> In my case I bought a joke ring that cost me about 2$ in a toy store.

I love it.

My ring was a spinner, which people find far more interesting than some pretty stones in it. It cost about $10.

Hers was one with a fingernail-sized stone the colour of her eyes, that cost a few hundred.

The metals matched on eyesight, which was good enough for us.

The rings represented what we expected from our marriage - to join us, the way we were, rather than some showy way of expressing our love. We're no longer in the age of selling a ring to get by if a marriage falls apart or something else happens.

There are many considerations and compromises to be made when finding a partner. Compromising on her stance regarding blood diamonds might be necessary when finding a partner who shares your other values.

I think it's safe to say that if I were marrying someone who required a blood diamond, we'd be on different enough pages that we should not get married.

Few people outside of a satanic cult would actually require a blood diamond specifically. But people do have different tolerances to the risk of getting a stone that isn't as "conflict-free" as the jeweler says it is.

I proposed with a ring-pop (after going with her to order a custom engagement ring (with an inherited diamond).

Now, I do have to keep a stock of ring pops around to surprise her with on occasion.

I did exactly the same, engagement ring was made of plastic with some fake shiny stone! Though for our wedding rings we did get real gold with no stones.