Ultimately, an engagement ring is nothing but a status symbol—equivalent to chrome spinner rims. If only a diamond came with a side of Prozac, it just might work.
It’s Not a Tradition—It’s a Sales Pitch.
The “tradition” of giving a diamond ring as part of an engagement contract didn’t evolve organically. It was created for one reason: to sell diamonds.
In the late 1930s, a De Beers marketing campaign suggested that men buy their fiancées diamond rings, and spend one-month’s salary doing it (these days the ante has been upped to two month’s salary). De Beers used every trick in the book, from loaning movie stars diamond rings and arranging for fashion editors to discuss diamonds to creating an official-sounding organization (the Diamond Information Center) to release statistics about diamonds to the media. We’ve been manipulated, over seventy-plus years, to want diamond engagement rings.
There’s Nothing Special About It.
According to the Diamond Information Center, more than 80 percent of engaged women get a diamond ring. Special would be something that’s truly unique and reflects your unique relationship.
They’re a Rip-Off.
We’ve been duped into paying more than diamonds are actually worth. Once upon a time, diamonds were expensive because they were rare. But huge diamond deposits discovered from the late 19th century onward mean that today there are enough for a third of all the women in the world ages 20–39 to get a .25-carat diamond ring, were they all to get engaged in the same year.
Prices remain high only because De Beers, which holds a near-monopoly on the diamond industry, regulates how many gems enter the marketplace, and has convinced consumers that engagement rings are too sentimental to sell. (The slogan “a diamond is forever” was a De Beers invention.)
It’s One-Sided.
An engagement ring is a neon sign the screams “taken.” But why doesn’t he wear an engagement ring to proclaim he’s off the market? What’s up with that?
It’s a Messy Business.
Widespread media attention given to conflict diamonds (a.k.a blood diamonds) in the late 1990s, fueled the creation of a certification program, the Kimberly Process, to ensure that diamonds purchased are conflict-free. As yet, the system is far from perfect, with numerous reports of forged documents and smuggling from war-torn regions. As a consumer, it’s hard to know if a diamond you buy is truly conflict-free.
