Recession hits New York brides (peacock wedding dress?)
Original post by megan_gallagher
Recession hits New York brides Published: April 12, 2009 at 1:29 PM
NEW YORK, April 12 (UPI) -- Brides in New York appear to be among the victims of the recession, with retailers saying more grooms are buying cubic zirconia rings instead of diamonds.
New York Diamond District retailers said an increasing number of would-be husbands are purchasing the fake diamonds for their brides' engagement rings to save money during the economic downturn, the New York Post reported Sunday.
'There are people who will buy a setting and put a CZ in it for now, hoping to replace it later,' private jeweler Shella Eckhouse said of the recent trend.
Luxury jeweler Kara Ackerman said some of those grooms not purchasing cubic zirconia settings are instead turning to one-carat diamond rings instead of the more traditional and expensive two-carat rings.
'The budget used to be $65,000. Now it's closer to $10,000,' she said.
Ackerman added that not all brides appear to be happy with the cost-cutting measures of their potential spouses.
'The women are little hostile about it,' Ackerman told the Post. 'They have been waiting a long time for a ring!'
Funny story. FH and I were walking through Nordstroms about a month ago, and we passed by a rounder with a bunch of CZ rings....I was like ' holy cow, those are big'! And Fh goes, well if you said something sooner, I would have bought you the CZ!
It was pretty funny that I was admiring them.. I LOVE my ring, but it was still funny.
That is pretty funny!
Future Mulligan
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Re: Recession hits New York brides
sometimes i wish that i could sell my ring and have our house downpayment but i would never do it - its just in hindsight DH could have and should have spent less, but i love my ring sooooo much and i would never want to part with it ever - its just crazy how much we spend on things
i remember when we were talking about e-rings we would say, oh well, if you wear the ring everyday for 10 years that is 3,650 days - so if you spend 50K on a ring divided by the 10 years of wearing it comes out to less than $14 a day we would make up silly things like that to justify the cost hahahaha - same thing for DH's watch - i would say to myself, its not that bad, its costing me $11 a day for DH to wear this watch
MrsDR2010
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I have heard this done so much times and really don't see anything wrong with it. If he can't afford it .....i think the band definately is still a symbol that u are married.....funny enough I know ppl who have been married for yrs nd after a while don't wear the e-ring anymore ....just the band
Posted by Cassie15
My husband proposed to me w/o an engagement diamond ring and brought me a white gold band and promised to give me one when he could afford one. Although, I received it about 6 months before our wedding day, it did get to me but I understand that diamond rings aren't cheap. Flip the picture around for a sec. and put yourself in a guy's shoes. If you had to come up suddenly with 3K+, where would you get all that money to put down for the ring? Unfortunately, most jewelry stores only offer discount paid by cash. Pay with the plastic and you could end up stuck paying off the interest. The article might had use an expensive price tag that a customer who could afford expensive ring at that store. It sounds better to put 65K as opposed to saying typically, our customers have a budget of 3K+. The high price tag makes their store appear more inclusive and a higher-end retail. Since we're hitting recession, I don't think that form of advertisement works anymore.
Mrs. V 2008
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Posted by Songstress
Recession or no recession. Our budget for my e-ring was even less than 10,000. $65,000?? on a ring? Insane to me.
LOL I was totally thinking the same thing!! 65k?!?!?! what the heck? to me thats just a waist of money..I'd rather put that on a house
Jna2010
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id rather a tiny little spec of a diamond than a fake one
Mrs. V 2008
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Posted by Songstress
Posted by Nitania13
Posted by Songstress
Recession or no recession. Our budget for my e-ring was even less than 10,000. $65,000?? on a ring? Insane to me.
It's not insane if you have the budget for it. Different people have different budgets to work with. I think it's just different, but not crazy. Plenty of people spend even more than that. JMO, but I think it's fine if you can afford it.
I guess if you can afford it then yeah. But its insane to me cause 65,000 is a years pay for some people. But I guess it wouldnt put a dent in anyones account who really could afford it.
I dont think any man should lie and try to pass a CZ off as real to their future wife. But if we couldnt afford a real ring I would have taken a CZ anyday as long as it meant I was marrying my hubby. Thats just me though.
I wouldnt go so far as calling a CZ an insult. Isnt it the thought behind the ring thats most important? Because a ring is fake it totally cancels out the fact that this man wants to marry you?? Cmon. Thats silly
very well said..to me it just sounds like people are more interested in diamonds than the marriage itself!
MD835
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this seems to me like an article written by clueless vendors in the diamond district who are trying to use brides to help them get through this recession!
KatieG2010
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It's not all about the ring. If you can believe it, I didn't even pick out my ring- i left it up to FH and he did an excellent job. I didn't pick out anything not the setting, shape or size- b/c I really didnt care. If he didnt give me anything and we could get married tomorrow I would do it. I would take just being married to FH over a $25k ring any day..
Reymiliz
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Posted by MD835
this seems to me like an article written by clueless vendors in the diamond district who are trying to use brides to help them get through this recession!
u hit the nail on the head ... 65 k on a ring ..... that store must be on 5th ave upper east side... plus no one that used to spend 65k on a ring will suddenly only have 10k to spend ...
oldladybride
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I guess since I had to wait so so long to find DH and get engaged, I really wanted an E-ring, having seen so many friends in past years delighted with theirs. but a small one or a cz - - as long as I knew it was a cz would have been fine knowing it was hard for him to afford it.
also knowing the econominc strains in general when getting married, possibly looking for a house, even the $10,000 amount seems huge to me and an extravagance. we were browsing at Tri-county at rings and saw some very nice ones around 1 carat for under $2000. Now that seems reasonable and practical to me. good thing the diamond district isn't relying on my buying!!!
bride2bebe
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Our appraiser even told us- the quality of diamonds available on the market aren't as good as they were even a year ago and if they- they cost way more but...no one wants to buy because the value of diamonds has declined!
20mrsc10
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on a side note-it may be an extravagance but i def. wouldnt mind a 65k ring lol
Future Mrs H
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I guess if you can afford it then yeah. But its insane to me cause 65,000 is a years pay for some people. But I guess it wouldnt put a dent in anyones account who really could afford it.
I dont think any man should lie and try to pass a CZ off as real to their future wife. But if we couldnt afford a real ring I would have taken a CZ anyday as long as it meant I was marrying my hubby. Thats just me though.
I wouldnt go so far as calling a CZ an insult. Isnt it the thought behind the ring thats most important? Because a ring is fake it totally cancels out the fact that this man wants to marry you?? Cmon. Thats silly
ITA- I wont care if my ring was CZ as long as it came from him, and he didnt lie about it. The meaning behind a ring is a promise to be married. As long as I had that promised he could give me a piece of glass
runnerbride1023
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Posted by Nitania13
Posted by Songstress
Recession or no recession. Our budget for my e-ring was even less than 10,000. $65,000?? on a ring? Insane to me.
It's not insane if you have the budget for it. Different people have different budgets to work with. I think it's just different, but not crazy. Plenty of people spend even more than that. JMO, but I think it's fine if you can afford it.[/QUOTE
Agreed some people spend that, and the average salary is inflated in NYC vs. the rest of the country. But I do not agree with the AVG price being 65k on an engagement ring. Maybe if you include 20 year anniversary rings in that number it would be higher. But the majority of people buying engagement rings are between 25-30 years old. Sure there are outliers, but the average person is not spending 65k on an engagement ring.
cateydee
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give me a lifesaver candy ring any day... i wouldn't wanna have to wait to marry my guy just cuz of a ring....
jayepyt
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Posted by Future Mrs H
I guess if you can afford it then yeah. But its insane to me cause 65,000 is a years pay for some people. But I guess it wouldnt put a dent in anyones account who really could afford it.
I dont think any man should lie and try to pass a CZ off as real to their future wife. But if we couldnt afford a real ring I would have taken a CZ anyday as long as it meant I was marrying my hubby. Thats just me though.
I wouldnt go so far as calling a CZ an insult. Isnt it the thought behind the ring thats most important? Because a ring is fake it totally cancels out the fact that this man wants to marry you?? Cmon. Thats silly
ITA- I wont care if my ring was CZ as long as it came from him, and he didnt lie about it. The meaning behind a ring is a promise to be married. As long as I had that promised he could give me a piece of glassita i love my fh no matter if the ring was made with rubber
What a shame having to drop down to one carat diamonds rather than 2
JamDancer
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ummm... $65000??? and the 'traditional 2 carat?' The person with the biggest ring that I know is my FSIL and hers is 1.6 and it's gigantic.
Who are these people??
mine cost about $3500 and I have a 1.2 ct flawless step- cut emerald, which is apparently one of the more expensive cuts. (my FH knows the jeweler and obviously got a VERY good deal, but still)
What the hell kind of rings are these ppl buying??
MrsDR2010
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Some Platinum wedding rings and its funny because not all of them spend 65k on a ring....lol and they have $$$$
Posted by JamDancer
ummm... $65000??? and the 'traditional 2 carat?' The person with the biggest ring that I know is my FSIL and hers is 1.6 and it's gigantic.
Who are these people??
mine cost about $3500 and I have a 1.2 ct flawless step- cut emerald, which is apparently one of the more expensive cuts. (my FH knows the jeweler and obviously got a VERY good deal, but still)
What the hell kind of rings are these ppl buying??
