My Jewelry Dreams » Emerald Diamond Engagement Ring » Why diamonds?

Why diamonds?

Question:

I really don’t like diamonds, but wanted a stone in my wedding band. Mike and I are having our rings custom made at a family owned independent jewelery shop. Since I love garnets, the jewelers suggested one of two possibilities: 1) A really big purple saphire…which frankly is out of our price range. (Though the one they showed me was gorgeous!) 2) African rubies. I looked at some of these and they are much more the color and size we wanted. I am pretty excited as these stones have the deep red color I love in a small enough stone for my hand and our budget! Oh and I dislike yellow gold, too. So I imagine that the ruby set in white gold ought to be beautiful! Jenny Neill 6/21/97

Response:

Ok, it’s time for another silly paper for english, and once again, I need your help. I have to write a paper on why the diamond should or shouldn’t be the universal symbol of love, or why people chose not to have a diamond engagement/wedding ring. So… if you can help me out, please do. If you do have a ring that’s not a diamond, let me know what it is, and if you have a diamond, why did you chose a diamond? Thanks in advance, Shawna

My ring is a 1 carot amethyst, square cut, set in a plain white gold band. We decided not to go with the diamond because, personally, I don’t think they suit me. I have a really simple, outdoorsy style, and I didn’t think a diamond would have looked right on me. The amethyst feels more earthy to me, and the color is just beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, I think diamonds are beautiful, too, and I certainly wouldn’t have turned it down. But since I had the opportunity to put in my $.02, I voted for something a little more "me". Even his mother, who is very traditional, said it suited me perfectly! Kim & Glenn (10/4/97) — The one with the most toys doesn’t win. The one who plays with them the most does.

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My fiance got me a ring with a green sapphire. It is beatiful and unusual. My favorite color is green but we couldn’t afford emeralds. He was able to have my ring made for about 1/4 of the retail price of an emerald or diamond. I love the ring and just had to put in my 2 cents Michelle & Tim 9/19/98

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If you do have a ring that’s not a diamond, let me know what it is, and if you have a diamond, why did you chose a diamond?

My fiance and I are engaged for years. He bought a pair of platinum/18K gold rings. That way we each have one and we treat that as kinda wedding rings that we wear everyday. We both think this is more meaningful. Daisy (and Louis)

Response:

Hi Jenny, I have a every-day ring that is from Senegal. The fake stone in the ring is ruby-like and the ring is silver. The two colours go very well together. The setting is very simple as the stone is quite large (tear-shaped). I eventually (ten years or so down the line) want to have the stone replaced with a ruby. (It goes well with red nail polish!) Good luck with your ring! Sarah (& David) August 16, 1997 I really don’t like diamonds, but wanted a stone in my wedding band. Mike and I are having our rings custom made at a family owned independent jewelery shop. Since I love garnets, the jewelers suggested …

2) African rubies. I looked at some of these and they are much more the color and size we wanted. I am pretty excited as these stones have the deep red color I love in a small enough stone for my hand and our budget! Oh and I dislike yellow gold, too. So I imagine that the ruby set in white gold ought to be beautiful! Jenny Neill 6/21/97

– Sarah Hamilton Warlund

Response:

Since ancient times Diamond has been associated with "purity and Power"… Rare and extremely durable, having amazing properties to refract/reflect the light into fire and color, it’s no suprise that these have been adopted as a symbol of love as well as power and beauty… ’Tis a shame that at the rough stage and distribution that a restricted monopoly controls both prices and availablity… DeBeers cranking up the anty with ads and shadow people sort of compound this to a frenzy, and make it rather shameless when suggesting that you measure love by two month’s salary. Plainly, "that sucks"… For practial reasons: ( Tradeshop jewelry manufacturing 23 year business owner here) Active lifestyles render soft stones, or brittle stones, like Ameythist, opal and even garnet a poor choice for a center ring in a worn daily ring. When you talk surable a diamond is off the scale in hardness… Nothing close really… Sapphire is the closest, but it’s miles less resistant to wear, but is a good alternative to diamond… Sapphires come in many colors too… I invite you to tour the extensive gemology library of the gemstone’s technical properties and photos of grewat examples… It lives at this address http://www.tradeshop.com/gems/index.html Ray Associate Jewelers Inc. "Tradeshop.com" _|/_ "Knowledge is power, be more powerful" (o o) Associate Jewelers Incorporated * Est. 1975 * Design & Manufacturing http://www.tradeshop.com/ "The Fine Jewelry Web Domain/Site"

Response:

Typically diamonds are used because they are a symbol of something everlasting and strong (can’t be cut by anything other than another diamond). Besides, what girl doesn’t like jewelry that sparkles the way it does? Terri says… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Ok, it’s time for another silly paper for english, and once again, I need your help. I have to write a paper on why the diamond should or shouldn’t be the universal symbol of love, or why people chose not to have a diamond engagement/wedding ring. So… if you can help me out, please do. If you do have a ring that’s not a diamond, let me know what it is, and if you have a diamond, why did you chose a diamond? My ring is a garnet in a white gold bezel setting. We decided on this ring for several reasons: I’ve never been overly fond of diamonds (I like deep colors), garnets symbolize "constancy" (a better trait for a marriage than "purity" and "power" – the two I’ve heard for diamonds), and the ring is unique. We also considered sapphires, rubies & emeralds, but the stones in our price range tended to be a little "washed out" color-wise (pinkish rubies & the like). Lisa

Response:

My ring is a garnet in a white gold bezel setting. We decided on this ring for several reasons: I’ve never been overly fond of diamonds (I like deep colors), garnets symbolize "constancy" (a better trait for a marriage than "purity" and "power" – the two I’ve heard for diamonds), and the ring is unique. We also considered sapphires, rubies & emeralds, but the stones in our price range tended to be a little "washed out" color-wise (pinkish rubies & the like). Lisa

Response:

The only reason my engagement ring has a diamond on it is that we had my mother’s ring reset. She died when I was 13, and it’s a wonderful remembrance of her–not to mention an incredible savings of money! The diamond is surrounded by 14 tiny ruby chips–my favorite stone. We just ordered my wedding ring, and the matching ring is also done in all rubies, and my fiance’s ring is in ruby as well instead of diamonds. I just felt that "everyone" has a diamond and we wanted to do something a little different. (Please reply to this address instead of the header address)

Response:

Something I think might have a lot to do with the diamond choice is color (or lack thereof). Lots of people wear their engagement rings every day for their entire lives. It helps that diamonds match just about everything. I’ve had beautiful sapphire, emerald and amber jewelry, and with the right outfits, some stones complement my eyes/hair beautifully. Unfortunately, an emerald ring can clash with a blue dress, etc.. So overall, it’s neat that I can have this wonderful symbol and be happy to wear it wherever and whenever. Also, it’s neat the way diamonds almost seem to glow in the dark. A sapphire/emerald/amber-lover who loves her diamond, Erin http://www.princeton.edu/~emkawas – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, it’s time for another silly paper for english, and once again, I’m hoping to have an emerald wedding ring to go with it, but that depends upon how much it costs. Most people I know still go for the traditional diamond, although quite a few people also seem to go for saphires. Only one of my friends who has got engaged has gone for something a little more different like myself and she picked a ruby.

Response:

I have jade in my custom-made ring, and my fiance has a similar piece in his. We chose that because we wanted to be unique, don’t like diamonds, can’t afford emeralds (which are about as expensive as diamonds), and like green a lot. Also some stones were out because they were too feminine to make a man’s ring (e.g. we both like amethyst but it would be too girly for him and we wanted our rings to be a set). We also liked that the jade is durable, one of the most durable stones, because we’re both hard on jewelry (emeralds, btw, are particularly fragile). Durability is different from hardness. I never thought about it this way, but you could make a very convincing argument that durability is more appropriate than hardness to symbolize marriage. I don’t entirely understand the distinction, but I think it’s along the lines that if you bend in the wind it doesn’t break you. I love the unusualness of my ring — to date no one has one like it because it was custom made — but I must confess that it doesn’t make people realize I’m engaged. And part of the point of wearing rings is to declare your situation (tho that must not be the priority of engagement rings to couples where the man doesn’t wear one). This might bother me more if we were going to have a long engagement, but it will be less than a year. Our wedding rings are not completely ordinary but they’re more recognizable as such. No matter how diamonds got to mean what they mean, they do, and that has some power. Not enough to convince us to ignore our other reasons for not having them, but nothing to sneeze at. Practical note–it was hard for the jeweler to find jade of the right size and nearly matching. Probably the ones we have were originally cut for earrings. Kate

Response:

: Ok, it’s time for another silly paper for english, and once again, I : need your help. I have to write a paper on why the diamond should or : shouldn’t be the universal symbol of love, or why people chose not to : have a diamond engagement/wedding ring. So… if you can help me out, : please do. If you do have a ring that’s not a diamond, let me know what : it is, and if you have a diamond, why did you chose a diamond? : Thanks in advance, : Shawna : — : |/ : [o o] : * Shawna Kathleen Cooper * : * http://simpsog.reslife.okstate.edu * : * * : *-"No, Robert’s delicious, but I like computer * : * nerds these days." – Tori Amos * A diamond engagement ring was first given by a wealthy nobleeman named Maximillan (German) to his French fiance about 6 centuries ago. He chose the diamond as a symbol of his wish to have a "long and lasting" relationship with his bride. Since then, the diamond has been the most popular choice as far as engagement rings go. (This can probably researched further in your local library.) The reason why people exchange wedding rings is because the circle is a symbol of continuance. It has no beginning or ending, just like love. (By the way, my engagement ring was a heart shaped ruby surrounded by 12 tiny diamonds. It’s very beautiful, but unfortunately, I still haven’t had it resized to fit my finger since I lost 40 pounds.) – Renee Ring Phone : 9195153252

Response:

The diamond is NOT a symbol of love. It’s the symbol of an extremely effective advertising campaign and a lot of social pressure. The DeBeers made up the "diamond lasts forever" and "three months salary" crap and people have been falling for it ever since. True story … Mark and I were shopping for an engagement ring. We stopped by a jeweler in the mall and indicated what we were after. He immediately tried to steer us towards the diamonds, only to stop in shock when I told him I didn’t like diamonds. "But…" he sputtered, "That’s un-American!" We left. <sigh I chose a pearl. I like pearls; I don’t like diamonds very much (I think they’re cold) and I wasn’t about to blow a chunk of money for a stone I didn’t like to "prove" we were engaged. The DeBeers campaign has been so successful that everyone automatically things "diamond" whenever they think engagement … and I think that is ridiculous. Choosing a diamond doesn’t mean that Mark loves me more; it means that a) he or I like diamonds, or 2)we’re falling for a lot of social pressure. People acted like I wasn’t "really" engaged when they saw that I didn’t have a diamond. People also seemed to think that an engagement ring was excessively important. "Oh, you’re engaged? Let me see your ring!" If you like diamonds, great! But if you don’t or if you’re lukewarm to them don’t bow down to advertising to prove your love! Get what you like, and maybe we’ll break up the DeBeers cabal yet. Molly — This post was composed using DragonDictate, which is why everything is spelled correctly. I do not read any mail sent to this account due to spammers; please direct personal correspondence to aerial<atcowboy.net. To find out why I use DragonDictate visit http://www.cowboy.net/~aerial

Response:

go to the library and look up "DeBeers Diamond Cartel"… that should give you plenty of information about why many people opt not to buy the "two months salary solitaire"… Sandy PS: I have a sapphire.

Response:

Shawna, We decided to go with something other than a diamond for a few reasons. First, I saw a special that dealt with the hold that de Beers has on the diamond market including how they black list jewelers if they try to buy from a different dealer. This special also stated that de Beers marketed the diamond engagement ring and the 2 month salary guideline. Second, diamonds are not my favorite stone. I prefer something with a little more color and substance for the money. I have fairly long fingers and small rings look out of place. The quality and size of diamond that I would have picked would have been way out of our price range. I originally wanted an alexandrite but I learned that it is a soft stone and knowing my lifestyle would probably get damaged easily. I finaly picked a sapphire because I love the deep blue color and it is almost as strong as a diamond. We were able to find a good size stone with great color in our price range. Todd wanted to have diamond accents for the symbolism of a diamond lasting forever so that is what we went with. I have nothing against people who wanted diamonds but our choice was something different. Good luck with your paper. Christy (and Todd) April 19, 1997 PS a side note: we will be talking to the jewelry designer tomorrow afternoon about the wedding rings. *Cheer*

Response:

Ok, it’s time for another silly paper for english, and once again, I need your help. I have to write a paper on why the diamond should or shouldn’t be the universal symbol of love,

Not everyone likes diamonds, although one thing to look into would be do all cultures eg. give diamond engagement rings. or why people chose not to have a diamond engagement/wedding ring.

My engagement ring is emerald. There were several reasons for this: 1) I like green and had always wanted an emerald ring 2) Although I don’t like being too outragous I don’t like to be too "normal" either. 3) I don’t think much of large diamonds (I have seem some diomond rings that are quite nice but the ring itself would be way to narrow to look right on my fingure) 4) Emerald is both mine and my fiance’s birth stone. I’m hoping to have an emerald wedding ring to go with it, but that depends upon how much it costs. Most people I know still go for the traditional diamond, although quite a few people also seem to go for saphires. Only one of my friends who has got engaged has gone for something a little more different like myself and she picked a ruby. So… if you can help me out, please do. If you do have a ring that’s not a diamond, let me know what it is, and if you have a diamond, why did you chose a diamond?

I hope that helps. __ __ _ _______ __ __/|_ / / / /___ _(_) / ___// /_____ ____ ___ __/|_ | / / /_/ / __ `/ / /__ / __/ __ / __ / _ | / /_ __| / __ / /_/ / / /___/ / /_/ /_/ / / / / __/ /_ __|

Response:

Well, I’m certainly not an expert but it was always my thought that the diamond is used as a engagement/ wedding ring b/c it is the hardest stone on Earth. Symbolizing the solidness and unbreakabilty of the love that you share. (Sorta ironic considering the divorce rate). Why a ring and not earrings? Well the ring symbolizes no end and no beginning- continuity. Again, perfect for the marriage that is supposed to last a lifetime. Why do people not choose the diamond? Well IMO, its probably just preference. Or maybe just a need to be different from the norm. I personally (I should say we) choose a diamond b/c we’re sorta traditional people and I fully believe in the symbolism that they are supposed to represent. For those of you going off right now- no we don’t intend to base our marriage on a materialistic thing but there is something said for its meaning or else there would be no exchange of rings or anything else, with the exception of vows. Hope this helps you out a little. Karen

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