Men's Engagement Ring Equivalent?

Q: It's too late for me, but I was just sort of curious . . . *I* proposed to my boyfriend, but I didn't give him an engagement ring because it didn't really seem appropriate. He's not the kind of guy that would wear a man's ring with diamonds in it, and he already wears a beautiful gold band that was one of two "promise rings" we exchanged on our first anniversary. However, I think it would have been nice to have given him something to wear, but what? Has anyone been in this situation, and come up with a clever idea?

A:I come across this situation more often than you might think. There are many men out there, including myself, who do not like to wear rings. A nice watch is very often the answer. A man often does not spend on himself that which he would spend on his fiancee. I am the sort who wouldn't mind wearing an engagement ring, but Joy actually bought me a really nice handcarved wooden fountain pen, ballpen and pencil set. Which I use all the time and is a beautiful reminder of our Love. My brother actually wears a ring, that he will swap to his

other hand when they are married. Well, not everywhere in Sweden... I'm in Sweden (born and raised a Swede :-) and all I've ever seen mentioned, or discussed with friends, is that men do wear their engagement ring on their *left* hand. That's what I consider customary (this is the Stockholm region), and what the engaged men I know do. Some university (and college) degrees come with a gold ring, which is then worn on the right hand. And when the guy is engaged (I guess some can move it when they are married instead, or use another ring entirely) he moves it to the left hand. Not that I go around asking guys that wear a ring on any hand if they are engaged :-)