In reading jburd's comments, seems like you're reading a little too deep into that letter. Did you have an overbearing wife or something? First of all, the man never even mentions he's hurt, just that the old diamonds might have "bad mojo". As for mojo or symbolism, it will have as much of either as the person gives to it. My husband let me pick out the setting and it was left for him to pick the stone, however he was aided by my mother splitting up stones from a ring my dad had given her (that she traded in to the jeweler); my parents divorced while I was in college. She would not have done anything with the ring and figured why not help my cash-strapped medical student fiancee? I would of course have accepted a ring had he surprised me, but he knew how excited I was to pick out something that reflected my style. And as far as memories of an ex, if he is at all worried about that, why even propose? Maybe she is not only trying to save money but trying to turn something with hurtful memories into something positive. My husband did not have an ex to worry about, but regardless of that he wanted most of all for me to be HAPPY wearing this particular ring for the rest of my life, which I intend on doing.