Well, I do understand the point of an engagement ring - what I am completely flummoxed by is the idea that you should spend a huge chunk of money on one.

I got my wife an eternity ring as an engagement ring - not because of any rules but because we both liked it and it wasn't very expensive. Been married 27 years so far so it seems to have worked! ;-)

> Been married 27 years so far so it seems to have worked!

As I like to joke with my wife, it’s not a successful marriage until one of us dies.

As for rings, we didn’t do an engagement ring, and my wife’s ring contains a sapphire mined from our home state.

You are implying then that the point is to pay a lot of money and your future wife should be happy that you are paying a lot of money for a useless thing, just to show you did it. This is a bad ground for a relationship IMHO. Because otherwise the physical qualities (how it looks) is the whole point.

A nice engagement ring does not require a diamond though. It does not require 3 months of salary.

So what _is_ the point of an engagement ring? To show love? I can do that without a ring. To show I'm taken? I've got another ring for that. We both do.

Those rings cost about 20$ together

So what is the point of one?