I really am not a Zales/Jared/Kays kind of girl. I’m more give me a plastic Godzilla.

I am somewhat smitten with computer bags though.

Velvety boxes are nice and all; however, I am happy when there is a thoughtful gift under the tree… A gift certificate for a massage, the new shoes I fell in love with, even something as simple as my favorite bubble bath. I do not have expectations that Christmas is this huge spending frenzy that entails us not being able to make a mortgage payment in the name of commercialism.

All I asked for this year was a new pair of jeans and some black socks. If he wants to get me something else I would be happy with some new candles in my favorite fragrance.

Acme Computer Bags, to be precise.

But for jewelry, there are only two places I want gifts from: Tiffany for the timeless classics (yes, I know it’s overpriced. I’m a sucker for the light blue box) and Randy Barker at Barker Diamond for everything else.

Oh, or anything from Perpetual Kid. So I think I’m on the same spectrum as ‘coma.

Interesting question. My partner was previously married to a man that designed and made jewelry, so she has some very nice pieces. Plus, she knows quite a bit about it herself. So, buying jewelry for her puts me in a bind, as i know little or nothing about it, and don’t want to buy her junk.

Also, lately, my research has shown me some real horrors with respect to what the diamond industry does to poor African countries, so i am loathe to contribute. I will have something made for her that I draw out on paper, but it will be expensive, so i am waiting until i save up the money.

I can’t remember if you’re a Mac user or not but if so, may I recommend this bag.
Fits my MacBook like a glove, it’s light wieght, and (my favorite part) it doesn’t look like a computer bag.

One of the benefits of being gay: I don’t have to sepnd money on things like cut flowers or jewelry (both of which are pretty much worthless in my mind).

Custom jewelry, boys - trust me on this one.

Doesn’t have to be brand name; doesn’t even have to be new diamonds. Doesn’t have to be a surprise. But if you give her a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, especially if she gets to design it, she will be quite pleased.

Don’t know about giving it for Christmas, though. As good a time as any, I guess.

The advantage of blinging something for Christmas (Egads. I feel like I’m typing in Engrish!) is that it does show you think that special someone is really special enough that you’d be willing to drop as much on them as a really nice tool like a band saw would cost. It also has the advantage of not requiring lots of thought (which is a big plus. “Ooh. Shiny! Me buy!”). My last bling experiment involved offering to take a signet ring made from my (late) mom’s wedding band & diamond jewelry and have it made into something for her. (We compromised in that fashion that only long-married people can do. She treasured the sentiment, found something that sparkled even more behind the counter, and I got my signet ring polished.)

I have, with eventual success, ventured into getting clothing. Although the initial efforts were more “nice thought, dear, but” category, I have made it to the “I really like this” group.

However, all that aside, Mack is right about the diamond industry. Add to that the reality that DeBeers has enough diamonds in storage that they could probably gravel the driveways of the entire state - they really aren’t that rare, just controlled - and you end up with an industry that exploits both ends of their production chain.

“I’m a sucker for the light blue box”

In my experience, you can put a pile of dog crap in a Tiffany box and you’ll get laid for a month.

“I got my ring polished.”

Was that a euphemism?

I am a sucker for shiny, sparkly things, but they better not come from Zales/Jared/CostCo/etc.

A vintage piece would work.

Any gift that shows thought and effort is a winner. We women want to know that you men care about us and are thinking about us even when we’re not in your face reminding you of how much you care about us.

Me no care about jewelry. All I want for Christmas is a nap and peace on earth.

I agree - it’s about the thought and effort, not the cash.

I know it’s not true for every woman, but I would not necessarily be happy with a shiny sparkly present because it would show that the giver doesn’t know me particularly well - there are so many better things to spend gift money on than jewelry (hockey tickets, compound mitre saws, trips to far-flung lands, etc).

One of the best gifts I ever got was a set of Samurai Cat comic books - not super expensive but something that took a lot of effort and time to obtain.

OOOHHHHH Dolphin.
Okay, now I’m obsessed. I have about five right now, but am using a man’s Fossil Messenger right now that is dead sexy but not the best protection for my beloved Mac.

Is there a worst investment than jewelry? I have never understood why anyone cares about jewelry.

I can think of many other gifts that will bring much more happiness. How many people here really like jewelry? If so, why?

FTS!

If you can’t make mine a December To Remember by putting a Lexus under my tree, you’re with the terrorists!
.

Was that a euphemism?

sadly, no.

“How many people here really like jewelry? If so, why?”

For me, many of the pieces I have and wear frequently hold sentimental value or were gifts for milestones. My watch was a present for my 40th birthday. The diamond studs I wear daily were my mother’s 18th birthday present. My pearls were for my 30th birthday and so on. My engagement ring was my mother’s 30th anniversary gift.

I do not have to have the biggest and shiniest of things but I hold dear the sentiment that is behind the few treasured pieces of real jewelry I possess and can pass along someday. Most of my other jewelry can be chalked up to the latest craze and probably cost me less than $20 although I have been known to shell out a bit more if it is sparkly and catches my eye… Not much more though. I have my priorities and would rather buy something for the house instead.

I’m with SoBeale on this one–I actually prefer vintage jewelry to anything new. I prefer the style and I’m not supporting the new diamond business.

That said, if I ever get married, I’d prefer just to have a band. I don’t like big ol’ diamond rings because I have skinny, tiny fingers and rings just roll around on them. But I sure wouldn’t mind having some diamond stud earrings. Not big ones, but big enough (and of good quality) to sparkle. I do like sparkles.

I have a gold band I wear and my grandmother’s 1939 high school class ring.

That’s about it.

I really like jewelry. It’s always a good gift for me BUT I don’t want trendy, meaningless pieces that every other women is also wearing. Like I mentioned in the comment thread yesterday, the appeal of the circle diamond pendant is completely lost on me as is the appeal of those “journey” pendants that are in all the commercials this season.

Like Klinde, I have a few nice pieces that have special meaning to me like the strand of pearls DB gave me for my 30th birthday. I had a set of diamond lever-back earring that were made from diamonds that were in my grandmothers wedding ring. I lost one of them (I believe it was the night a bunch of us were out at Mack’s place) and it broke my heart. Not because I lost a diamond but because I lost a piece of my family’s history.

I have a garnet ring that DB gave for my birthday while we were in college. The story of how that came to be is too long to put here but that ring, though not of tremendous monetary worth, has a lot of meaning for me (actually for both of us).

One of the best gifts DB ever gave me was a framed print of a portrait we saw in Chicago Museum of Art when we were in Chicago for our 10th anniversary. He remembered that I liked that particular painting, found a website that had it in print and picked out a frame and mattes for it. It hangs in our bedroom by our bed and it makes me happy to see it everyday.

Nah, I don’t really do jewelry much. I’m actually pretty low maintenance. Feed me. Send me on my way. The only bling I have on me right now is my watch chain.

For the record, I would notice if the blue box was filled with dog crap. Dog crap is not timeless.

But one of the things I love about Randy Barker is his custom pieces. He helped me to design a bracelet a few years ago that used both my grandmothers’ diamonds.

Funny, though. I wear my watch (almost) every day, but I don’t wear a lot of jewelry otherwise. I think the Depression Baby in me just likes knowing I have gemstones in the safe, just in case the economy plummets and we’re back to bartering.

Last Christmas my Grandmother gave my wife my Great Aunt’s rich husband’s mother’s engagement ring from the 1920s. It is vintage, sentimental, and freaking gorgeous!

Sadly, I am never going to be able to top that. Thanks Grandma.

In the four years that we’ve been together, my boyfriend has given me jewelry once (at my request): a beautiful pair of diamond earrings that I wear every day. I think he was actually excited that for once I wanted something “girly,” since my wish list generally consists of electronics. (For example, last Christmas I asked him for–and received–an external hard drive.)

I love jewelry — I don’t wear it often, but when I do it needs to be nice. Not necessarily expensive, and I prefer semiprecious stones to the precious stones that are within the budget of anyone who gives me gifts. It can be new or old (deco is particularly good for me) but it has to be right for me. So a basic knowledge of my taste is necessary. I hate rings and diamonds don’t move me (now, a good quality sapphire or a well-cut emerald would catch my eye, but colorless stones? why bother?), so I told my husband no engagement ring. I figured he’d just save the money, but he went out and got me an amber and old silver set (necklace, bracelet, earrings) that’s so beautiful I cried when I saw it.

But as for gifts generally, what matters is that it’s something I like and wouldn’t get for myself. It can be as easy as pie to pick out and obtain — I don’t care if it’s the biggest seller in its category at Amazon, or a $5 bunch of flowers (that you could get walking by any corner store in NYC). Show me that you know me well enough to be aware of what I like, and that you care enough about me to bother.

My wife loves jewelry. I don’t know much about it, though, so it’s tricky sometimes picking out something for her.

The one thing I bought that was easy and that she wears all the time is a set of pearls. A pearl necklace goes with just about anything. If a necklace isn’t in the budget, pearl earrings are fairly inexpensive - $40 or so.

Like some other folks here my wife likes vintage jewelry.

The Jared commercials are bad, but the Kay commercials have now turned me off buying a real tree from a Christmas tree lot, breaking the wishbone from the turkey, and letting children write their own versions of the Night Before Christmas. I will never EVER buy anything from Kay if only it keeps their advertising budget from getting any larger.

I often wonder–in fact, I posted this last year–if the word Kay is looking is one that rhymes with Kay…if you know what I mean…

Jewelry is sometimes better as a birthday or “just because” kind of gift rather than Christmas.

But to echo many of the sentiments above, it had better not come from a chain store or mall. I like my jewelry custom and distinctive, not necessarily expensive. I just got a very cool contemporary 3 ring set made from titanium for my anniversary that I really love and it was not expensive at all.

However, the 1 carat sherry colored tension mount diamond ring set in 24K gold from Niessing, would never be turned down and I am not traditionally a diamond kind of girl.

Is there a worst investment than jewelry? I have never understood why anyone cares about jewelry.

Actually, no. Time was, all a woman had to her name, investment-wise, was the jewelry she’d been given during her marriage. And I know a few women who escaped bad marriages with just their diamond rings to show for it.

Just sayin’ (since you mentioned the “I” word)…

I hate jewelry, I lose jewelry invariably. And I’m anti-diamond, well, blood diamonds anyway, which would be all we could afford since the Canadian diamonds are *really* expensive. All other gemstones are pretty, but will be lost quickly. I don’t know why I can’t hang on to any jewelry I receive.

Not into rocks, unless the creek comes with.

I love, love, love jewelry but conflict diamonds creep me out. I’d want a vintage piece or a [I forget what they call it] certified conflict-free diamond if you’re buying.

Just like anything else, I guess it’s just personal preference.

I don’t want to repeat myself from yesterday. Like Megan, I’d rather have techno gadgets. (I’m still holding out for an iPod Touch and an HDTV.)

But I will say that I’ve asked for one piece of custom-designed jewelry for our 20th anniversary.

I would like a Claddagh ring with a garnet heart, emerald crown and opal hands set in platinum.

I’d rather just cook a nice meal with a guy rather than worry about gifts. It’s memories that matter…not stuff.

…says the girl who is all alone.

Despite what we say, I don’t know a woman who wouldn’t be thrilled by a piece of jewelry that matches her taste.

My husband’s only given me one sentimental piece of jewelry, which I wore every day during the last pregnancy and continued to wear until baby girl broke the string.

I’d love another chunky strand of Tennessee freshwater pearls to replace it. I put the broken pearls in an envelope in the safety deposit box. Maybe one day we can sew them on her wedding veil.

I’d rather just cook a nice meal with a guy rather than worry about gifts. It’s memories that matter…not stuff.

What time is dinner?

I am glad that Mack and Jim brought it up.. Nothin like being the holiday buzzkills, but: the diamond industry is freaking evil, people.

I want only diamonds paid for with blood.

Not blood diamonds, I mean diamonds you had to sell blood to buy me.

Yeah, diamonds suck. That whole industry is evil and I don’t get why they’re so damned expensive. Sure they sparkle and sparkly things are appealing, but I can get a heck of a lot of pleasure out of looking at and wearing much less expensive sparkly things.

Like nm said, I’d much rather have an unusual piece of jewelry with semiprecious stones — something that reflects my personality. One year I asked Karsten to have my favorite ring — one that I made when I was in high school, and I wear every day — polished as a Christmas gift, and that was a wonderful treat. (It could use it again, now that I think of it.)

[I had a lot more to say, but I’ll stop here and post the rest in my blog. ]

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