Fake Engagement Rings

Whether you like it or not, the engagement ring is, in theory, a symbol of your fiancé’s love for you, and devotion to your relationship. The importance of an engagement ring, and all it entails, has been reinforced time and time again through film, television, and those never-ending commercials that always seem to play the most when you’ve just gone through a break-up. That’s why a lot of emphasis is put on the size of the ring—the bigger the rock, the bigger the love—or so that’s what a lot of people would like you to believe.

And if the rock itself is a fake? Well, then the love must’ve been, too.

Though it’s often kept very hush-hush, we know more people who have received—and given—fake rings than we realize. If you assume people give fake rings only because they lack the funds, you are sadly mistaken. In my search for information, most of the women I talked to had husbands who were supposedly wealthy and successful… but apparently not terribly generous or honest.
I grew up in a small town, filled with lots of white picket fences and lush homes and wives adorned with whopping rings that glistened next to their Pandora bracelets. But as we all know, things are rarely as perfect as they appear. I went to grade school with the children of a couple who were getting a divorce after a decades-long marriage. The wife, let’s call her, “Laura,” had walked in on her husband cheating (sadly, one of her children was with her) and left him, kids in tow.

Naturally, in the ugly process of divorce, homes were sold, custody battles over their kids ensued, and things that were once symbols of love could no longer be tolerated to look at. When Laura went to have her engagement ring and wedding band appraised, she received quite a shock—“The jeweler told me that my simple gold wedding band was worth ten times more than the “diamond” itself, which apparently, wasn’t a diamond at all.”

The scary thing is, she had this ring for years and years, and she never suspected it was fake. How could this happen?

There are some high-quality fakes out there, for a tenth or a twentieth of what its real counterpart would be. Many fake rings are made with good materials, which are so close to their real counterparts that the untrained eye can’t tell the difference. One google search in, and I found an 18-karat gold plated ring with a massive marquis cut champagne-colored cubic zirconia ring for a whopping $25. Normally it would be $50, but that day it was on sale and I had a coupon. I may or may not have bought it.

Fake rings certainly have their merits—I know a lot of girls who have rings that aren’t 100% authentic. Many women would rather get a convincing and high-quality fake and still have money for a down payment on a car or a house than a giant ring they can’t wear outside of the house without being in mortal fear. I say, if you and your fiancé know your limits, and want to get a great big, fun ring without dolling out the dough, there’s no shame in that at all.

If you’re anxious about your engagement ring, play it safe and get it appraised and insured. It’s a good idea for everyone involved, just in case it ever gets lost or stolen. Or, if you want to make sure you get exactly what you want, you and your fiancé can go ring shopping together.

But if you find yourself with a fake ring, then you’ve got a fake fiancé too. And whereas one might have a little value, the other most certainly does not.