Love is in the air, and no better time than to think about one of the strongest symbols, if ever there were any, of the season of Valentine’s. Sure, there is the chubby Cupid with his bow and arrow, and yes, there are the boxes of chocolates and candy, and more red and pink hearts than you can stand. But, if you think about it, there’s no better indicator of your valentine’s commitment to including you in his future than the engagement ring when on bended knee, while proffering that little box, he asks, “Will you marry me?”

In fact, so important has the modern engagement become that it’s now a prime-time event, often featured on couples’ wedding websites, and includes photo shoots, dinners, and the requisite shot of the bride-to-be, tears softly bathing her cheeks as she waggles her ring finger and shares the good news digitally to friends, family, and indeed the world, that she has at last been spoken for.

For many prospective grooms, however, the engagement ring is the beginning of a season of spending, a carnival of expense, really, which will culminate in a wedding that they aren’t sure they are financially able to afford. And there are those single women who console themselves that marriage is an old-fashioned and patriarchal construct that should have been discarded long ago.

Is marriage obsolete?

The results of a Gallup Values and Beliefs poll in 2020 indicate that whilst the figures for US adults who are married are declining, the vast majority of adults who have never been married (one in eight) remain interested in getting married someday. Having children together, they say, is no longer a reason to get married; in fact, 66 per cent feel it’s “morally acceptable” to have a baby out of wedlock. The critical reason for marriage, however, they felt, was if couples planned on spending their lives together.

But, with the earliest recorded evidence of a wedding ceremony being around 2350 BC, in the Far East, it’s probably safe to say the wedding tradition isn’t quite extinct; it’s merely evolving.

The engagement ring

This week in our ongoing ‘Investing in Love’ February series, let’s look at why this little band meant to signify unbroken love is sometimes such a polarising symbol.

The engagement ring is typically expensive; if you’ve ever seen a De Beers ad, you will have gleaned that it should cost roughly three months’ salary. The betrothed or her friends will criticise it, if it does not have an impressive rock that’s big and sparkly enough. In fact, many a bride-to-be have been tempted to discreetly get it valued to find out if she’s wearing an investment piece right there on her finger.

Can the engagement ring be an investment item?

The answer may not be all that clear-cut, pardon the pun. First, we need to remember that an investment, in the true sense of the word, is an asset that is acquired with the primary goal of generating income by way of its appreciation in value over time. So you buy stocks, and the expectation is the value of the stock will go up over time, all things being equal.

But this is not usually the thought process when an engagement ring is procured. The engagement and wedding rings have traditionally been sentimental symbols of the couple’s eternal love, and, therefore, to think of them as long-term investment pieces could be viewed as cynical, indicating that there’s no faith that the love will last forever.

But is it cynicism or pragmatism, given the state (and, often, fate) of modern marriages?

The fact is, today, savvy investors invest in an assortment of high-quality diamonds and gemstones like emeralds, rubies, sapphires — whose value over years has generally tended to rise even despite times of volatility in the market. If these stones can be invested in, then technically, all the engagement ring needs is an investment-worthy precious stone that won’t lose value, but rather increase, over time. So, again, technically speaking: It’s all about the rock — size, cut, clarity. And therefore, the rarer and more valuable your ring is, the greater your chances of it being strictly an investment piece. Still, practically speaking, how many engagement rings come mounted with, say, an investment diamond of the ilk of the rare blue Heart of Eternity diamond, valued at $16 million, and rumoured to have been purchased by boxer Floyd Mayweather for then fiancée Shantel Jackson, circa 2012?

The bottom line

If your marriage ends up not being what you’d envisioned it to be — and we’re not necessarily speaking here of divorce; sometimes, a couple can simply fall on hard financial times — it is important to have a good ring that, if push comes to shove, is an asset which, while not necessarily fetching two times its original worth, has, at the very least, a good resale value.