Whatever happened to this once popular concept invented by jewellers to keep their customers coming back?

For those unfamiliar with the concept of ‘diamond trade up’ : when buying jewelry with diamonds you can make the deal that you can trade in your diamonds – without losing any of the original value- when you buy bigger (and more expensive) ones at the same place. The best moment to do this is of course when you buy a wedding- or engagement ring at a young age. After all, there’s a lot of confidence in the future behind the purchase of such a ring, in other words: you’re in the best possible mindset as far as the jeweller is concerned. Let’s have a look at how this confidence in the future works out at a later stage in life.

Bend the twig and bend the tree

You might expect differently, but youngsters are far more eager to buy engagement rings than older people with more knowledge of life. Why is this? Do they still believe in love and fidelity in a way that gradually drains away when you grow older? Are they more greedy? Do they simply love each other more?

The first of these theories seems the most plausible. The notion of ‘forever’ loses some of its meaning anyway when you’re getting older. Moreover, older people have learned –often the hard way- that ‘true love’ is something else than they assumed when they were young.

Love trade up

In a normal relationship, love grows stronger with time. But it also changes. The ‘growing stronger’ part is in being more in touch with reality and the practical application of love. Young people can practically lose themselves in their dramatic expression of love, older people tend to express their love more in everyday situations. To them, an engagement ring is not a must, although tradition is a factor that is present in all age groups. Maybe there’s still hope for the diamond trade up concept.