Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed?

[Lula]

So since the crash -- recession -- economic depression -- of 2008, much has been made of the growing global wealth gap between those in the highest economic brackets and those in the lowest. I joined PS in 2009, after lurking for about a year. At that time, there were many young men (mostly men) shopping for modest (under 1 carat) rings, and a few posters with over-the-top jewels. But I'd say the majority of posters were "middle class" and "upper middle class" buyers looking for engagement rings in the .25 - 1.00 carat range. Over the four years I've been a member, those "middle class" posters seemed to have dwindled. And at the same time, there seem to be more and more posters looking for ever-larger diamonds. When I joined, anything over 2 carats was ginormous. Now, 3 and 4 and 5+ carat diamonds are....common. Do you agree? Has the economic downturn wiped out the middle class jewelry market in the U.S.? Are they simply lurking and not posting on PS? Shopping somewhere else? Not buying diamonds?

 

[AprilBaby]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Ps seems slower in general but there are men buying. Seems like a lot of 1-1.5's. my friend who works in independent B/M says things are slow. Seems not to be so many "I HAVE" to have 2ct " for the first ring here. Lots of trade ups and trade ins for old cuts. The economy is doing better. I am waiting on two items to be delivered!

 

[Circe]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Lula, that's a really interesting point. I'd noticed something similar, though not identical ... a lot more 4-5 carat rocks, but they do seem to be mostly upgrades. I think it stuck in my head because there was a marked uptick right after *I* upgraded into the 2-carat category, so I was doing a little comparing! I think on here, though, it's mostly "old-timers" who STARTED with comparatively big stones, who are just going bigger.

What I think we've lost on the board, though, is the constant flood of new members buying their e-rings and disappearing, both big and small: it seems to have become a smaller and more cohesive group. Not really sure what to attribute that to, actually - I expected us to lose long-term members after the transition to PS 2.0, because of the glitches, but it's surprising that things have gotten slower in terms of new members overall. Ease of shopping with BN and such, maybe?

 

[Lula]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Ps seems slower in general but there are men buying. Seems like a lot of 1-1.5's. my friend who works in independent B/M says things are slow. Seems not to be so many "I HAVE" to have 2ct " for the first ring here. Lots of trade ups and trade ins for old cuts. The economy is doing better. I am waiting on two items to be delivered!

Yes, April, I agree with you on both of those points -- the "she has to have 2 carats" posters seemed to have disappeared! And there is a clear "sub-trend" among established PSers of trading in or re-selling MRBs for larger old cuts (which is actually PS savvy shopping).

 

[Lula]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Lula, that's a really interesting point. I'd noticed something similar, though not identical ... a lot more 4-5 carat rocks, but they do seem to be mostly upgrades. I think it stuck in my head because there was a marked uptick right after *I* upgraded into the 2-carat category, so I was doing a little comparing! I think on here, though, it's mostly "old-timers" who STARTED with comparatively big stones, who are just going bigger.

What I think we've lost on the board, though, is the constant flood of new members buying their e-rings and disappearing, both big and small: it seems to have become a smaller and more cohesive group. Not really sure what to attribute that to, actually - I expected us to lose long-term members after the transition to PS 2.0, because of the glitches, but it's surprising that things have gotten slower in terms of new members overall. Ease of shopping with BN and such, maybe?

Yes, I agree -- it's mostly upgrades. And upgrades to old-cut stones, which cost less per carat than "new" diamonds, in most cases. So perhaps it's the absence of the new members that makes the upgrades stand out more than they would have in the past? We've also lost some long-time members who owned some fantastic large bling -- Diamonte Blu (spelling) for example. Perhaps the younger diamond buyers don't hang out on forums? Message boards and forums are kind of old-school these days. Well, that's what my undergraduate students tell me anyway.

 

[Circe]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Lula, that's a really interesting point. I'd noticed something similar, though not identical ... a lot more 4-5 carat rocks, but they do seem to be mostly upgrades. I think it stuck in my head because there was a marked uptick right after *I* upgraded into the 2-carat category, so I was doing a little comparing! I think on here, though, it's mostly "old-timers" who STARTED with comparatively big stones, who are just going bigger.

What I think we've lost on the board, though, is the constant flood of new members buying their e-rings and disappearing, both big and small: it seems to have become a smaller and more cohesive group. Not really sure what to attribute that to, actually - I expected us to lose long-term members after the transition to PS 2.0, because of the glitches, but it's surprising that things have gotten slower in terms of new members overall. Ease of shopping with BN and such, maybe?

Yes, I agree -- it's mostly upgrades. And upgrades to old-cut stones, which cost less per carat than "new" diamonds, in most cases. So perhaps it's the absence of the new members that makes the upgrades stand out more than they would have in the past? We've also lost some long-time members who owned some fantastic large bling -- Diamonte Blu (spelling) for example. Perhaps the younger diamond buyers don't hang out on forums? Message boards and forums are kind of old-school these days. Well, that's what my undergraduate students tell me anyway.

Really? So what are they all doing, tweeting at one another? Performing Vulcan mind-melds?

I know a couple of popular new wedding boards have sprung into existence, and they might be sucking potential newbies away. Once in a while I check out their (very active!) ring sections, and I cringe. Sooooooooooooooo much misinformation. Apparently, somebody out there has been preaching the gospel that a big table will make a diamond look larger. I ... just ... WHAT?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I was thinking about this yesterday as I will hopefully be purchasing sometime soon...and was thinking that mostly everyone is looking for old-cut stones and I'll feel like I'm in the minority who is looking for H&A, but actually that probably isn't the case, it's just that these old-cut HUGE upgrades really stand out and so much so, that we miss some of the posts of the little diamonds.

In real life, a couple people I know have made substantial upgrades, but in my age group/peer group, the main upgrade has been vehicles. Lots of ladies reaching 40 and everyone is sporting new SUVs to fit their quickly growing kids! Maybe that is happening here, too? There have been a couple of posts about new cars.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Lula, that's a really interesting point. I'd noticed something similar, though not identical ... a lot more 4-5 carat rocks, but they do seem to be mostly upgrades. I think it stuck in my head because there was a marked uptick right after *I* upgraded into the 2-carat category, so I was doing a little comparing! I think on here, though, it's mostly "old-timers" who STARTED with comparatively big stones, who are just going bigger.

What I think we've lost on the board, though, is the constant flood of new members buying their e-rings and disappearing, both big and small: it seems to have become a smaller and more cohesive group. Not really sure what to attribute that to, actually - I expected us to lose long-term members after the transition to PS 2.0, because of the glitches, but it's surprising that things have gotten slower in terms of new members overall. Ease of shopping with BN and such, maybe?

Yes, I agree -- it's mostly upgrades. And upgrades to old-cut stones, which cost less per carat than "new" diamonds, in most cases. So perhaps it's the absence of the new members that makes the upgrades stand out more than they would have in the past? We've also lost some long-time members who owned some fantastic large bling -- Diamonte Blu (spelling) for example. Perhaps the younger diamond buyers don't hang out on forums? Message boards and forums are kind of old-school these days. Well, that's what my undergraduate students tell me anyway.

Really? So what are they all doing, tweeting at one another? Performing Vulcan mind-melds?

I know a couple of popular new wedding boards have sprung into existence, and they might be sucking potential newbies away. Once in a while I check out their (very active!) ring sections, and I cringe. Sooooooooooooooo much misinformation. Apparently, somebody out there has been preaching the gospel that a big table will make a diamond look larger. I ... just ... WHAT?

We really have become an instant-gratification society. A person posts something and needs immediate feedback. When people go on FB, they are use to having friends reply right away...a lot of quick, short comments. Also, with texting so common, again, when some types something, they "need" a reply then. People can't wait two hours any longer to see if a diamond is the RIGHT diamond.

I'm not sure of the wedding boards...never read those, but I am curious to see what they're recommending.

 

[Lula]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Lula, that's a really interesting point. I'd noticed something similar, though not identical ... a lot more 4-5 carat rocks, but they do seem to be mostly upgrades. I think it stuck in my head because there was a marked uptick right after *I* upgraded into the 2-carat category, so I was doing a little comparing! I think on here, though, it's mostly "old-timers" who STARTED with comparatively big stones, who are just going bigger.

What I think we've lost on the board, though, is the constant flood of new members buying their e-rings and disappearing, both big and small: it seems to have become a smaller and more cohesive group. Not really sure what to attribute that to, actually - I expected us to lose long-term members after the transition to PS 2.0, because of the glitches, but it's surprising that things have gotten slower in terms of new members overall. Ease of shopping with BN and such, maybe?

Yes, I agree -- it's mostly upgrades. And upgrades to old-cut stones, which cost less per carat than "new" diamonds, in most cases. So perhaps it's the absence of the new members that makes the upgrades stand out more than they would have in the past? We've also lost some long-time members who owned some fantastic large bling -- Diamonte Blu (spelling) for example. Perhaps the younger diamond buyers don't hang out on forums? Message boards and forums are kind of old-school these days. Well, that's what my undergraduate students tell me anyway.

Really? So what are they all doing, tweeting at one another? Performing Vulcan mind-melds?

I know a couple of popular new wedding boards have sprung into existence, and they might be sucking potential newbies away. Once in a while I check out their (very active!) ring sections, and I cringe. Sooooooooooooooo much misinformation. Apparently, somebody out there has been preaching the gospel that a big table will make a diamond look larger. I ... just ... WHAT?

Tweets and texting. If they could tweet their assignments (I teach an online course) they would They find the course discussion boards too slow, and I find the course chatrooms too disorganized and random. It's a tech standoff in the virtual classroom So, maybe the new wedding boards are attracting the newbies. Too bad about the misinformation on diamond cut, though. Perhaps a few of them will find their way over here -- there are certainly enough "pins" of PSer's rings all over the web; you'd think they'd trace the photos back to this site.

 

[Lula]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I was thinking about this yesterday as I will hopefully be purchasing sometime soon...and was thinking that mostly everyone is looking for old-cut stones and I'll feel like I'm in the minority who is looking for H&A, but actually that probably isn't the case, it's just that these old-cut HUGE upgrades really stand out and so much so, that we miss some of the posts of the little diamonds.

In real life, a couple people I know have made substantial upgrades, but in my age group/peer group, the main upgrade has been vehicles. Lots of ladies reaching 40 and everyone is sporting new SUVs to fit their quickly growing kids! Maybe that is happening here, too? There have been a couple of posts about new cars.

Yes, I do think the old-cut threads attract a lot of attention -- mostly because there's usually a fair amount of luck, risk, and deal-making contained in those threads that make them a much better read than the search for a MRB. But you're right -- I think it's important to search out the SMTB threads posted by newbies posting photos of MRBS, modern cushions, princess cuts, etc. I read more than I post, and I should really make more of an effort to congratulate the newbies who do come back with photos.

My friends typically do not celebrate milestone life events with bling either -- they spend money on their homes and travel.

 

[Lula]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Lula, that's a really interesting point. I'd noticed something similar, though not identical ... a lot more 4-5 carat rocks, but they do seem to be mostly upgrades. I think it stuck in my head because there was a marked uptick right after *I* upgraded into the 2-carat category, so I was doing a little comparing! I think on here, though, it's mostly "old-timers" who STARTED with comparatively big stones, who are just going bigger.

What I think we've lost on the board, though, is the constant flood of new members buying their e-rings and disappearing, both big and small: it seems to have become a smaller and more cohesive group. Not really sure what to attribute that to, actually - I expected us to lose long-term members after the transition to PS 2.0, because of the glitches, but it's surprising that things have gotten slower in terms of new members overall. Ease of shopping with BN and such, maybe?

Yes, I agree -- it's mostly upgrades. And upgrades to old-cut stones, which cost less per carat than "new" diamonds, in most cases. So perhaps it's the absence of the new members that makes the upgrades stand out more than they would have in the past? We've also lost some long-time members who owned some fantastic large bling -- Diamonte Blu (spelling) for example. Perhaps the younger diamond buyers don't hang out on forums? Message boards and forums are kind of old-school these days. Well, that's what my undergraduate students tell me anyway.

Really? So what are they all doing, tweeting at one another? Performing Vulcan mind-melds?

I know a couple of popular new wedding boards have sprung into existence, and they might be sucking potential newbies away. Once in a while I check out their (very active!) ring sections, and I cringe. Sooooooooooooooo much misinformation. Apparently, somebody out there has been preaching the gospel that a big table will make a diamond look larger. I ... just ... WHAT?

We really have become an instant-gratification society. A person posts something and needs immediate feedback. When people go on FB, they are use to having friends reply right away...a lot of quick, short comments. Also, with texting so common, again, when some types something, they "need" a reply then. People can't wait two hours any longer to see if a diamond is the RIGHT diamond.

I'm not sure of the wedding boards...never read those, but I am curious to see what they're recommending.

That is so true -- a tweet or text gets "old" fast. My students hate e-mail, too. But I tell them that in their future careers, they will need to use e-mail and write in complete sentences. But there are apps that tell you when new information is posted to a site -- don't know if they use that technology.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

That is so true -- a tweet or text gets "old" fast. My students hate e-mail, too. But I tell them that in their future careers, they will need to use e-mail and write in complete sentences. But there are apps that tell you when new information is posted to a site -- don't know if they use that technology.

I haven't tried an app that lets you know when information is updated as I try to keep my apps to a minimum, but I did sign up for an online course and only replied to two threads and checked the box where it would inform me every time someone responded. In less than 24 hours, 150 email updates came into my inbox! Yikes.

It appears though, that complete sentences will soon become as outdated as cursive writing. Soon, we we lose all punctuation, as well. It drives me nuts when someone in their 30s-40s sends me a text without any punctuation. I also get texts from a kid all the time. He doesn't use punctuation, either! Maybe I should correct him? hahaha

 

[Beacon]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I've been around PS for a while and have noticed some changes too. There always have been some very big stones on PS. Some of those people no longer post here, some still do. When I first came on PS there was a big interest in very, very well cut H&A stones and J color would be about the absolute lowest color.

Now I notice the trend is to bigger but much lower quality stones. Low color, into the L-M and lots of SI2, combined with old cuts. These are much less costly stones to buy per carat, so the carat sizes are bigger.

It does not look like the overall spending is up, more like enhanced desire for a bigger stone, at the trade off of cut, color and clarity. Like all trends, they come and go!

 

[yennyfire]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I'm a relative newbie in these parts and I was going back through some really old SMTB posts ( I wanted to see what was on pages 300-400 for some reason...) and I noticed exactly the trend that Lulu points out. There DO seem to be a plethora of uber large stones being purchased today as compared with the recent past. Notable exceptions were Amethyste's pear and a couple of 3 ct. mrb's that generated a LOT of responses. These days, a 3 ct. doesn't seem so over the top (this from someone who "downgraded" to a smaller 2.83 ct. stone ), though they are mostly older cuts. My guess is that sooner rather than later, these old cuts will match pace with price of modern stones and the trend to buy large will slowly fade away.

The thrill of the hunt for HUGE old stones (vicariously!) sure is fun though!

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

This is a really interesting conversation and I'm sure an economist could have a field day with anecdotal evidence like this (don't ask me what it means; I don't have a clue). On a related but side note, do you think the increased interest in colored stones for engagement ring stones - blue sapphire to name just one - is pulling away some of what otherwise would be newbies in the smaller carat sizes? I have no idea if the population is statistically significant enough, but was curious, being as I spend most of my time over in CS...

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

In 2008 the avg PSer spent $6600 on the center stone.Today's avg is $7800.

 

[TC1987]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

The sims got better, too. Some people study here, buy a nice mounting, and then a sim stone. They can't show that ring off on PS, so they leave.

If anything, I thought PS is less affluent than it was back in 2004-2007, when I first started lurking around here and studying these new technologies in diamonds. People were buying and upgrading and changing settings, and then they all got halos. And it happened all the time. Just go back and look through the eyecandy e-ring thread. If I were going to guess, I would say the bulk of the e-rings of recent first-time buyers have a more like a .7-.8ct center. And there has really recently been an uptick in .45-.7ct, a range that never garnered much attention on PS back in the day. And now we even have a section for selling preowned jewelry, and you would NEVER have seen that back in 2004-2007. And what I also find interesting is that the forum that was "Show Me the Ring," and we all know which ring (yes, the e-ring), was seeing far less action, so it was then renamed to SMT Bling. Kind of an acknowledgement that a lot of the sales here are to repeat buyers who go for earrings, pendants, etc. I don't even think that the Ladies In Waiting section is seeing the same amount of traffic that is used to.

People are not marrying, at least not in my region. There are more cohabits, more kids born out of wedlock, more people struggling to get through college, less baccalaureate degree grads, more unemployed college grads strapped with impossible levels of debt and stuck living with mom and dad, etc. They sure are not buying any honker diamonds diamonds on Pricescope.

 

[manderz]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

People are not marrying, at least not in my region. There are more cohabits, more kids born out of wedlock, more people struggling to get through college, less baccalaureate degree grads, more unemployed college grads strapped with impossible levels of debt and stuck living with mom and dad, etc. They sure are not buying any honker diamonds diamonds on Pricescope.

This would be me! Cohabited for years before we married, struggling to get through college, and VERY intimidated by the cost to get through and get that damn piece of paper. I can't even find a job making as much as I was before I went to school. I'm still making about 20% less than I was 5 years ago.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

People are not marrying, at least not in my region. There are more cohabits, more kids born out of wedlock, more people struggling to get through college, less baccalaureate degree grads, more unemployed college grads strapped with impossible levels of debt and stuck living with mom and dad, etc. They sure are not buying any honker diamonds diamonds on Pricescope.

This would be me! Cohabited for years before we married, struggling to get through college, and VERY intimidated by the cost to get through and get that damn piece of paper. I can't even find a job making as much as I was before I went to school. I'm still making about 20% less than I was 5 years ago.

Well,at least you still have a job.The economy been going down hill for the past 6 yrs.

 

[SB621]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I guess I will comment since I have been a member since 2008 and lurked since 2006- I'm also one of the people who I guess comes to mind when you bring up PS members who have made big upgrades with older cuts.

I will say when we (DH and I) started to lurk in 2006 we were in the market for a 1ct MRB. I didn't know jack about jewelry or my personal style. We had also just recently graduated and had very little $$$ to spend at that time. I upgraded soon after to 2cts because as the market actually turned down for others I got a great job as an expat with a rather large salary boost. I would have been happy forever with my 2ct but truly I think it just took years for me to realize I just don't care for modern cuts very much. This was more of a coming of age decision where I became comfortable looking at jewelry that wasnt a MRB or Princess that is really popular with my generation.

As far as the economy buying luxury goods I think is chic to go for the classics....meaning classic cars, old cut diamonds, and vintage deco. It seems old is the "new" again. I have a friend that just spent a good portion of his income on a classic porsche. He could have gotten a 2013 model for almost the same price.

I think my generation is used to being coddled and instant gratifcation, as apposed to those before us. For that reason we aim bigger/ larger and want it right away. Just .02cents.


And I miss DiamondFan....she had a fantastic collection- SWOON!

 

[yssie]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I feel like we've been seeing settings become a lot more important to the overall purchase in the last couple of years - a lot more boutique designers with specialties and a lot more people prioritizing the setting over a bit more stone...

Then again all my attention has been on settings recently so perhaps, like Circe, I'm seeing what I expect to see.

 

[manderz]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

People are not marrying, at least not in my region. There are more cohabits, more kids born out of wedlock, more people struggling to get through college, less baccalaureate degree grads, more unemployed college grads strapped with impossible levels of debt and stuck living with mom and dad, etc. They sure are not buying any honker diamonds diamonds on Pricescope.

This would be me! Cohabited for years before we married, struggling to get through college, and VERY intimidated by the cost to get through and get that damn piece of paper. I can't even find a job making as much as I was before I went to school. I'm still making about 20% less than I was 5 years ago.

Well,at least you still have a job.The economy been going down hill for the past 6 yrs.

I keep trying to tell myself that, but I work more hours than ever and get treated poorly by staff and clients, all to make $10 hourly? Tough to be thankful for.

 

[Beacon]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Yes, Diamond Fan - now that gal had it going on! 9 Ct Tiffany ring, 40 ct Riviera necklace. I miss her too. There was also Widget who had just an amazing huge collection. Oh and diamantbleu, (I think I misspelled) had amazing stuff and I enjoyed he 8 Ct rings she would post while shopping for her upgrade. Don't know if she is here anymore either. So actually no, I do not think there is a wealth effect since the recession. Maybe the reverse actually.

But we still have some showstopper collections on PS

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

Very interesting! As a statistician and empiricist I want to go and collect the data to see if the trend you note, Lula, is real. Scrolling through the SMTB forum and perhaps the RT forum would likely yield the right data. Too bad I don't have time for such fun things these days

Where I live we have not been hit as hard by the recession as the US, and I am too old to have any peers getting engaged anymore, so my observations from my own day-to-day life are not very relevant.

But our personal financial situation is very different than it used to be and it has affected my diamond obsession. I "downgraded" to a larger vintage diamond ring and saved about $4k to $5k in the process if I factor in the mount (which I had not yet bought for my MRB)... and that decision was most definitely driven by our finances. I am fortunate to have my dream ring now, as we could not buy the same today. I also don't have any moolah for fun bling!

Anyways, all of this is to say that this observation is astute and got me thinking for sure!

 

[madelise]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I can tell you that among the people I have met recently, it seems like people are into BIG. Even if it means fake. A lot of people are wearing large fakes now for e-rings…. Esp with Weddingbee and Pinterest.. Instagram… the younger crowd's obsession with lusting after others' luxury items and obsession with showing off their own creates a cycle of wanting bigger, bigger, bigger. Even if it means fake. Since no regular ol' schmoe can tell the difference, anyway.

 

[SB621]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I keep thinking of that 8ct on weddingbee- it was pretty bad but she didnt' seem to care as it was 8cts- though the inside looked liked cotton candy

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

All I can say as a regular on Rocky Talky is that there are new guys here everyday looking for e-rings. I do not really see any decline in that. The main problem for them now is that diamond prices went way up in 2011 and haven't softened a lot, so if their gf is wanting a 2 ct rock and their budget is $5k, they have to have an adjustment to reality! But I see a pretty wide range of people looking at less than a half carat to over two carats. And there are some very rare ones that have very large budgets. Most guys on average are trying for around a carat, I'd say. Almost all the 3-5 ct rocks are PS members upgrading.

I think the trend toward the large antique stones in lower color is a PS thing, and I know of no one in real life with an antique stone unless they inherited it. And then the setting threads are interesting for those stones as well since they are generally set in custom settings. All of this is definitely new compared to 2006 when I came and H&A was what everyone wanted and we had to find the best solitaire setting!

 

[Circe]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I can tell you that among the people I have met recently, it seems like people are into BIG. Even if it means fake. A lot of people are wearing large fakes now for e-rings…. Esp with Weddingbee and Pinterest.. Instagram… the younger crowd's obsession with lusting after others' luxury items and obsession with showing off their own creates a cycle of wanting bigger, bigger, bigger. Even if it means fake. Since no regular ol' schmoe can tell the difference, anyway.

The preponderance of good, cheap, readily available new materials is one of the things I love about living in the modern age - I was setting a play-piece with colorful man-made substances the other day, and my husband looked up and said, "You know, a couple of hundred years ago, you could have bought half of Europe for that." These days, people below the poverty-line live better than crowned heads did back then! Viva la antibiotics, indoor plumbing, and, yes, fakes, from rayon on down!

That said, I am looking forward to the worm turning, just a little, away from the sheer size that everybody can afford one way or another to the kind of craftsmanship and design that requires some planning. There are rings out there that blow De Beers out of the water by virtue of their metalwork, regardless of what they're set with. I want to see more of THAT. Odd that of all the things that signify wealth/success/luxury, it's quantity that's winning out ....

 

[partgypsy]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I haven't been browsing as much. Have noticed there does seem to be more trading and trading up and the volume of people looking for traditional erings is down.
Personally, I used to have an informal 1K a year jewelry budget, but had to give it up because I'm a gov employee. My and my husband's income has been stagnant for the last few years so we need to be conscious of how we spend money.

From my personal experience, first of all most of the people I know are not into jewelry. But even with that, my town doesn't seem to be cool to flaunt jewelry. it seems like people are displaying jewelry less, or wearing the same few pieces. If people do have money it seems to be goig towards home improvements, traveling, kid enrichment (or investing in small businesses). There is money out there but it seems to be directed differently. But this might be my local area.

In my immediate family my lil brother got married last year and even though he knows I'm a jewelry nut didn't ask my advice but bought a ring from I believe TJ Max? It was not a traditional ring, just something they picked out together.

My nephew is pretty serious with his girlfriend. I wouldn't be surprised if he did something similar, or reused something already in the family. I would love to help both of them research to get the most for their money, but I think many couples roll that way.

 

[Lula]

Re: Post-2008 Recession Wealth Gap on PS -- Have you noticed

I forgot about this thread -- thanks for all the great responses! Interesting info about the trends on the other boards. Maybe PS skews older than those other boards, so the "data" reflects that age difference? I do agree with Minous that more newly-engaged couples are looking at colored stones for e-rings, especially sapphires, because of Will and Kate and the Diana ring. I also think the economy has put a serious dent in the long-term earning potential of many of the 20-and-30-somethings, which may be reflected in their choice of vintage rings (smaller vintage pieces -- not the honkers we see on PS) and large, over-the-top sims. Each generation makes its own traditions. Take a look at all the marquis diamonds set in yellow gold chunky settings that are being sold on ebay to see what was popular circa 1986