>Buying diamonds for jewelry is honestly really dumb at this point.
Indeed, my fiance was completely happy with sterling silver and a white sapphire. It's a hand-carved design (lost wax) and it cost me less than our recent trip to the zoo and in her own words "I don't have to worry about being nervous about losing some dumb expensive ring, this one is perfect".
Sure, over time the sapphire will scratch a lot easier and get cloudy but we're talking about a few dollar stone. It can easily be replaced.
Chemical exposure in normal household settings (chlorine bleach, lemon juice, ammonia), diamond on sapphire, sapphire on sapphire etc. Just chlorine exposure over time (swimming, doing household cleaning) can actually weaken sapphire to the point of disintegrating.
Remember, precious and semi-precious stones are just fancy chemical compounds.
I have a tungsten carbide wedding ring, which also rates 9 on the Mohs scale. It's totally scratched up around the outside, and shiny around the inside, after ten years. And I'm careful to take the ring off before I use abrasive materials such as sandpaper and diamond sharpening tools.
Indeed, my fiance was completely happy with sterling silver and a white sapphire. It's a hand-carved design (lost wax) and it cost me less than our recent trip to the zoo and in her own words "I don't have to worry about being nervous about losing some dumb expensive ring, this one is perfect".
Sure, over time the sapphire will scratch a lot easier and get cloudy but we're talking about a few dollar stone. It can easily be replaced.