Ring around the Husband

Grammy-award winner Beyoncé created a big anthem last year with "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," and the words, "If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it."

Well, if women can sing it to their men, it only seems fair that men can now sing it to women.

Traditionally, it has been held that men pop the question to their woman with a nice ring, but now it seems to be a growing trend that women are capable of popping the question with a man's engagement ring.

You read correctly--an engagement ring for a man. While there's no stopping the sale of a solitaire diamond ring for the proposal of marriage, it is starting to catch on with people.

"It's not a big trend in the states, but it is growing," said Ann Arnold, vice president of Lieberfarb, a manufacturing company for Moody's Jewelry.

It might be overboard to say that women are out there shopping for the perfect ring to the pop the question; however, many of the engagement rings bought for men are after the engagement is resolved.

"(For) men's engagement rings, a woman wants to give her fiancé a little something as well," Arnold said.

That's not to say that women can't pop the question.

"We're not discouraging ladies to be able to propose if they want," said Kirsten Darrow, director of marketing for Fred Meyer Jewelry.

So, the question that many might be asking by this point is, what does the man's engagement ring look like?

Well, many might have seen it but not noticed it.

Jewelers such as Fred Meyer and Moody's each sell men's engagement rings under the category of wedding jewelry, and the rings are pretty similar to the men's wedding band as it's a band, too.

At Moody's, the rings tend to range by size of stone and size of metal. Another notable difference, pointed out by Arnold, is that while women's rings are usually thin metal, men's are thicker metal.

Men's engagement rings might also have one stone in the center that might not necessarily be diamond but a colored stone or stones. Arnold also said that women tend to engrave messages, names or little love letters into their future husband's ring.

For Fred Meyer, who has offered the men's engagement rings for approximately six or seven years, the band usually has a single stone that's a diamond but lower profile. The metal of the ring usually varies widely as well between what women normally receive versus what men could receive.

For example, the jeweler offers a stainless steel and gold combination, Tungsten and Platina 4, or P4. P4 is composed of silver, palladium, gold and platinum and Darrow said it is very durable and a great look.

Now, in terms of cost, the rings do vary in price. For a P4 ring with a 1/10 carat diamond, the cost is $149. On the flip side of the coin, a gold metal ring with a 1/10 carat diamond costs $379. When you factor in the size of the diamond or stone, the ring could cost upwards of $2,000. At Moody's Jewelry, the range falls between $750 and $1,000.

When it comes to picking the ring for the big day--the wedding day, if you're needing a clue--there's a few options that men can follow that differ and match women's style.

Darrow of Fred Meyer's said that many men use their engagement ring for their wedding ring.

Arnold said that some women have the opportunity to buy a set, similar to a bridal set for a woman, and do one of two things. Either he solders the engagement and wedding rings together, or he moves the engagement ring to the right hand after it's replaced with his wedding ring.

No matter the post-wedding decision of where to wear the ring, the men's engagement ring seems to be an up-and-coming decision for more and more women in the pre-wedding decisions.