« Reply #111 on: June 14, 2013, 12:23:16 PM »
Keep in mind, that often the difference between a $2,000 diamond and a $4,000 diamond for example could be small imperfections that can only be seen under 10X magnification.
This explains the ratings for one of the C's, Clarity.
2 guys can each buy diamonds for drastically different prices with the only difference being that one is a VVS1 and the other is a SI2 but both look identical to the naked eye.
The thing to be aware of is that depending on where the inclusion is it may or may not affect the way light is reflected. Be careful to avoid fractures unless you know that it won't spread causing the diamond to crack.
Diamonds are rediculously overpriced at an inflated value as it is, no sense paying $1-2K extra so that if someone pulls out a loop they won't see a small black dot in it!
You can get a J colored SI2 and most people won't be able to tell it apart from a G colored VVS1.
No one really inspects your diamond ring other than when you get engaged! It's silly to spend thousands extra (especially if you don't have it!) to get 1/2 carat larger and more flawless under 10X mag. Unless you have the money to waste and don't mind throwing it away on a rock :)Exactly my point! Who is looking through loops at your ring other than the day it's bought?
+1! Some people have started doing that in this economy!
The only reason not too is because she will feel bad since all her friends are getting real ones etc.
One of those things in the frum world where we spend money just because everyone else is doing it.
I hear your point about giving something of value, but in this economy where many people just don't have the $$, there are a lot of chasunah expenses that are over the top but just needed because that's what's expected. A ring is not the only expensive gift that needs to be given....
As far as the giving something of value, starting a savings account for a down payment etc should be (in a practical world) a better way to start off the marriage then thousands of $$'s of jewelery.
Don't think I didn't buy all the required things when I got married - I did. But the money can definitely be better spent/saved (hope my wife isn't reading this lol).
I've always said when attending fancy weddings where $10's of thousands of dollars over what a basic wedding costs are blown in one night that it would be much more beneficial to the couple to have a basic wedding and a savings acccount with $20K instead of an over the top extravagant wedding where it is all blown on one fancy night.
An example would be a wedding dress. Some people rent from a gemach for $300 and some spend $2K-4K$ buying a dress which then sits in their closet for years getting yellow. Both have very happy weddings and happy marriages but the one who lost $4K on a dress isn't any better off for it!
Part of the 'problem' is that you only get married once. So all commen sense goes out the window. You can talk from today until tomorrow about what makes sense and is practical but at the end of the day no girl wants to be the only one of her friends getting a CZ or having a 'below accepted standards' wedding.
Just saw these posts now, but +100
Well, everything except for the bolded part. That depends on the woman you marry, her level of maturity, her ability to sacrifice, and priorities.
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