[RRnold]

Originally Posted by ahausheer

Begin rant -

I am a geologist, and let me tell you the most important thing in a diamond is the cut - by far. Look online of pics of raw diamonds, they look like glass, nothing special, hence the importance of the cut. After cut comes color and clarity and they are pretty much equally important. BUT.........real diamonds are lame, they are cut by some poor dude in India, and, diamond mines are big ugly holes at best, and environmental disasters at worst, literally the only thing going for them (diamonds) is that they are super hard, are marketed well, and will last forever, big deal. I got my wife a fake diamond by this company betterthandiamond.com They sell various diamond simulants including lab grown diamonds. I got my wife the ASHA simulant (a specially coated CZ) and she loves it and she knows it's fake. It costs about 1/10th the price of a mined diamond and looks like a very high quality diamond. If you could consider saving thousands of dollars check it out, wouldn't it be better to travel and actually do stuff with that money? The only magic about a diamond is how they make things, such as your wallet, lighter.

- End rant

After watching Blood Diamond and the divorce rate, I don't believe in a diamond ring as a sign of affection, especially ones that cost over 5K! My g/f openly jokes about where is her Kim K sized engagement ring and I tell her to go to the club in downtown San Diego called Stingaree b/c that is where all the SD Charger players usually hang out.