But there are also outliers who say a diamond should not be forever even from the beginning, and consumers, many of whom are increasingly budget conscious, already have too many bills to pay excluding an overhyped and overpriced stone.

Yonden Lhatoo, the chief news editor at the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, wrote in a scathing column: "Anyone with a basic education should know by now that the ridiculous tradition of men having to buy diamond engagement rings for women before marriage was wholly concocted."

Diamonds are such a waste of money, he wrote: "If you must buy a diamond, it makes much more sense to go for a lab-manufactured one."