Engagement Rings

[ice813]

Thought this was pretty funny and informative:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6952792/why-engagement-rings-are-a-scam

[girly mustache]

awesome :)

[windawake]

Two of my friends who just got married (to each other) bought matching his/hers wedding bands on Etsy for like $100 total, no engagement ring. It was something I'll hopefully replicate someday.

[jordanread]

Yeah, I've got to get this figured out. Will be proposing this year, and still going back and forth on the ring. I'm pretty sure I can convince her to do a fully Mustachian wedding (i.e. courthouse) and a fun informal party afterwards, but I gotta make sure the proposal is epic!! I'm kind of leaning towards artifical diamonds because technology, and I like it.

[Elaine]

Yeah, I've got to get this figured out. Will be proposing this year, and still going back and forth on the ring. I'm pretty sure I can convince her to do a fully Mustachian wedding (i.e. courthouse) and a fun informal party afterwards, but I gotta make sure the proposal is epic!! I'm kind of leaning towards artifical diamonds because technology, and I like it.

You might like Moissanite too. Also, make sure she can wear sterling silver- some people can't. 

[jordanread]

You might like Moissanite too. Also, make sure she can wear sterling silver- some people can't. 

Yeah, I am actually looking for Tungsten, or regular silver. I just like the idea of manufactured diamonds, especially considering how useless they really are. I have been looking at Moissanite, and I like the idea. How romantic would that be?

Babe, I was going to get you a diamond, because you are so valuable to me, and the time we've spent these last 5 years have just made us stronger. You give me a clarity in life that rivals the most perfect diamond, and we let the pressures of life make us even stronger, without our love cracking. When I started looking around, though, I just couldn't stand the thought of picking something so brittle symbolize our love. Anyone can get a diamond, and you are so much more that to me. So I had the Doctor use the TARDIS to go back in time, and direct a meteor towards the earth, that would bring me something that did a better job. I give you this ring, with a stone from frickin' outer space, because nothing on this earth can compare to what we have.

Or something like that. :-)

[matchewed]

Obligatory -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSRrYYB22A

[jordanread]

Obligatory -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSRrYYB22A

LMAO.  I needed that.

People who buy things are suckers...

[Worsted Skeins]

My husband and I wear my grandparent's bands.  And I have a ring (not a diamond) belonging to my husband's Great Aunt designated for my son to give to his future wife.  This is family culture for us. 

Loved the video links which I forwarded to the College Boy.  Thanks!

[Lorin]

Not particularly Mustachian, I know, but I have a real engagement ring with a real diamond and I love it. My husband bought the stone from a wholesaler at about half retail and then I designed a setting we had made by an independent (ie, no storefront) jeweler. It was still a lot of $$ of course, but much less than walking into a store & buying something off the shelf. Plus it means a lot more to me this way.

[lifejoy]

Obligatory -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSRrYYB22A

LMAO.  I needed that.

People who buy things are suckers...

FYI I've fallen in love with some of the silver+moissanite options on etsy. Take a look! Sparkly shiny lovely (AFFORDABLE).

[jordanread]

FYI I've fallen in love with some of the silver+moissanite options on etsy. Take a look! Sparkly shiny lovely (AFFORDABLE).

Thanks for the pointers. I'll check them out.

[ender]

I love both those videos. hahaha

[Sonorous Epithet]

One of my favorite magazine articles of all time is the Atlantic's "Have You Ever Tried To Sell A Diamond?" http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell- a-diamond/304575/

It turned me off to the whole DeBeer's marketic concept of "how to make two months salary last forever." More like "How to make two months salary disappear forever."

I am planning on proposing soon. I'd been saving up for some kind of ring, but when my family got wind of it, they wanted me to have my grandma's engagement ring (she passed away a few years ago). I was very touched. Later I found out that it's actually a replacement ring -- when my grandparents hit their golden anniversary, grandpa got grandma a newer ring with a bigger stone (still modest by today's ridiculous standards) to commemorate 50 years together. Although I was bummed that I didn't get the original 50+ year old antique ring (my cousin snagged it), when I think about it, any schmuck can give his girlfriend an engagement ring -- how many can give their wife a ring to celebrate FIFTY YEARS of marriage? That makes it feel really special. (And a bigger rock never hurt either.)

[mm1970]

Another vote for Moissanite.  I have a necklace with Moissanite.  (Full disclosure, I used to work for the company that makes the actual material - Silicon Carbide - that is the moissanite).  Cree, for those of you who are also into LED lighting...

[lizzzi]

I  have a platinum engagement ring with a .72 carat diamond. I would never want or expect something like that now, but was not as Mustachian 20 years ago, and in fact did not get the engagement ring until we had been married two years--so it wasn't a "must have" or anything like that. My husband and I found a way to get the stone and the setting at big discounts (as Lorin posted above), and it is a truly beautiful and meaningful piece of jewelry. My wedding band (set with little diamonds) was a family heirloom from his side…and while it doesn't match the engagement ring, the two rings look good together and all in all mean a lot to me. In terms of ring overkill, I've inherited wedding sets from my MIL, and just recently from my mother. My two daughters have already inherited three wedding sets between them. We all realize they're essentially worthless, but the grandsons will have plenty of choices for their fiancees in the future!