I've been thinking lately that if I didn't already have a diamond, that it would have been smarter to just get a CZ. They're just as sparkly and no one would really be able to tell the difference if you got a nice one in a gold setting.

Is that tacky?

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It's not tacky as long as you don't go around telling people. For instance someone says "Oh I love your ring" and you respond, "Thank You, it's CZ we got such a great deal on it." That to me would be tacky. I don't think it's tacky however to have the CZ especially if you can't afford or don't want to spend the money on a real diamond. And you're right, chances are no one is going to know the difference unless it's unusually large in which case no one will believe it's real. People usually just glance at your ring, their not pulling out a microscope to examine it. The nice thing about the diamond is that's it's going to last longer then the CZ, they're just stronger so you might end up cracking or needing to replace the CZ and it might be more worth it to choose a diamond because as they say...Diamonds Are Forever!!!

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I've worn them when traveling so wouldn't be wearing decent jewelry that could be stolen.

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It's not tacky, it's a personal choice. Just like people choose to have other gems instead of diamonds.

And yes, 99.99% of the people you show your ring to wouldn't know it's CZ but some people do. My mother has a diamond ring and I have a CZ and they're more or less the same size. If you put the two together then my mother's stone definitely has more sparkle to it and it's a different kind of shine. Since I grew up seeing her ring I can usually tell when a stone is not a diamond. One of my friend's is the same and he immediately knew that mine wasn't a diamond. All the rest of the people who see my ring can't tell or don't say anything.

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