How to Choose a Men's Engagement Ring

Okay, so this blurb is for those of you out there who want to surprise your man with a fabulous engagement ring. Traditionally, most men don't wear engagement rings, they give them. Though there are several occasions when a man might wear an engagement ring. Three of the most common are:

1. You are proposing to him
2. You've decided to get an Engagement Ring Set, which comes with an engagement band for you, a ring/band for him and your wedding ring. 
3. One or both of you would feel uncomfortable if he wasn't also wearing a ring to symbolize the nature of your commitment to each other. 

Okay, throwing aside the silly questions like "why" and "what for", the fun part is getting out there and looking at men's engagement rings. Now, the first place I would recommend looking, is actually on ebay. And it's not that I want you to leave my fine blog or anything - but in my own personal experience, doing the ebay hunt can do two things for you: 1) It will show you what the real market value of certain types of rings are (you have to look under "Auction Only" and filter it by the "Most Bids"), and 2) It might save you some cash on the perfect ring. The only down side to ebay shopping, is that you can't see and try the ring on first, which means you'll need to already know what size your man's ring finger is. 

Which brings me to the more concentrated area of this post -

What You Need To Know BEFORE You Start Shopping For Men's Engagement Rings:

• The size of his left ring finger (usually it will be between a 7 and 10)
• The type of metal he is most enchanted by (Gold, Silver, Titanium, etc...)
• The type of stones or gems that he is most attracted to (Diamonds, Ruby's, Sapphires, etc...)

You'll also want to take some time to seriously contemplate:

• What kind of wedding band his father wore
• How often and in what ways he uses his hands at work
• How likely he is to scratch his ring while working or playing
• If your man likes any particular musicians, you'll want to take their style into consideration as well. Do those musicians have wedding rings?
• Whether or not your man has high blood pressure, diabetes, etc... (It will make a difference on the ring size)

Now, the trickiest part, is gathering all this information, though if you're like me, it will help keep you busy enough to relieve him of some of that wedding bell pressure you've probably been putting on him. So, the first question to ask yourself, is: Are you going to surprise him with the ring or not?

Even if he already proposed to you and you have your ring, there is no reason you can't have some fun and surprise him with his own ring (if he didn't get himself one). Regardless of your reasons (because it might just be that you have more fun shopping by yourself), if you're not taking your fiance' with you, you'll have to know what size his left ring finger is, and YES, it can be a different size then his right ring finger (though usually not by a lot). This is probably the most important part, because regardless of what the ring is made of, how cool it looks or how much you/he may love it, if it doesn't fit, HE CANT WEAR IT.

Now, I know I'll probably get his with the metaphorical shoe for this, but seriously, his shoe size can give you some hints as to what the right ring size will be. Though I emphasis the HINT part. Most people don't have a perfect size match between their feet and their fingers - for example: My own ring finger size is a 9.5, and I also wear a size 9 in men's shoes (Don't judge, I have big feet! lol), though the funny thing is, that would be a size 7 in women's shoes. Anyways, I'm going off topic. A better example, is the promise ring the I procured for my man a few month's ago. His shoe size is an 8.5, so I chose a ring that was a size 9. When it got here, it actually DIDN'T FIT! Though thankfully, it also wasn't an expensive ring, so I was able to ebay-order another one in a size 10 - A Perfect Fit.

Now, while stories like that do make great conversation for future cocktail parties and all, it's much more faery-tale-esk, if you get the right size the first time. Though this story also reminds us - that while it's nice to have the right size the first time, rings can be resized (though it costs WAY more than it should, if you're bringing in a ring from ebay).

Once you figure out his ring size, you'll then need to decide what kind of metal the ring should be made from and what kind of gems or stones he prefers. Generally, it is best to choose the metal that they would like the most, but you'll also want to take into consideration what kind of work the do and how often they use their hands for activities that could scratch, tap or tarnish a ring. This is important because most men like how gold looks and feels, but then they feel like crap when the scratch the soft gold the first time they pick up a wrench or go camping. This is especially important with the stone as well, every guy wants a fancy ring just like most women do, but they WONT wear one that is to fancy. For example: I've purchased numerous gold rings with very fine Onxy stones in them. They are elegant, reasonably styled and go well with my man's taste, but he will only wear them on special occasions when he can be reasonably sure he won't scratch the soft Onxy up (which is easier to do than you think). And it's not just soft stones or gems that can be a problem either. If you decide to get something with diamonds, make sure you choose a flat setting. Most men would lose a princess or heart type setting in a matter of days, and you won't want to pay the cost to replace the stone and fix the setting all the time.

That little rant leads me right into a very big and important point when shopping for an engagement ring for your man:

Make sure it is PRACTICAL above all else. 

I hear from way to many women who get upset when they're men won't wear the rings they gave them (engagement or otherwise), and it usually boils down to a practicality problem. Most men cherish the jewelry they get from their mates, and they don't want it to be ruined, nor do they want to feel your wrath if anything did get ruined. So do yourself and them a favor and go for the most practical option you can get without giving up ALL taste.

So when you start shopping for that engagement ring for him, you want Practicality first - Style second, the idea being to get something in the middle somewhere.

Examples in Gold:

Practical

Stylish

Practical AND Stylish

Examples in Silver:

Stylish

Practical

Practical AND Stylish

Now obviously your man is going to have his own individual tastes and desires when it comes to the ring he'll be wearing for the rest of his life. So don't feel like you have to get something from the examples, they are just there to help inspire you and give you some ideas of where to start.

The same goes for the rest of the "ring shopping rules" I've posted. These are guidelines, meant to help you get going, not to limit your choices. I've always found that the best way to get anyone any sort of gift, is to just choose with your heart.