Wedding Rings

They're not as popular as they used to be. Some married couples rarely or never wear them. When I do wear one (not very often) the amount of flirting I get from guys doesn't seem to change at all, and I've noticed that women seem to show my husband more interest when he's wearing one.

Do you think they're still important and relevant?

 

You may already know this, but diamond engagement rings were not common in America until a large jeweler spent an enormous amount of money on a national advertising campaign, asserting that every young woman should expect to receive one. Most of what they said was made up out of thin air.

 

That's funny because I always pictured you wearing a Corno with your shirt unbuttoned to your navel, exposing your hairy chest

 

I recently flushed mine down the toilet. Seriously, the biggest waste of $4k my husband has spent in some time.

But to answer your question, I don't particularly find them to be relevant anymore. My husband still wears his, but I'll never wear another. I could care less if someone wants to assume things about my marriage.

 

Maybe wearing a plastic bag around ones finger would be more symbolic, or something else that can be used to suffocate someone

 

I still have my $50 gold band from the 1970. Marriage only lasted a couple years but I am sure the ring is worth more than 50 now. The diamond was a family heirloom. I gave it back saying they should give it to their only daughter. Who knows if they did. The diamond ring must have been worth a lot back in the 70's because when we were buying the bands the jeweler grabbed my hand to have a good look at it.

 

I don't think they are relevant but I don't think marriage is either.

 

I think it's sad that marriage these days is looked upon as if it is a farce, or has no meaning behind it anymore. If that's the perception then I question what the point was of getting married in the first place. But when I bought my girl her rings, and I remember taking her up to that mountain and asking her to marry me, this wasn't an action of "eh, we'll see what happens" or a farce, or had no meaning behind it.. Oh no, there was an intention there, that we be together for the remainder of our lives like we'd been together the 13 years prior. That ring meant an awful lot to me when I bought it, and to her when I slipped it on.

She rarely takes it off, when she does and forgets to put it back on she gets upset, flustered, panics... And that shows me something and tells me a lot about what we have between us for every bit of jewelry I have ever bought her is precious to her, even the watches I've gifted her over the years brings out the same panic and worry when she isn't wearing it.

Maybe that's fairy tale garbage to most people these days. But I pitty them to think of us this way. It's not fairy tale, that's just "with heart felt adoration" (a bracelet I had made up for her carving this sentence in runic description) that's what it is to us, it means everything.

 

I'm not really interested in marriage, and especially not a ring. I'd much rather spend thousands of dollars on a nice vacation, or practically anything else.

 

I always wore my rings and so did he. I still wear the diamond but not the band. I did have it resized though for a different finger.

I think it is more personal preference now as to wearing them or not. It is nice to see some break tradition and not have diamonds as their settings and choose a stone that means something to them. I have seen that far more in recent years.

It is a personal choice for most and if they choose not to, other than just when they are out on the make (tan lines), it is all good.

 

when i meet an attractive woman, i still check her finger. it doesn't really matter though; she's always already taken whether there's a ring or not.

 

My husband and I both wear our rings. I don't think rings make a marriage any more or less valid. It's just a token. It's the relationship the 2 people have that is more important. That doesn't even require a marriage license. My in laws have been together for almost 40 years and haven't bothered to get married. They aren't even considered common law married in our state. We looked up the regulations for that and they don't fall under any of them. A marriage isn't about the rings. It's about the commitment to each other.

 

I think tattoo bands are the newest fad..

 

After reading all the responses here, I think the only true answer is perfectly clear... it's an individual, personal choice/feeling.

I got my wife an engagement ring with a diamond in it and presented it to her at a sushi/hibachi restaurant that we went to a lot back then.
(Everything went great... except for the proposal, which I hadn't really practiced. Eventually I got flustered, kicked my chair away and just got down on my knee and asked her.)

She also has a really nice (for our income bracket, anyway) wedding ring.
My ring is simple and, compared to hers, fairly cheap.
But I don't wear jewelry except for my wedding ring... she likes wearing all kinds of stuff.

And that's us.
I don't think any other version of commitment is any less valid.
All that matters is that everyone is happy with whatever choices are made.


On a side note, Karen, it's a classic cliche that girls hit on guys with wedding rings, so I'm not surprised you've noticed it happening.
(Not that I get hit on really, but I rarely go out and do stuff alone.. except to shop for beer.)

 

My best friend and his wife got ring tattoos.
(I was supposed to design it for them, but never came up with anything worthwhile.)

I think it's a cool idea for those who are into it.
(I have bad luck with tattoos... or crappy coincidence.. either way, I wouldn't get a wedding tat personally, but I think they're cool.)

 

I don't really place a lot of value on marriage or rings. My partner's grandmother gave him an amethyst heirloom ring she said she wanted me to have to use as an engagement ring or not. We actually considered it for several months after she have him the ring and decided neither of us see an engagement or marriage as a priority. He eventually gave me the ring as a birthday present but I rarely wear it - I don't generally wear jewelry anyways and I have a hard time seeing it as anything but plain ol jewelry , lacking symbolism. To me the symbol of our love is our day to day partnership.

I like romance though and I like it when other people get married. I'm a big sap at weddings, although not very impressed with diamond rings either way.

 

silly over priced things. my wife and i wore danger mouse secret decoder rings instead.

 

My wife and I both wear rings. Mine is tungsten (harder to scratch) and hers is white gold.

Honestly, the biggest advantage is that it stops a lot of harassment and catcalling for her (especially in India and the ME).