Downside to Engagement Rings

Many single women dream for the day they receive their diamond engagement ring. Yet for many people, there’s a downside to the rings.

First is the cost. Diamonds are precious, but are far from rare. In fact, the price of diamonds is propped up through a legal cartel system where the supply of diamonds is artificially restricted (although the DeBeers cartel recently settled a class action lawsuit related to its price-fixing scheme). The leading force behind this is the DeBeers diamond cartel the world’s largest supplier of diamonds, which has a near monopoly throughout the world.

As we looked into purchasing our engagement ring, we wanted a diamond that did not come from the DeBeers diamond cartel. We didn’t want a “blood diamond”—a diamond that is mind for the purpose of paying for nasty civil wars in Africa.

You can also learn more at Stop Blood Diamonds.

You can also learn more about fair trade diamonds, diamonds that are not tainted through blood and murder.

Engagement Gifts for Men

As the courtship comes to a close, it ends with a proposal of marriage. As a symbol of his love (and honoring tradition), the man presents a diamond engagement ring (thereby keeping the DeBeers cartel happy).

But what does the husband get? What does the future bride offer her future husband?

In our family (and in many others), shortly after engagement, the woman purchases a nice watch for the husband. These are luxury watches, not a mall special.

For us, we fancied luxury, automatic watches. Watches like Patek, IWC and others are super high-end…and out of our budget. We determined that Raymond Weil (Don Giovanni line) offered the nicest watch at a mid-level price.

The watch is a tradition in our family going back generations. You should decide what you will do for your tradition.

DeBeers Settles Lawsuit

If you bought diamonds in the United States, you may be entitled to money back.

This covers anyone who purchases a diamond in the U.S. from January 1, 1994 to March 31, 2006. It covers engagement rings, wedding bands, pave watches, earrings…anything with diamonds. The deadline to file a claim to be in the class action lawsuit is May 19, 2008. The final hearing for the case is April 14, 2008, so hopefully payments will be made shortly after that.

For more info, visit the class action lawsuit website.

MTV’s Engaged & Underage

This isn’t destination wedding related, but it is interesting. MTV is about six episodes into their new reality series “Engaged & Underage.”

From MTV’s website: “Who says you’re too young to get married? You think you’re ready. This is going to be the biggest day in your life—right? ‘Engaged and Underage’ is a new weekly series that follows young couples, between the ages of 18 and 22, during the last weeks of their engagement, as they crank it up for the big day. You’ll see all the drama…”

We thought it would be like most reality shows—you watch it to make yourself feel better since there other people with a life worse than yours. You think that you’re going to pity the sad people they profile. Naturally, you question if a marriage at 18 can really last. And being MTV, it is loaded with all the intense drama that you can pack in.

However, it also shows the real life struggles we all go through in planning a wedding – destination or not. The arguments over the wedding details are real (and we’ve all had them) and it is a humanizing process. It’s a nice diversion from the wedding planning process.