posted by j_crazyi wouldn't say either of those things. i spent what i spent on her because we wanted symbols of our feelings for each other. NOT symbols of our wealth. I feel like you and i both chose mates that are perfect for us. your girl hangs with people that would notice and compliment her ring (which in turn is a compliment to you). my wife and i hang with people who would never notice or care about that, which suits us more than fine.
in no world would someone look at the ring i bought, sitting next to the ring you bought and think "S&L loves his wife more than j_crazy. because he spent 40 times more on the ring." It is what it is man, your ring i'm sure is beautiful and will be an heirloom for your family. I'll never wrap my head around it but i appreciate it. I never wanted an heirloom, i want my wife to go to the grave with that cheap POS on her finger.
I should probably note that i deal with man made diamonds for about 25% of my day to day work, so that is why i'm so largely jaded to these things. I've been to these giant facilities in Utah where they can make a diamond of any shape, color and spec you want, i buy them for as little as $150 per (granted not gem standard, but even those aren't wildly expensive), then i beat the ever living shit out of them drilling holes in the earth till they get destroyed.
Fair