Starting a New Tradition in Engagement and Wedding Rings

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but they aren't to those who have to mine them so that we women can wear the sparkling rocks on our hands, in our ears or around our necks. And while a woman may believe that a 2-carat diamond ring is proof that the man in her life is ready for a full-time commitment, one filled with love and honor until death do they part, this just isn't the case. She may want that ring because she was told that it was what a man gave the woman he wants to marry, but does she really need it to know that he loves her?

What's wrong with other stones? Sapphires, rubies and emeralds are just as beautiful and precious as diamonds. And because they can be created in labs, there is no blood on them, as there so often is with diamonds. Is vanity really worth a human life? While there is no way to be absolutely certain that no life was lost in an attempt to bring the rock up from the mines to the jewelry stores to the woman's finger, most of us are aware that it happens, and yet we continue to buy them. But why not start a new tradition, and give other stones a chance?

Say a woman whose birthday is in November is about to get married. Her fiancé knows that her birthstone is topaz and opts to buy her a topaz ring instead of the traditional diamond ring. Does this mean that he loves her less than the man who shells out $2,500 for a princess cut diamond? No. Both men love their wives, but one has been taught to stick to the custom that women should be given diamond engagement rings. The woman with the topaz ring, however, may be happier than the woman with the diamond ring. It is original, and more personal, because it is her birthstone. This shows that her husband-to-be knows the little details about her that a man who buys his wife a diamond ring may not know. Diamonds are generic and require no thought, but a woman's birthstone will speak to her on a deeper level. So does a woman need a diamond ring as a symbol of her fiancé's undying love? No. She may want it, but whether she gets it or not is not a reflection of how much her man does or does not love her. So instead of saying it with diamonds, why not say it with something more personal?