In the battle between money and love, the heart should always win. But, for some people, money is way more important. This isn’t something that’s obvious right away. Unfortunately, only certain situations can reveal a person’s true character.

This is what happened to an innocent guy who had proposed to his girlfriend. He was in for a big shock when she demanded he propose all over again and buy her the same extravagant engagement ring, all because she lost the first one.

More info: Reddit

Fiancée realizes she lost expensive engagement ring, instead of apologizing, she tries to emotionally manipulate partner into buying the same ring again and re-proposing

Image credits: TranStudios Photography & Video (not the actual photo) 

29YO guy said that he saved up for a year to buy a ring for his fiancée, which she ended up losing on a hike

Image credits: Nina Uhlikova (not the actual photo)

She demanded he buy the same ring again and re-propose, but the man told her that getting her a ring of the same quality would be “financially challenging”

Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual photo)

The man suggested alternatives but the woman got upset and complained that the “magic” of the proposal would be lost if he didn’t recreate everything the same way

Image credits: u/dawnmderrrt

When he said that their commitment was more important than the ring or the proposal, his fiancée accused him of not caring about her enough

The Original Poster (OP) is a 29-year-old man who told commenters he proposed to his 28-year-old girlfriend. For the proposal, he had put aside money for a year to be able to afford the engagement ring. This kind of extravagant spending on rings is par for the course. According to a study by The Knot, the average cost of engagement rings is around $5500. Nearly half of their respondents spend between $1000 and $4000, and only 9% spend below $1000.

The man mentioned that his fiancée was extremely excited after the proposal and they began planning their wedding. But six months later, she ended up losing the ring while they were on a hike. Though they searched for hours, they couldn’t find it. As netizens stated, most normal people would grovel in this situation and apologize for losing such an expensive ring. But apologizing was the last thing on the woman’s mind.

She immediately demanded that the poster buy her a new ring and recreate their proposal. The guy thought about it practically and told her that he wouldn’t be able to buy a ring of the same quality because it wouldn’t be financially possible at the time. He offered other alternatives, such as getting a more modest ring that they could upgrade later or waiting until he could afford the costlier option.

It might seem shocking for someone to demand such an expensive ring just for their engagement, but this practice is actually rooted in clever marketing. During the Great Depression, when diamond sales dropped massively, a large retailer called De Beers launched a smart marketing campaign to help sales skyrocket. They made it seem like diamond engagement rings were a symbol of true love. They also encouraged buyers to spend a month’s salary on the rings, and this eventually turned into a 3-month-salary rule.

Image credits: Alex Green (not the actual photo)

It seems like the woman was also swept up in the idea that a pricey ring was the truest symbol of her partner’s love. So she kept pestering him to re-propose by buying the same ring. When he tried to tell her that their commitment was more important than any of those material things, the woman lost her temper. She accused him of not caring about her feelings enough and tried to guilt-trip by saying that if he truly loved her, he would find a way to make it happen.

Your Tango puts it very well, stating, “the most crucial part of your future engagement is the connection that you share and the ways that you both bring out the best in each other. The ring, no matter whether it’s your personal taste or how many carats it is, is just a temporary symbol that society has created [for] a permanent commitment.” That’s exactly what all couples need to remember. Some people tend to forget the true meaning of their relationship because they get swept up in the flashy aspects of marriage.

Commenters were hung up on the fact that the woman wanted the poster to prove his love by getting her that expensive ring again. But a pricey ring doesn’t ensure that a marriage will last. In fact, research has found an interesting correlation that proves this point. Findings suggest that men who spent between $2000-4000 on engagement rings were 1.3 times likelier to get divorced than men who spent $500-2000.

That’s why a magical proposal and the perfect ring aren’t really necessary to showcase one’s love. Netizens told the man the exact same thing and urged him to learn from this situation. The viral post got 14k upvotes and 6.5k comments, with many people expressing concern over the woman’s emotional manipulation. That being said, what would you be willing to spend on an engagement ring? Has this situation changed your mind at all? Tell us what you think in the comments. 

People sympathized with the poster and told him that his fiancée was a major red flag, some even hypothesized that she didn’t lose the ring in the first place

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