For me, I have similar feeling, like RaiKai. It's not the actual ring but the experience of shopping together. He pretty much let me pick the ring but I also wanted him to like it. I always asked for his opinion. We did go shopping together and just hearing him say, when asked what we were looking for, "we're looking for engagement rings" meant more to me then actually looking at the rings. We've been together almost 11 years, 12 before we're married. So, really, we've been together so long this just seemed like a natural progression.