My girlfriend is a wonderful person, and we share a lot of the same values. However, there’s one thing that has come between us. She has expensive taste, especially when it comes to jewelry. She likes diamonds in particular, which I find really crazy. A diamond is just a pretty rock that happens to be rare. Isn’t it true that they’re only rare because of the diamond companies, anyway? To me, it seems like a huge waste of money to buy a diamond. Experts, can you either help back me up in this discussion with my girlfriend, or else change my mind?
In any relationship, there are going to be disagreements. The key to a healthy relationship is to handle disagreements properly, talk through the issue, and either changing views, compromise, or simply agree to disagree. We’ll lay out the answers you seek below, but remember that the way you and your girlfriend handle this discussion is very important.
Let’s start by talking about why diamonds are valuable. Your explanation was actually more or less correct. Diamonds are valuable because they are attractive and rare. It’s also true enough that diamond rarity is artificial, at least to a degree. However, artificial rarity is functionally similar to natural rarity. With the diamond companies having no incentive to increase availability anytime soon, it’s hard to see why diamonds should lose their value anytime soon.
That means diamonds can be considered an asset, say the experts at Luxury Buyers, buyers of diamond rings and high-end jewelry. While the primary reason to buy diamonds is to wear them, it’s worth noting that they can be sold for cash. This is particularly true of jewelry from high-end producers, such as Tiffany & Co. and Cartier.
In other words, spending money on diamonds now doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll never see that money again. You and your partner might later decide to cash in those jewels to make a big purchase, or to weather tough financial times.
This isn’t a reason to go out and invest in jewelry. Though some experts do so, jewelry probably won’t suit that purpose for amateurs as well as investments or savings accounts do. Still, it’s important to note that a large purchase that holds its value can be an asset in a way that a small or depreciating purchase cannot. And, for those who didn’t even buy the jewelry in the first place, such as folks who had it handed down to them by a relative, discovering the resale value of great jewelry can be a very pleasant surprise, indeed.
There’s only so much you should spend on jewelry, and your partner should understand that. However, loving jewelry isn’t strange, and viewing high-end items as assets should help you understand why owning some jewelry--whatever is within your means, of course--is not irresponsible.
“Life is too short to wear boring jewelry.” - Unknown