Jewelry

[Kachina624]

I have never been enthralled by diamonds.  When I was married 57 years ago, I chose an antiqued gold eternity band set with garnets.  My dear aunt felt sorry for me because I had no diamond so she left me hers, which I gave to my sister who enjoys wearing it. I do have a beautiful Moissanite ring which I rarely wear. 

[gertrudecloset]

It's interesting about Diamonds.  They aren't rare and if they are losing desire it's because people are waking up to the one company that controls most of the world's diamonds.  You have to pay to play.  This has been going on for years.

Millenials and Gen X'ers are much more likely to be involved in more techie type toys.  I would even venture a guess that they will be the biggest group to purchase Tesla's when they rid themselves of their student loans.  LOL.

If it sparkles, I want it.  Not fond of opaque gems.  Lab created can be just as expensive as diamonds if you plan to invest in them from a good source.

The price of diamonds should come down as technology advances to give us similar luster without all the baggage that comes with the real deal.

[GinaV24]

@Kachina624 When we were getting engaged, we looked in some local stores and I found a beautiful (at least to me) ring with a sapphire in the center and two small diamonds on each side. That's what I really wanted but my fiance felt that somehow he was going to be a failure if I didn't have a diamond ring. Since he was the one buying it, I went along with it. I liked my diamond very much but I still think of that beautiful ring that we didn't buy.

Years later, I bought my own sapphire and diamond ring.

Certainly younger people may not be into diamonds but I'm going to enjoy wearing mine (I'm an April baby too so I have another reason to enjoy the stone). I'm not buying any new diamonds though since I have no need.

[FancyPhillyshopper]

The challenge is that so many of the natural diamonds for sale are of such poor quality that they are not that attractive.  They are also extremely overpriced.

For young people with limited budgets, buying an overly expensive diamond ring does not seem like a good financial decision.  There is also a big push to ensure responsible sourcing and no harm to environments.

However, I constantly see famous celebrity women getting engaged and flashing monstrous stones, so the wealthy are still making serious diamond purchases.

Perhaps buying man-made diamonds is a substitute, but those gems have limited resale value and also too high priced in my opinion.

I like going to antiques shows and looking at old diamond jewelry.  Maybe one of these days I will splurge on a big stone, since it is also my birthstone.  I do appreciate all of the smaller diamond jewelry pieces I have collected over the decades, but my purchases are very limited now.