A women's value is everything. Women constantly tell white lies to maintain their value. Women shame others to knock down the perceived value of others and to boost their own perceived value. Women use the ring to judge each other. Supermarket gossip magazines at the checkout are a great reflection of this too.
This obsession with their value is in their DNA, this is biology and evolution at work here. It simply doesn't go away because a man wishes it away. Everything, including this is for the survival of the species. It's been going on since long before all of us existed and will continue long after we have left this existence.
A wedding ring is a huge deal. It's the super bowl of of a woman's value. If you want a woman faithful and loyal to you forever, it's an essential piece of the pie. All that being said, the quantity of quality women out there who deserve a good wedding ring are few and far between. But if you can find a good woman and want to be with her forever, best not to be cheap with the ring.
I'm a newlywed on my second marriage. My wife is fairly frugal. She doesn't ask for much financially. She accepts and follows the financial budget that i set. She always pays attention to how much we have in each budget category. She supports me when I want to try career moves that are a little risky, but could bring some nice quality of life benefits as well.
She never asked for an expensive ring. She never set an amount for the ring. There were zero expectations from her. I got her an engagement ring that was a little over $11k. No regrets. She stopped getting phone numbers from male passengers on her flights. She gets compliments from female passengers all the time. Other married women sort of apologize/explain to her why they have a smaller ring than her. The ring does exactly what it is supposed to be, demonstrate my level of commitment to her and reflect her value in this world. Of course, I could afford the ring at my age, having been in the work force for over 20 years and not having any children. But when I was younger I couldn't afford that kind of ring.
Bottom line, a good ring makes your wife happy. It's one piece to the puzzle in a successful marriage. Unfortunately, in today's world, there are too few woman that make good wives. But if you find a really good woman and want the married life, don't skimp on the ring.
