A Valentine’s Day Guide

Disclaimer

The writers of this blog post promise to entertain, inform and enlighten, but in no way bear responsibility for any bad outcomes that might stem from the sentiments underlying this post. All comments, well-wishes and/or incisive concerns can be dropped off at the end of this blog post, tweeted @Wishabi, or forever immortalized on the wall of our Facebook fan page.

As above, so below. Or the saying goes.  (I don’t even know why I included that phrase). Let’s just say that there are some things you just have to know if you’re planning on going ring shopping for your “other”.

I know that in my last blog post, I cautioned against proposing to your other on Valentine’s Day. It’s a bad idea – agreed? But I never said you couldn’t propose on any of the days roughly in the neighbourhood of that Day.  (What happens is that the surrounding days siphon off some of the festive “mood” from V-Day, just not too much to become cheesy like the left-overs from a stuffed-crust pizza). So I feel justified in circling (no pun intended) around ring shopping.

And as for this information, most of my colleagues are married, so as far as I’m concerned, their word is the gold standard.  Forward ho!

1 – Ring size depends on the weather

Yep, you read it right. Like cabbage patch dolls, music by Britney Spears and shoddy romance novels involving adolescent girls and one-hundred-year-old vampires, your other’s ring size should also be a seasonal trend.

Unfortunately for you, you have to know that, because if you don’t bother, you might end up picking a ring size that’s not suited to that time of the year.

In hot weather, the skin on your fingers stretch out and your finger diameter increases, and so you’re going to want to find a more loose-fitting ring than you’d normally get. Sticking to the old ring size will probably make it uncomfortable to wear.

In colder weather, you usually see the opposite. Your skin tightens, contracts and generally becomes more compact, decreasing in width, as should the diameter of your ring of choice.

And instead of ballparking a size, take some time to actually find out what his or her ring size really is. (I’ll be posting about that later).

2 – Diamonds aren’t forever

Remember, diamonds are not forever. There’s no overbearing reason for you to go and buy your other a diamond ring. Yes, I know it’s “mandated” by popular culture, but, unless you have a specific way of finding out whether your diamonds are 100% conflict free, you probably don’t want to invest a third of your yearly salary into one of them and indirectly support any illegal diamond mining ventures in Africa for that matter.