“Bad news to all marquise lovers – Selena Gomez’ jaw-dropping 8 carat ring puts them all to shame”
“This obscure diamond cut just went mainstream with Taylor Swift”
“Zendaya’s 5-carat cushion-cut diamond stuns on the red carpet.”
If you’ve been keeping up with the celebrity gossip, you know that engagement rings have been consistently in the tabloids, splashed across every media site there is. Every month, it seems, there is a new cut of diamond that you shouldn’t get now because it’s just been catapulted to stardom by some pop star or actress.
It’s exhausting to scramble to find a new diamond shape that hasn’t been taken yet. There are videos after videos of the most niche diamond cuts. The most visually unique band. The most obscure setting that makes your diamond shimmer the brightest.
Each celebrity announcement has been followed by a rush of online grief over the newfound fame of someone’s dream diamond shape. It’s as if at some point, women began to believe that their ring means nothing if it looks like someone else’s.
Individuality is a hallmark of culture in the United States. Most people spend their whole life nipping at the heels of being unique and one-of-a-kind. It becomes a trend to not follow a trend, a trend to follow the trend because everyone hates it, a trend to never follow any trend, and a trend to follow every trend.
Does it really matter if you share a diamond cut with a celebrity? If you saw Taylor Swift wearing a ring like yours, would you be flattered or would you be embarrassed that your ring held less sentiment?
Does it really matter if you see another woman with the same ring as you? If your coworker gets engaged with a solitaire diamond that looks just like the one you’ve always wanted, would you toss your childlike wonder into the trash in favor of being unique?
Is the value in the ring itself? Does the value come from the display of wealth and the words between glittering facets that say ‘I’m not like you’?
Or is the value, perhaps, in the courage it takes to ask someone to spend forever with you? To take a knee with the hope of a lifetime and open your heart to ask four breathless words.
If you are lucky enough to have found the love of your life, a paper ring or a diamond ring should make no difference. In the end, the promise is in the words themselves, not the rock dug out of the earth or forged in a lab. Diamonds are beautiful. To be loved is priceless.
Get the ring that you want, not the ring that will get you the most ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs.’ Don’t get a ring at all, if you’d rather put down a payment on your first house or spend a week in the tropics.
You are the only one who can assign value and worth to your life. A diamond cannot do it for you.