Author Topic: A diamond is not forever...  (Read 4379 times)

ArbitraryGuy

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A diamond is not forever...
« on: December 17, 2014, 08:01:03 PM »
I came across this fun paper the other day.  It shows an inverse correlation between engagement ring cost and length of marriage.  You should be able to download it, if you're curious.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2501480

Quote
‘A Diamond is Forever’ and Other Fairy Tales: The Relationship between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration


Andrew M. Francis
Emory University - Department of Economics

Hugo M. Mialon
Emory University - Department of Economics

September 15, 2014


Abstract:     
In this paper, we evaluate the association between wedding spending and marriage duration using data from a survey of over 3,000 ever-married persons in the United States. Controlling for a number of demographic and relationship characteristics, we find evidence that marriage duration is inversely associated with spending on the engagement ring and wedding ceremony.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 17

Keywords: wedding expenses, engagement ring, marriage duration, divorce

JEL Classification: J12, Z1, D1
« Last Edit: December 17, 2014, 09:03:27 PM by ArbitraryGuy »

CU Tiger

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2014, 08:41:05 PM »
The whole jewelry store at the mall - and Tiffany's and other high end stores- what a racket. The price they charge for new jewelry vs. the price they will pay for jewelry and the price you can buy jewelry for at a pawn shop shows me that there is no connection between the price of the material and the price they charge.

My husband and I do not even have engagement rings, just plain gold bands. We are no less married than the princess in the $25,000 2 carat ring.

If you are a multi millionaire and want to spend on bling, knock ya self out. If you are trying to reach FIRE, skip the diamond and pay off debt or invest your cash.

shanghaiMMM

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2014, 02:38:22 AM »
Interesting! Thanks for sharing, it's a topic close to my heart at the minute.... :-)

Fallenour

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2014, 06:11:46 AM »
The whole jewelry store at the mall - and Tiffany's and other high end stores- what a racket. The price they charge for new jewelry vs. the price they will pay for jewelry and the price you can buy jewelry for at a pawn shop shows me that there is no connection between the price of the material and the price they charge.

My husband and I do not even have engagement rings, just plain gold bands. We are no less married than the princess in the $25,000 2 carat ring.

If you are a multi millionaire and want to spend on bling, knock ya self out. If you are trying to reach FIRE, skip the diamond and pay off debt or invest your cash.

Its been proven countless times that diamonds are practically worthless.

There is enough known supply in the world for diamonds to provide the planet entire annual supplies for over 8000 years of currently known mines and diamond regions.

I told my old lady the same thing Ill tell you.

If you love your woman, and you truly cherish her, and you want to buy something that has true meaning, value, and is as precious and as rare as she is, but something like cadelite or similar.

My favorite honestly, is lightning opal, her beauty takes my breath away, just like it does.

Heres a picture:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsstoneworksandphotofactory/2412732142/


pbkmaine

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2014, 06:27:51 AM »
Maybe what is getting people exercised is the idea that what you wear should reflect your values. My niece, a sensible girl, asked her fiancé not to buy her a typical ring. Instead she wanted a circlet of small diamonds. She got another circlet for her wedding ring. She's expecting her first baby and I expect to see another circlet added to the stack soon. My own ring has a .7 carat diamond, mine cut, that I inherited from my mother's mother. It is an unusual "wave" setting with some other small diamonds and colored stones. I get a lot of compliments on this ring. I can't tell you how many times someone with a big rock has grabbed my hand and asked me where I got it. It's very distinctive but not flashy. Kind of like my life.

Dumb blonde

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2014, 06:36:42 AM »
Hahaha, love the article. My husband and I married 20 years ago with 8 dollar silver rings. We were so busy planning the party (we had a great band, the singer became quite famous in the Netherlands afterwards), we forgot about the rings and just got a few silver ones we liked. I never cared for gold and diamonds (of any other stone) on a ring seems very impractical to me. My husband lost his ring after a few years (while washing the cloth diapers) so we just got ourselves new ones.
We are still very happily married. Although we did spend quite a bit of money on that party, we had 200 guests (what can I say, we both come from large families).

MrFancypants

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2014, 08:55:06 AM »
The whole jewelry store at the mall - and Tiffany's and other high end stores- what a racket. The price they charge for new jewelry vs. the price they will pay for jewelry and the price you can buy jewelry for at a pawn shop shows me that there is no connection between the price of the material and the price they charge.

My wife tells me that jewelry stores are more expensive because they sell an "experience."  Then when you add the overhead that a mall charges to maintain a store there it's no surprise that we found the right wedding ring for her at Sam's Club for 1/3 the price of an almost identical looking ring at Kay's.

I would honestly recommend Sam's Club or Costco to anyone if you're looking for a nice ring at a sane price.

Jack

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Re: A diamond is not forever...
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2014, 09:32:39 AM »
My wife and I got our tungsten wedding rings for "free" (plus overpriced shipping and handling) for being among the first X people in the door at one of those bridal shows. I guess that means we'll be married forever.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!