Diamond Engagement Ring Alternatives

Marriage is a serious financial commitment and you should treat it as such.  It is common knowledge that money is the number one reason why couples split up.  As such, it is important for you and your significant other to be on the same page on fiscal matters.

However, it starts even before then.  My fiancée and I had to decide what our wedding plans were.  The first issue was buying an engagement ring.

Diamond engagement rings are traditional here in the United States.  But, if you have ever looked at the prices of the diamonds, you will know they are outrageously priced.  This is because Debeers has a monopoly on the diamond supply.

With their monopoly they constrict supply, increasing prices and their bottom lines.  There are a few alternatives to diamonds, whether you choose them for morally or financial reasons.

Some alternatives are:

- Diamond simulants
- Lab grown diamonds
- Alternative stones

The diamond simulants are basically other materials made to mimic the look of real diamonds.  They are very inexpensive in price.

The ring I was considering was a 2.04 carat stimulant, which included the wedding band for only $535.  Rock bottom prices like these are very tempting.  However, I decided that if I wasn’t willing to pay the price for a real diamond, I should not buy a simulated one. 

Lab grown diamonds are real diamonds.  They have the same chemical structure as natural diamonds.  The only difference is that they are grown in a lab over a year or two period instead of formed in the ground over thousands of years.

I was very interested in these lab grown diamonds.  It is very cool that people can make a diamond in a lab in a fraction of the time that it would take Mother Nature to make it.  As I researched the prices, I found that they were just as expensive as the natural diamonds.  Prices are sure to drop in the coming years as they become more common place, but for me it was too early.

Many couples today are choosing alternative stones for their engagement rings.  I have friends that decided to take this route.  And many high profile people have gone this route also.  Did you know that Princess Diana had an alternative stone engagement ring?  It was a sapphire.

We decided to go with an alternative stone in the end also.  There were a few reasons that we went this route. 

- I have a major problem paying for a product in which the price has been heavily manipulated through constricting the supply
- My fiancée does not feel comfortable wearing jewelry worth thousands of dollars
- The money we saved is being put towards a down payment for a house

She has been wearing the ring for a while now and loves it.  She has received many compliments on the stone and ring.  What stone did we decide to go with?  A topaz.

Written by admin on July 3rd, 2006 with comments disabled.
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