell the difference between a $1000 ring vs. a $10000 ring. But I guess more than anything, I'm just in a state of "sticker shock" of how expensive REAL LIFE is. Graduated this year after spending 8 years in university, got a fair paying job, but this is truely the first time that I've had to face paying the expenses of life on my own, planning for investments/ savings, plus now I'm able to buy most of the toys that I've had to sacrafice and miss out on...everything really adds up! By no means am I excessive in my spendings, I think I'm still in a student budget frame of mind... So when it comes to spending money on jewelry, I just don't see the same value in spending $6000 on metal shaped in a circle with stone mounted on it, vs. spending $6000 toward a house or something more functional (like a S/C...hehehe). I know with time my perception will change, and I will definately see the value in spending thousands of $ for jewelry...

Thanks for listening to my venting...

 

I definitely would/will for my girlfriend... She's worth that and so much more. A love like that is priceless.

 

I think that if you want to spend that much, spend away. If it's a deal where the woman expects that you spend that much, you're most likely going to be in for a looooooooong ride.

I'm with the guys talking about Debeer's, too. Diamonds are about as rare as Oxygen on this planet and the whole demand for them was created by Debeers in the 30's when they started giving them to starlets to wear in public. There was a really good Frontline on PBS about it one time. After seeing that, I decided if I was going to buy any more jewely for my wife, it would be rubies, emeralds, or something other than diamonds.

BTW, my wife and I both have pretty simple wedding rings. We've been married 11 years, still madly in love, and the engagement and wedding rings have never figured into our happiness together.