It is a popular held belief that every woman dreams about her diamond engagement ring since the time she is a little girl. However, no kid is smart enough to envision a ring that would still be her favorite 20-something years on, and so it is safe to assume that women figure out their ring preferences much later in life than childhood. For a guy, this makes it all but a gamble to spend heaps of cash on, say, a diamond princess ring he hopes his sweetheart will like. In all fairness, any woman would want to spend time with a ring to see if she really likes it. Enter “placeholder” or stand-in rings for financially astute couples. Instead of breaking the bank early on in your relationship, you can propose with something that looks very much like the real deal, but costs worlds less. The lower cost keeps such a piece from becoming a “forever” ring. The stone is generally cubic zirconia, set in white gold, sterling silver, or rose gold. No one has to know you and your sweetheart are trying it on a temporary basis. At the end of it, you will at least know about what you do not like.