A woman claims her younger sister was left fuming after she revealed the true cost of her "expensive" engagement ring, with the revelation ultimately leading to the wedding being called off altogether. According to this 26-year-old woman, her younger sister Lydia, 22, got engaged to now ex-fiancé Seth, 24, around one month ago, and the pair wouldn't stop "bragging about how expensive" the engagement ring was.
Seth, who is said to come from an affluent family who can afford a "lavish lifestyle", boasted that the ring had set him back £46,000 ($50,000). However, his story quickly unravelled after he asked the woman's jeweller wife, Katie, to have the ring cleaned and polished as a favour.
Katie, who has worked as a jeweller for a long time, quickly realised the ring was made of cheap materials and wouldn't be worth more than £28 ($30). After some deliberation, the couple decided it would be best if they let Lydia know the truth.
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Taking to Reddit, where she goes by the username u/Cultural-Counter5605, the woman recalled: "I talked to Lydia in private and explained to her as gently as possible that Katie had a good look at the ring and that it is definitely not worth the amount of money that Seth said it was. Lydia was shocked. She said Seth must have been scammed by whoever he bought the ring off of.
"Lydia later talked to Seth. I wasn't there for the conversation but apparently, Seth knew the ring was cheap and was hoping Lydia wouldn't find this out. Lydia ended up calling off the engagement, and is currently staying with a friend and not talking to Seth."
She added that her parents are now "furious" with her and Katie and have accused them of "sabotaging" Lydia's relationship, arguing that "there's unfair pressure on men to spend a lot of money on rings." A lot of their extended family also view them as the "villains" of the piece, although Lydia herself doesn't blame them, and is only angry with Seth.
With this in mind, she's now wondering whether they took the right course of action or whether, as her parents believe, they've been "selfish."
One fellow Reddit user reassured her: "Seth lied to her. That is a big, huge, unforgivable deal that doesn't bode well for married life together. Yes, there's advertising pressure on men to buy the most expensive ring ever, but a lot of women don't actually care whether he spends thousands of dollars on an engagement ring or not.
"Seth could have gotten something reasonably nice that he could afford & been honest with your sister about it. He chose not to."
Another advised: "While your parents are right about the unfair pressure surrounding rings, her fiancé lied. He didn’t just lie, he lied by such a huge amount. You guys also told her privately, that she ended the engagement is not on you and was her own choice."
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