The tradition of young men giving their would-be bride an engagement ring has evolved over thousands of years.It started with grass ring during the cavemen period . In due course the grass gave way to more durable materials - leather, amber, flint, ivory and these in turn gave way to still more lasting materials - iron, bronze, copper, silver, gold and today platinum.

Historians seem to agree that engagement rings were used long before the wedding rings. Also agreed is the fact that Romans used engagement rings atleast as far back as the second century B.C. It was not until the English reformation that the bride received two rings - engagement ring at the time of plighting the troth and wedding ring at the wedding ceremony.

In America, a number of styles have favored over the years. During colonial times, the most popular engagement ring was the cluster ring, composed of rose-cut diamonds set around a larger stone. Hoop rings, also popular as engagement rings in colonial days, looked like the wedding rings of the present days, because they had small diamonds all around the finger. Like ring guard, they were meant to keep the wedding band in its place.During victorial era, rings became fancier, and were often made of yellow gold elaborately decorated with enamel.

In late 1800s, the favorite wedding ring was a plain wide gold band. At the beginning of 20th century, platinum became the vogue as a setting for the diamond solitaire engagement ring. A companion ring to the wedding band is the wedding guard ring, originally worn to keep the wedding band from slipping off the finger, but now popular as an additional adornment worn along with the wedding ring.