...does it profess as much true love as the 50,000.00 sparkler?
My feelings are that the engagement ring, as well as the wedding ring, are a symbol...not a gift.
If a man who has eyes set on your wife sees the sparkler, he may surmise she is only in the marriage for the money...an easy target for an affair with a well-moneyed woman. A band indicates something far more deep and meaningful. Obviously, she loves her husband deeply because she accepted the simple gold band in the first place, right?
This current trend of resetting the ring with an even more expensive stone with the claim that since the love has grown over time, so should the rock, smacks of pure greed to me, nothing more. I anticipate that a very messy, expensive divorce looms just around the corner.
As for a guy who gives a woman such an expensive symbol of their marital union, could it be that he isn't secure in his ability to simply love his woman, so he attempts to compensate with the elaborate ring? Could both the offering of such a ring, and the request and subsequent acceptance of it, be a red flag from the very beginning that the marriage is doomed to fail?
Now what are the current statistics of divorce in this country? Fifty percent? Maybe whe should all begin to think outside the box...the ring box, that is!
If she wants a gift, then by all means GIVE HER THE GIFT OF JEWELRY, unexpectedly and often, but not as a symbol of your marriage.
Maybe it is better that I've never married. I have and will continue to buck convention within this wacky institution, where most fail utterly, and the rest are beyond miserable. Only a few seem to have truly found bliss.
PERFECTION THROUGH CONFLICT.
YOUR SENTINEL ON THE WATCH...GVITAGO.
Comments, hee-hee?

Even that plain circle of gold does not always mean anything to either party.

I only got that simple gold ring, and he took it and sold it. His second wife got the big sparkly.

Marriage is in the heart.

So how IS he and his #2 doing?
You're so right. Marriage IS in the heart.

I do not know, I do not care.
The sad thing is that I have nothing to pass along to our daughter.

Aww...hopefully some positive wisdom, perhaps?

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so what's the news?

For wedding bands, I prefer the idea of finding something that matches the personality of the people and the relationship.

I don't want a big gaudy relationship...so wouldn't want a big gaudy ring either.

If a man feels that he "needs" rather than "wants" to spend an outrageous amount on a ring then this is just the beginning of "I want..I want and I want more"

The poor sucker doesn't realize that there will be no end to this

"So, how do 'ya like DEM apples?"
I like them apples, candi!
You have wisdom!

Sad but maybe she wouldn't want the ring as the marriage didn't work out.. My granddaughter refused to wear or even have a piece of her mothers wedding dress sewn into her dress because the marriage only lasted 4 years and was a messy divorce..Some things are better left in the past..BTW, granddaughter had a beautiful wedding and her mother(my dau) got over it...

Rings and valentine's are only important because jewelers are smart enough to tell women. ....that crap like rings are what makes a relationship real.

Love makes a relationship real...not some badly over priced trinket that slaves dig out of the ground in Africa.

Personally; jewelry doesn't mean squat to me as even when a guy did buy me jewelry; I never wore it and it would just piss him off. LOL The saying is actions speak louder than words but they also speak louder than gifts. Just my two cents.

My jewelry mostly sits in a box too.

But flowers are always nice, and something you can both enjoy in the home.

Jewellery ain't nothing but a stone. If I want some, I'll buy some. I'll never expect someone else to do it for me. Anyway, if you both end up divorcing, how can you bare to look at that ring anymore?

Well said Krupa!

Well I see why a ring is so symbolic. I believe its supposed to represent the infinite or well really a continuous love that has no end. While I do believe you can't put a price tag on love. I do think a ring and how much you pay for it is "supposed" to be a representation of the effort being put into the relationship. I.e. You put hard work into earning the money for the ring you will put hard work into maintaining the relationship. To put it simply it represents the unbroken circle of working towards a common goal that goal being each other.

Agree 100% on the ring being a symbol of unending love, and I dig the last sentence tremendously!

I just see the amount spent for the ring as irrelevant. As long as my guy loves me deeply, truly and always, I don't care if he weaves blades of grass together to form a ring to symbolize his commitment to me. We can spend the money he would waste on an expensive ring on other stuff, like making memories together. A rock is just a rock no matter how much it costs...memories are priceless.

I was paraphrasing my pops there lol. He and my Mom are still together after forty some years can't say what he told me doesn't ring true.