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	Create New Topic   My Posts   My forum buddies   Invite friends   Private messages Russian brides > Main Forum > Guys, Never Buy Your Girl a Ring Author Post scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 3:51:40 PM   Since Toad in conspicuously absent, I will post something along his vein posting. http://www.lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers143.html scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 3:52:31 PM   Catchy title to this article, eh? Yep. I thought so. I'll bet there are more than a few women who read that and felt just a bit more indignation towards yours truly than usual. I'll also bet that there are quite a few guys who read that title and thought, "Gee! I've got to read more about this!" Well, for everyone, I can guarantee you that this article will actually be a very useful tool in preventing divorce. Preferably yours. Guys, never, but never, buy your girl a ring. There I said it again. I've made my choice and I stand by it. Now some of you reading this might think, "Yeah, but what does Mike know about the subject?" Well, folks, I'd like to state that I am an expert on marriage, divorce, and junky jewelry. I do know what I'm talking about here. I make a promise to each and every one of you that I will show you why, without a doubt, that men should never buy jewelry for the lady in their life. I suppose I should also add that men should never buy cars, houses, clothes, any sort of fashion-related items, appliances, etc., either. Men should never buy any of these things for their lady – it's against common sense, natural law, and just plain stupid for men to do so. Think about it, ladies, do you actually want your man doing even more stupid stuff than he already does? No! Right? Like I said, I'm sure many of you ladies might disagree at the moment, but read on, and you will come to see the light. I'm very sure of that. A typical Shichiya has this Noren (hanging cloth) across the doorway. In Japan, we have shops called Shichiya-san. Shichiya-san translates into "Pawn Shop" in English. And, since Japan's economy has been in the doldrums for over 15 years, these Shichiya-san are popping up everywhere. Just like in the States, they sell all sorts of junk from TV's to guitars to diamond rings... Chuckle. That one gets me every time. I just have to snicker about that "diamond ring" part. I laugh when I walk by one of these shops and see those rings in the display window. I'm not saying that the diamond rings are fake. They usually aren't – the Pawn Shop owners aren't stupid – they know a real ring when they see one. They also know a piece of junk when they see one too. That's where the funny part comes in. Several years ago, my wife became the exclusive Japan distributor for a company in Thailand that manufactures costume jewelry – Please take note that this business has nothing to do with me. If you ever go to the zoo and see those little cute jewelry bears, giraffes, and zebra pins, key-chains, etc., those are theirs. scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 3:52:53 PM   The middle-man between the factory and my wife is a good friend named Bob. Bob and I went drinking once and he taught me all the ins and outs of costume jewelry. Basically, costume jewelry breaks down into three classes as I can remember: Junk metal with "foil" around it; Junk metal with paint around it; and junk metal that is even junkier than the other junk metal. The final category includes outrageously expensive designer trash, er, I mean, jewelry that costs and arm and a leg just because it says "Christine Door" or "Change the Chanel" or something like that on it. If you just bought jewelry like this for your lady-friend, please ignore this paragraph. So, my wife gets this distributors license and enters into a select group of snooty world-wide diamond, rare gems, finished jewelry and other used coin dealers. Every year, in Japan, they have an International Jewelry fair. Company and factory reps come from all over the world to gather and sell their goods to a still wealthy Japanese market. The only people who are allowed into this Jewelry fair are licensed dealers and reps – the general public is not allowed. There's a good reason for this too. If the general public were allowed in and they found out what was really going on, no one would buy jewelry anymore. At least not from jewelry shops and departments stores. That's for sure. The fair is interesting for guys, I suppose. Once. Maybe twice. I've gone along a few times – something to do, you know? So from my industrial-international jewelry espionage escapades, I’ve learned a trick or two about how this entire jewelry racket works. Anyhow, we get to the fair and my wife wants to buy some incredibly expensive watch. Dumb mortals, like me, think that Rolex is the best watch made. Nope. Wifey tells me, with a touch of disdain in her voice, that a Rolex is a "Sports Watch." Hrrump! Well, I never! She wants a Carati watch. What's a Carati watch? I'd never heard of it. She tells me it's the best watch made in the world. Whatever. She controls all the money, what do I care? And what’s a few hundred for a decent watch, eh? Oh, how I was in for a surprise! Carati watch – 18 k. Pink gold with diamonds and ruby face. A Carati watch is a real watch. They are made in Italy and the factory only produces sixteen of these hand-made wrist-watches a month – there are only eight of each model produced. And since they change models and each one is hand-made, they are all one-of-a-kind. People like the Queen of England, the Empress of Japan, Arnie Schwartzneggar's wife or Michael Jackson owns one of these watches. Like I said, mere mortals like me, have never even seen one. Well, you don't want to see one when your wife wants one, because they sell for, are you ready for this? Thirty-eight thousand dollars a watch! Yes, you read correctly; that's a dollar sign, followed by a 38 with a big five zeros after it. This stuff is so exclusive that Carati Italy doesn’t even have a web-site (at least I can’t find one)! scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 3:53:16 PM   My jaw drops down to my knees. I think, "You must be out of your mind, crazy wooooman!" But I take the diplomatic approach and I calmly ask, "You aren't seriously thinking of buying that are you, honey?" fully aware of the impending doom. "Yes! I'm going to buy one." She bubbles. I force a smile and go and sit down in the concession area and console myself with a $12 Coke. Jeez. I am definitely in the wrong place. After a while, I go back to where my wife is haggling with this factory rep. She can't decide which one of two watches to buy: The $36,000 watch or the $38,000 watch. Hell, what difference does it make? What's a few thousand dollars among friends? I do politely bring up one more minor detail to my wife though: "Uh, honey, where are you going to wear that watch? I certainly don't ever take you to any places where you could wear that. Heck, I don't even own a proper suit and neck tie." "Well, you'll have to dress up if I wear this watch." She smiles as her words hit me like a left upper-cut flush on the chin. I go down for an eight count. Good point, I suppose. No sense in arguing about it. Well folks, having learned from my previous divorcerial experience(s), I tell her to buy the most expensive watch. You see, guys, if you don't let her buy the best one of whatever it is that she wants, she'll always regret it later and you'll never hear the end of it. Every night, over and over, "I should have bought that one." Or; "I should have done this or that." Or; "I should have listened to my mother and never married a cheap-skate loser like you." You don't want to hear that all the time, do you? Let her buy the best one. Then she can't complain. And it works out good for you fellas too! When she wants the best jewelry, you say "OK!" When you want the best Harley Davidson, she has to say, "OK!" (Let's face it, though, that'll never happen.) So my wife opts for the better watch. The sales rep tells her that she will own only one of two of this particular model in Japan. The other one is sitting in a display case at the super high-class Akasaka Prince Hotel. It's been there for years and no one is crazy enough to buy it. It figures. Generally speaking, I've found that most rich people are usually not too crazy or stupid – government administration officials and their children notwithstanding – to throw money away. When the deal is done, my wife happily skips towards me and we're out the door. I try to erase from my memory all traces of this horrid place – Especially $38,000 for a stinkin' wrist watch. But how wrong I was! The watch did not cost 38 grand. No! That was the suggested retail price. My wife, with her distributors license, got it for about $8000. Sure, eight grand for a watch is still mega-bucks (she didn't buy it with money I earned, that's for sure). But when you think about how this system works you'd realize that almost all the jewelry sold at retail is, well, junk. scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 3:53:49 PM   My wife tells me that high-end jewelry is usually marked up 300–400% percent at retail. That's why she got the watch for so much less than the tagged price. Then she goes on to tell me that "cheap" jewelry is marked up 900 to 1000% percent or more at retail. That means, guys, that the $2000 dollar ring you just bought for your wife at Jewelry-O-Rama sold for maybe $200 at wholesale. The distribution company has to get paid. Then there's over-head, storage, etc. And the factory had to profit too. Which means that, including labor, that $2000 ring you bought is worth about $14 and a couple of used baseball cards. That's why when you take the jewelry to the Shichiya-san, they'll only give you $15 dollars for it. So you see, ladies and gentlemen, it just doesn't work out. Guys, by themselves, should never buy jewelry, fashion, or any other important items for that matter. Us guys have terrible fashion sense (no argument there, right?) and what we buy for you ladies, you won't like or use anyway. So what's the point? If this kind of stuff is going to be un-fashionable or useless, I think it's best if we guys let the women do the shopping. A really good husband or boyfriend will tag along for the shopping and not complain. So if you have a guy like that, you should keep him. And that goes for you guys, too. You should go shopping at least sometimes. And when doing so, don't be whimpering like a little girl the entire time – nobody wants to hear your constant whining. It's just like going to the dentist: Just be patient, be quiet, suck it up, and it will be over before you know it. If you folks both do this, then I can assure you that just one more little item that irritates you about that special person in your life will be alleviated. That way, when the inevitable divorce does come, and the rings are taken to the Pawn Shop, she won't be able to say, "I should have listened to my mother and never married a cheap-skate loser like you." Oh, and about the Carati watch my wife bought: it's still only one of two in Japan. The one still sits at the Prince Hotel, locked up in a case. And my wife's watch is locked up in a safe deposit box at some bank somewhere. I haven't seen it since she bought it and that's been years ago. So it all works out in the wash. I don't have to hear her complaining about what a cheap-skate I am; she doesn't ask me if she can buy expensive jewelry anymore either. I still don’t own a decent suit and tie and I never have to take my wife out to fancy places where I would feel out of place. Heck, I still don’t even have to comb my hair! When you stop to think about it, guys, that's a pretty fair deal in the long run. Wouldn’t you agree? scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 3:54:48 PM   I mean, where else could you get a happy wife that doesn't complain constantly for less than $10,000? -- Not a bad article. I certainly identify with this in regards to American women, but it's not bad advice in any case. jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 8:06:41 PM   Scott: Of course there is an incredibly high markup on jewelry and the price of diamonds is still ridiculously held up by the DeBeers diamond cartel. Trouble is that if she expects a ring - to kind of have to anti-up. I understand that the traditional diamond ring was never used for engagement purposes in FSU countries until recently. In fact, when I went on my Romance Tour we were strongly advised no to BRING and engagement ring. Bringing the papers neeed to apply for a fiance visa was strongly encouraged - but bringing a diamond ring? Nope. The reason - guys who flashed a fancy diamond tended to get undue attention simply for the ring. After leaving the girl would almost inevitably pawn the ring, claim she lost it, and ask for another. Not entirely surprising I guess considering the low incomes many of these women have and the the price of the ring - even if they were given a lousy pawn price. One guy I knew on the tiur did bring a ring anyway - gave it to his girl and I understand she lost it. What a strange coincidence heh? The best way to buy jewelry is on eBay or over the internet. Find a company with lots of positive feedback and that seems to know what they are talking about. Like anything - you have to have a little patience of course and look for a good deal - but you can find one. And since often auction prices start ridiculously low (like $1) to encourage bidding (hey it works) they are bid up to a relatively reasonable level determined by other participants. Forget tiffany type uncluttered settings by the way. FSU women seem to like glitzy settings and stick with yellow gold. White gold or platinum are likely to be perceived as silver. I got a VERY nice glitzy 14 KT diamond engagement ring with a small, seperate, wedding ring. ring guard and a marqui cut diamond at a very reasonable price - but it tooka little time and effort. I saw simmilar rings going in jewelry stores, ON SALE around Christmas going for 3 to 5 times the price I paid. Sometime you just have to buy a diamond. crashnsplash Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 9:41:17 PM   Dam, I'm too late!!!! geriatrix Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/22/2005 11:28:19 PM   Diamond rings and housework doesn't mix. Diamond rings and 'going to bed' doesn't mix. Do I want a wife who doesn't want to cook and clean, and who doesn't want to make love? Dale E Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 1:30:45 AM   I'm too late also. I got her a ring with the spare cash I had right before I left Moldova. It was a tiny ass diamond but only cost $480. She had to have it. I told her I could get her a nice ring in the States but she was happy with it. We thought the diamond fell out the next day but couldn't find anyone that had a microscope to check it out. jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 2:01:45 AM   Like you, Dale I did not bring a diamond ring with me and was therefore unprepared when I proposed. She wanted to buy a ring right then and there but I prefered to get something nice in the US. She told me that she would rather get something right away too and she knew just the place. We went to Sun City - and began looking ar ringsthat had the tiniest diamonds. at least I though that they were diamonds. When I inquired I was told that they were zircons (as in cubic zirconias) and the ring that she insisted on having cost all of $38. I told her that that was ridiculous - that she was going to have a real diamond with some size to it if i was going to give her an engagement ring. She told me she knew of no place that sold real diamonds and, I insisted that we AT LEAST look around Sun City. We found nothing. So, reluctantly, I took her back and we purchsaed the $38 ring. I told her to at least pick another too and I think the second one - which was very similar was $36. With a wopping $74 invested in engagemnt rings we left the store and she was positively glowing. Her mother was thrilled. I would often times catch her just gazing at the two rings. moving her hand slightly to make them sparkle. I kept my resolve and got a much better, bigger more expenive ring when I went back to the US - and she certainly appreciated it. But even on my second trip - many months after giving her those two rings totaling $74 - I would catch her just sitting and looking at them and smiling. And glowing. After my second trip with one particular phone call she was crying. Seems she had lost one of the zircons from the first tiny ring. I told her not to worry that i would buy her another and she told me in no uncertain term that it was her engagement ring and she was going to find it no matter what. She didn't find it but she had it fixed by takig it back to the store and getting a new zircon put in. She resolved to me, on the phone, that she would never ever wear gloves again as that, she was sure, had caused the loosening of her stone. Dale E. you might have found a good one from Moldova. But I have the best. (of course you are free to have yuour own opinion.) Nadya Moderator send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 3:44:35 AM   when your relationship gets to proposal every russian girl expects to get a ring. it is tradition . it is a symbol of your fellings to her, it shows that you take this relationship seriously, your intensions. if you say that you don't want to buy it because it's market retail price is much higher than actual price you may hurt her feelings. most of women realize practical uselessness of shiny piece of metal and stone but still they want to have it because it is special sign of your love with special not market value. of course it all depends on what kind of woman you date. another question is when you will do it. Scott is absolutely right, it is not smart to take it to very first meeting, you may end up spending a lot of money and she will take to it pawn store. so get to know her first. also if you give it too early it may be considered that you don't take it seriuosly. unclebuck Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 6:02:54 AM   I've Known Ella for a long time and found that the ring really means a lot. When I gave her the ring she loved it. It sure didn't change the sex part at all. But, I could see a satisfaction in her eyes. izifaddag Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 7:47:37 AM   I am watching this thread with interest. I plan on buying a ring in Wal Mart for about $100 - 150. I am not cheap I just can't afford any more. She will be delighted with whatever I give her. I bought some jewelry there before I went last time and it was great. In particular a small litle heart made of amethyst and a thin little chain. $17. She won't take it off! Most importantly I gave her a little costume jewelry piece. A little butterfly colorful and very pretty. I gave it too her like the old pinning thing. I explained what I meant and she loved it. So butterflies have become something special for us. I have taught her the words mariposa and papillon. All part of building history. She will prefer that I spend the extra money on visiting her, or working on the apartment. She will love it. I plan on learning how to ask her to marry me in Russian. There is a vocabulary with phonetics and cyrillic and a recording free at Alexander's Tender ladies. Dozens and dozens of phrases there. A cheap way to learn a little Russian. In time I would replace the ring with something more expensive. Right now I have my plate full. scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 8:49:51 AM   Izi, must make sure you use the personal form of "you", when you say it. :-) unclebuck Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 8:58:42 AM   Izi, I stumbled and babbled my russian proposal and she still loved it. Don't worry your not alone out there with a full plate! izifaddag Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 10:12:21 AM   Thanks Scott There is a whole bunch of expressions and methods of proposal etc etc at Alexander's Tender Ladies. An excellent website. Loads of information and the phrases even have a recording you can listen to. I am sure they have used the correct form of the word 'you'. Uncle I think I can manage it. I will just keep repeating it with the recording until I can get it approximately right. I will have an audience so i want to do my best. It will happen in front of a cople of friends who are like brother and ssiter to Marina. Kind of hard to explain but it will add to the experience believe me. "How to tell your lady to marry you in tender Russian words" "I love you very much and ask you to be my wife." "ß î÷åíü ëþáëþ òåáÿ è ïðîøó ñòàòü ìîåé æåíîé." "Ya O-chen' lyub-lyU te-byA I pra-shU stat' ma-yEy zshe-nOy." scottlf Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/23/2005 10:59:26 AM   Izi, short and sweet will likely be the best path. "Marinochka, ti vie-dyesh' za myenya?" That's the best tranliteration I can think of. The pronounciation is up to you. ;-) looted4luv Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 5/28/2011 1:43:55 PM   One of the problems of marriage is that it is a government controlled contract. Once married you have no control over asset division in any state besides Nevada or California. My Russian bride was a money-holic and was only happy when I was bleeding and the money was burning. She engaged in endless wanting and demanding. I divorced my Russian bride in 2007 and she is still trying get freebies. That problem occurred when I bought a ring AND a house and paid cash for it. Then half of it became hers for free. That was acceptable to me but pretty soon everybody figured out that anything bought during the marriage is divisible and over time she would be able to take at least half of everything I had, inheritances, property, business, premarital or not. Some community property states make ALL assets and property divisible instantaneously upon marriage. Marriage provides functions that can financially destroy anyone with assets and allows a person with less assets unlimited power to receive assets that normally would not be divided. This is the gold digger clause. If you get a gold digger of either gender, and the vast majority of all spouses are gold diggers in some degree, you are in trouble. You really can't depend on another person to create happiness but they can damn sure make you miserable and loot you out in the process. 1. Marriage serves as a divisor of assets. 2. It provides some security and peace of mind to children, if any. 3. It provides citizenship for immigrants. 4. Tells people who to screw because they can't seem to figure it out. Your Reply: Your name:   New Registration Password:   Forgot password?   refresh Code:   Russian brides > Main Forum > Guys, Never Buy Your Girl a Ring
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