Someone on question and answer website Quora recently asked, “Why do women desire diamonds?” Here is what I answered…

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Some women, I actually hate diamonds. Now rubies, that’s another story, but I also like the colour red so that might be why. As others have mentioned, women’s love of diamonds often relates back to great marketing over recent generations – call it brainwashing, you’ll be kinda right. Many people have been lead to believe these coveted rocks are scarce, when in fact they’re not. The love of diamonds and use of them in engagement rings is a largely modern thing. In the past, coloured gem stones were common in engagement rings; and for a while, pearls were desired in a way that diamonds are today. Diamonds are a modern day fad.

Here is a Victorian Era ‘DEAREST’ ring:

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The first letter of the stones (diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, sapphire, topaz), spell out the word ‘Dearest’, you could also get ones that spelled ‘regard’. Isn’t that sweet?

Personally, I love the design aspect of jewellery (also love building design and the art nouveau movement, so there). I like the art, more than the ‘rocks’. We women are capable of knowing the passion for jewellery is a luxury, like guy’s with their cars and sport – yes, I’m generalising.

Here’s my engagement ring:

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I designed it myself, did my research, and had it made in America (I’m in Australia). The stones are natural ruby and pink sapphire, set in 18 karat gold – I’ve had it evaluated, everything is real. I can promise you I didn’t make my partner pay 2-3 months wages; I don’t think the ring even cost 2 weeks wages. The centre stone on its own retails more than what we paid for the entire ring, which itself was about 3 times cheaper than similar pieces I’ve encountered. I was the one who said I didn’t want to spend even 1 months wages, 2-3 months is just ridiculous.

These ‘rocks’ are symbols, just like the white dress at a wedding, humans have been using symbols since back when we lived in caves. Most reasonable women would be smart enough to know a chunk of metal and rock isn’t a measure of genuine love, it’s just a nice thing to have. If it’s affordable, let us have our things, okay? If my partner had no ring to give me, I’d still be marrying him; if he were a complete arse to be around I wouldn’t. Enough said.

Hope you enjoyed today’s post. I love reading and responding to everyone’s comments, so feel free to leave a comment of your own.

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Post originally appears here…Why do women desire diamonds?

image credit: kalmar antiques