The subject of engagement rings has been discussed in other threads, where I’ve mentioned that my wife and I decided against an engagement ring because when we got engaged, in the days of apartheid in South Africa, all diamonds were tainted. Years later, she asked for a CZ solitaire, and picked one out on eBay.
The whole idea of the need for a diamond engagement ring was created by the diamond cartel. Edward Jay Epstein wrote an article in The Atlantic magazine in 1982 entitled “Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?” in which he reveals the history of a remarkably successful marketing campaign.
Diamonds aren’t forever — the one in my mother’s engagement ring became worthless when it developed internal fractures as the result of a blow.