WHEN I proposed to my German fiancee earlier this year, I bought her a Lucida cut 1.5-carat Tiffany ring which cost me a five-figure sum.

She was touched I proposed but promptly chastised me for buying her such an expensive ring. She literally walked me back to the shop to ask for a refund which we didn't get.

Germans are practical and simple people who eschew materialism. For example, she would never be caught carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, another trait which Asian women can't seem to appreciate.

Some women give excuses like tradition and pledge of love but I believe it's a simple case of lack of self-confidence for women to blow their money (or in this case, their future husband's) on something as useless as a diamond ring.

Women feed on the envy of other women and instead of achieving that by being great in their work or doing something noble like helping others, they choose to feel important with expensive and useless stuff.