You may have heard the theory that a man should spend the equivalent of two months of his salary when buying his future wife her engagement ring. However, have you often wondered where this ‘tradition’ actually came from?

Now, guys could be sitting there thinking that it was all down to women who wanted a large and impressive ring, but that is not the case. Instead, the culprit is none other than de Beers’. If that name sounds familiar but you cannot quite place it, then it is the name of a famous diamond company, the largest in the industry.

Yep, you guessed it, this theory was all a marketing ploy to try to get guys to spend more money on a de Beers’ product, as they thought that it was something they had to do in order to show their love. When you stop and think about it, this was quite a clever trick considering the way that it began to take hold, and men did indeed feel obliged to spend as much money as possible.