Engagement ring

Engagement ring

In the British-American tradition, an engagement ring is a ring worn by a woman on her left-hand ring finger indicating her engagement to be married. By modern convention, the ring is usually presented by a man to his prospective bride while or directly after she accepts his marriage proposal.

Similar traditions seem to date at least to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Designs of such rings have varied greatly over the years. Current fashions for engagement rings are for a gold or silver band with a single diamond. This trend dates from advertising campaigns in the 1940s by de Beers, the world's near-monopoly diamond producer.

In some European countries (e.g. Germany), engagement rings are usually plain gold bands without a diamond and are worn by the woman and the man.