Living in Buena Park and seeing my friends' younger siblings getting married, I feel that the atmosphere has changed a lot compared to the past.

Just a few years ago, when it came to engagement rings, it was all about natural diamonds.

There was a culture of comparing how big of a diamond the man bought, how many carats it was, and which brand it was, often posting on Instagram to show off.

In particular, in the U.S., engagement rings were sometimes seen as a display of economic power.

When photos were posted on Instagram, often the first thing that caught people's eyes was the size of the ring rather than the congratulatory comments.

However, these days, things are a bit different.

More people around me are choosing lab-grown diamond rings.

At first, I thought they were just cubic zirconia because they were made in a lab.

But I found out that's not the case.

Lab-grown diamonds are real diamonds.

They have the same chemical composition and crystal structure as natural diamonds; the only difference is whether they were formed underground or in a lab.

It's difficult for the average person to distinguish them by sight.

However, the prices are completely different.

In the past, it was commonly accepted that you had to save several months' worth of salary to buy a diamond ring.

In the U.S., there was even an advertising culture suggesting that a man should spend two to three months' salary on an engagement ring.

Nowadays, young people laugh when they hear such stories.

They would rather use that money to go on a better honeymoon or save for a house.

Living in Orange County, paying rent and car insurance, it's hard to understand spending tens of thousands of dollars on a diamond.

Interestingly, just because lab-grown diamonds are cheaper doesn't mean the rings are smaller.

In fact, with the same budget, you can buy a much larger diamond.

In the past, if you wore a large diamond on your finger, people would think your family was wealthy, but that's not necessarily the case anymore.

What looks like a flashy ring might actually be much more affordable than you think.

It seems that the era of judging economic power by the size of diamonds is gradually passing.

However, this has caused some headaches for the diamond industry.

The prices of lab-grown diamonds are dropping too quickly.

Recent data shows that the selling price per carat of lab-grown diamonds has decreased by more than half in just a few years.

The wholesale prices have dropped even more dramatically, reaching a level of virtual collapse.

Diamonds that used to cost thousands of dollars can now be purchased for much less.

Interestingly, as lab-grown diamonds become cheaper, the size of diamonds in American engagement rings is actually increasing.

In the past, if someone wore a 3-carat diamond, people would glance at it.

Now, even if you see a large ring, you can't tell if it's natural or lab-grown.

And you can't just ask someone how much they paid for it.

I think this will significantly change the culture of showing off rings in America.

Of course, the trend of showing off engagement rings on Instagram hasn't disappeared. In fact, photos of large, flashy rings are still popular.

However, while in the past, simply receiving an expensive ring was a point of pride, nowadays, people proudly talk about choosing a design they love and buying it at a reasonable price.

For Gen Z, how money is spent seems to be more important than just buying expensive items.

The belief that diamonds must be natural is not as strong as it used to be.

On the other hand, it's a mistake to think that lab-grown diamonds have investment value.

As production technology advances and supply increases, prices could drop even further.

It may be difficult to get a good resale price later on.

In fact, even natural diamonds don't guarantee that consumers will get back the price they paid at retail.

So I believe the era of buying diamond rings as an investment is gradually coming to an end.

When talking about marriage with friends in Buena Park, the conversation often ends up shifting to housing prices.

In the past, it was said that the bigger the diamond, the more a man loved a woman.

But now, saying such things might sound a bit outdated.

What matters more than how many carats love is, is how well the couple lives together after marriage.

Diamonds still sparkle.

However, it seems that the enormous price tags and the vanity associated with showing them off are gradually losing their shine.