Posted on 12/19/2005 8:52:52 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
Call them "Desperate Husbands" -- men who wait until the last minute to go Christmas shopping. Men who wear procrastination as a badge of honor.
Girlie men shop online or visit the mall in November, wrap their presents and stash them in the closet.
Real men put off shopping until Dec. 24.
Because men don't shop. They buy. They are goal-oriented. And what they end up buying is jewelry.
Diamond jewelry, to be exact. Square-shaped or pear-shaped, from Harry Winston to Wal-Mart, from Tiffany's to Target, the most dangerous place to be on Christmas Eve is between a desperate husband and a jewelry counter.
"We have men rolling up at 3:30 on Christmas Eve," said Katie Mulcahy, manager of the Old Town Alexandria jewelry store Mystique. "They know exactly what they want. We love that. They're easier to sell if they're desperate."Men, she explained, do not have a Plan B. Most likely, in the most dire cases, say five minutes before the store's closing, they will buy up rather than down. "A lot of times you can guilt them into spending more," she said. Because at that point, the only alternative is a Chia Pet from the 7-Eleven.
Mystique rakes in at least one-third of its annual sales in the four days before Christmas, Ms. Mulcahy said. "I'm sure it's the same all across the country," she said. "Men put off Christmas shopping until the last minute. It's like homework for them."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
"A lot of times you can guilt them into spending more," she said.
Using 'guilt' as a verb! That there is a dangerous woman!
Oh yeah it's true. When I was little, I wrapped gifts at a jewelry store for Christmas break spending money. December 24th was our biggest sales day... all purchased by men in a huge rush, they don't even look at what they're buying!
Last night I was at Nordstrom's. I got to witness several young men approach the Coach purse counter, ask the saleslady to pull out a bag for pricing, and their eyes POPPED out and they left quite dejected & empty-handed. *grin*
(A favorite DVD of mine is a 1998 French film (English subtitles) called Place Vendôme. It stars an aging and alcoholic Catherine Deneuve character who is involved in the glamor jewelry trade and gets crosswise of De Beers over some pilfered gems. It is a very stylish film with a somewhat murky, though sophisticated, storyline. An interesting peak into the gem trade.)
Or, even better... ask for a moissanite. Most jewelers can't tell them from diamonds with the naked eye.
It won't cause the industry to crash any more than $100/oz gold will cause Tiffany to crash. It's all status symbols; if diamonds ever truly became worthless, women would demand that men spend all their money on a different stone that cost the same or more.
What did he do wrong? The two of you agreed no presents. If you wanted presents you shouldn't have put him in a situation like that.
Men need clear, straightforward directions. Sit. Stay. Roll over. Buy me a present.
If you want a really expensive colored stone, ask for an alexandrite. They are mega-expensive, more so than diamonds I believe, or very close, and so rare most stores don't have them.
You must be related to my wife!
People have been making fun of the way I put off Christmas shopping; at least I can tell them I'm a real man.
me too....big jewelry is quick and expedient and high dividend for the time effort
but it's a chump's game when one pays full retail for diamonds, emeralds, pearls or high end timepieces....with a little effort one can save up to 50%
but estrogen does fuel a fondness for when that box says Tiffany or Cartier
Diamonds, though, are more serious than pearls and, it seems to me that there is a mentality that will say if it is man-made, then it is "artificial" and not a "real diamond." Those of us more technically inclined would ask what the essence of it is rather than how it came to be. If it is a diamond, then it is a ~real~ diamond, which is the only kind.
Of course, the resistance against man-made stones will find it hard to resist the price pressure. They cost nothing to produce relative to current market values of natural diamonds. I am sure there is a price where supply and demand can happily get together for large, high quality diamonds, however they came to be.
I agree with you that some other point of "value" will be ginned up so that gentlemen will always have an opportunity to spend lavishly
Men take what you say literally.
"Once a girl sees that eggshell blue bag it comes in, all reason and rationality leaves her head."
There is nothing like a Tiffany's box, esp. with a big old red ribbon on it.
"It was one of our most memorable fights."
Oy veh.
You are reminding me that I still do not have a big gift for hubby!
As if there's something wrong with the Chia-pet? She said she liked it...
Girlie men shop online or visit the mall in November, wrap their presents and stash them in the closet.
LOL! HEY!...I buy silks via the internet each year. Great price, I know my wife's size, and she models them for me before the taste test. What could be better than a gift that's as much for me as it is for her?
Seriously. I buy from IrisSilks and HKSilk all the time. She won't treat herself so I do. It's a winner each year. That and the jewelry, but I sure don't wait until the last minute.
Jeez, lady, didn't you read the manual?!? Well, apparently he didn't either...
Jes' funnin' ya... ; )
But honestly, I would have done the same thing and thought it was what you wanted.
"I remember in the first years of our marriage, my husband and I agreed not to get each other Christmas presents. Imagine my shock and sorrow when we woke up Christmas morning and he had presents under the tree from me...but not a single gift from him to me. I was crushed. It was one of our most memorable fights."
Sounds like male thinking and female thinking don't mix, either.
"If it is a diamond, then it is a ~real~ diamond, which is the only kind."
That's true, but it is scarcity that gives diamonds their value as jewelry, isn't it? If you could pick up 15 karat stones on any beach in the world, they'd be worth about as much as sand.
And that's what the artificial diamonds threaten. Nobody's going to pay de Beers prices for something that's not scarce, so they need to create a distinction between "natural" diamonds and man made.
I like colored stones better, anyway. Those yellow diamonds in the National Collection at the Smithstonian look like crystallized p*ss to me.
Now, if you want to talk about value, I read that they're going to manufacture diamonds with (was it boron?) in them to make semiconductor chips, and they'll be able to operate at speeds that would melt silicon.
Imagine poor Mrs. Samsa's distress.
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