We surveyed 2000 adults in the UK and explore the ins and outs of the world of engagements – from faking engagement rings to avoid unwanted attention, to opinions on whether both people in a relationship wear an engagement ring or not. As proposal season is amongst us, we explore what type of ring (if any) truly entices us to say “I do”.
Over half of the men in our survey said that they would be happy to wear an engagement ring if proposed to by their partner.
The survey results suggest that whilst women are 1.5x more likely to wear an engagement ring than their male counterparts, men were considerably more open to the prospect of both people in a relationship wearing an engagement ring.
Nearly two-thirds of men believe both people in a relationship should wear engagement rings, whilst women seem a bit more ‘traditional’ in their thinking on the matter, with a 50/50 opinion split.
Interestingly, Londoners were most open to the idea of wearing an engagement ring, with roughly 77% of respondents believing both people in a relationship should wear an engagement ring. Likewise, more than 60% of those surveyed in the West Midlands and South-East of England also believed this. Most of the other regions seem to have a 50/50 split opinion on the matter.
Historically, men gave engagement rings to women as a gesture to show they can “take care” of her. This was when women were unable to work and make a living. Jumping to the modern age, the tradition of proposing with a diamond ring continues.
“We’ve seen an attitudinal shift towards engagement rings in the last two years and have received more enquiries from both men and women who are searching for the perfect proposal ring for male partners. Additionally, many of us are looking for more gender-neutral styles of engagement rings that both people in relationships can wear like they do with wedding rings”
“We’ve seen an attitudinal shift towards engagement rings in the last two years and have received more enquiries from both men and women who are searching for the perfect proposal ring for male partners. Additionally, many of us are looking for more gender-neutral styles of engagement rings that both people in relationships can wear like they do with wedding rings”
Three-quarters of all people surveyed believe an engagement ring is an important symbol of commitment. Respondents in London and Northern Ireland felt strongest about this, with 35.5% and 36.5%, respectively, believing that without a ring, you’re not really engaged.
Interestingly, male respondents felt stronger than the female respondents that if a woman is engaged, she should always wear an engagement ring, with over half (53.3%) believing this.
However, the respondents who identified as female felt stronger about married women wearing wedding rings, with almost 65% believing that married women should always wear their wedding ring. Comparatively, less than 60% (59.5%) of women believe that married men should always wear their wedding ring.
While it seems more men are more open to the prospect of wearing an engagement ring, nearly three-quarters of men would prefer some form of band (with or without a diamond) over any other style.
52% of women surveyed said they wouldn’t consider an alternative to a ring. However, out of those who would, a necklace was the most popular alternative, with a quarter of women saying they would opt for this – perhaps taking inspiration from Carrie Bradshaw's engagement-ring necklace when Aidan popped the big Q.
Remember the old wives' tale which warns that wearing a ring on your wedding finger before marriage is bad luck for finding your potential suitor? It doesn’t seem to matter to 40% of our respondents who have worn a ring on their wedding finger in order to avoid unwanted attention.
Nearly 4 in 10 women surveyed said they've worn an 'engagement-like' ring on their wedding finger to avoid unwanted attention whilst less than a third of all men said they had done this.
Londoners were found to be most likely to do this, with 44.4% saying they have. Followed by those in the West Midlands, where 43.4% of people said they had done this.
The independent research found that younger respondents were far more likely to do this than their older counterparts, with almost half (46.3%) of all 25-to-34-year old's saying they have done this to avoid unwanted attention compared to just 1 in 5 of those aged 55+.
