Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
Rings also fall under the category of utterly ridiculous. A marriage isn’t jewelry.
Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
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Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#12Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
Talk about it. It may turn out that the societal constraints don't enforce the conflict mined diamond. And you may find out more about what it is that is motivating the choice.
But you can't force things and insist that the whole thing is a useless charade. Objectively, sure, but not everything in life has to be.
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#13Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
There are lots of other types of pretty rock available.
I think also if you decide to bow to those constraints, grit your teeth and buy a diamond, you can get ones certified to as less likely to have murder and slavery involved in their extraction. Albeit you'd still be supporting that ridiculous market indirectly. Smashing the stigma against lab diamonds seems like a great idea.
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
It depends on culture. In my country, a gold or silver ring is acceptable.
In my country, a simple gold band is also customary. When you think "wedding ring", you think "simple gold band". They all look the same.
In the UK at least, there is an "engagement ring" that has a diamond typically, and then a "wedding band" that is typically a gold (or silver) band that goes next to the engagement ring on the ring finger, with a similar ring for the other partner on the ring finger.
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#15Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
Honest question: Why marry in the first place?
Why practice a personal relationship in a way others have designed?
Isn't it somewhat contrary to the theme of Hacker News? To me, the term "hacking" describes the habit of doing things in a more interesting/efficient/fun way than how they are usually done.
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#16Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
Caved in and bought an expensive diamond. What really counts here is social ideas of what is necessary. You can push against but most people will do what's socially the done thing. I shudder to think what horrible things we might be able to get people to do as a gateway to getting married. Eg the Spartans had to murder a Helot to graduate IIRC. What if you had to beat up a random person to get married? People would still do it I think.
Not long after I got married, I read about Moissanite.
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#17Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
We opted for a moissanite. Partly because of the ethical problems with diamond mining, and partly because my wife didn't want to carry something with the replacement value of a small car around on her finger. See previous discussions of moissanites on HN: https://www.google.com/search?q=moissanite+site%3Anews.ycomb...
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#18Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
I don't wear a ring at all - don't see why I'd need to. My wife wears one because she wants to.
Why do you care what anyone else thinks?
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#19Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
It depends on culture. In my country, a gold or silver ring is acceptable.
> a gold or silver ring is acceptable
As in not having a ring is 'unacceptable' somehow then?
Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever
#20Married members of HN, what did you do if you think diamonds are utterly ridiclious however due to societal constraints some kind of ring is required for your SO?
If you are on the same page as your partner, you'll have no trouble sorting this thing out. In my case I bought a joke ring that cost me about 2$ in a toy store.
If you are not on the same page as your partner, you have more important concerns than a stupid ring of metal.