Ok, ok…before you mad guppies start getting any ideas, I’m not getting engaged (not yet, anyhow). Was pondering the issue pretty much out of the blue and thought I’d get your perspectives on it…
I have friends who like/liked ring-shopping with their fiancees/now-husbands. I have other friends who prefer/preferred their fiancees/now-husbands surprising them with the ring. Which do you prefer, which do you feel is “appropriate” (if there is such a thing), and why?
Well, I work at a jewelry store and most of the times I have seen that a girl comes with her friend(s) to store and picks the ring herself. In a day or two, her friends show up with her fiance and show him the ring that she's picked and that's when the poor guy get's a heart attack. :p
i don't know about propriety, but i do know that i wanted it to be somewhat of a surprise -- something he picked out. so what i did was send a few pics of styles i liked so that he had a sense of my taste.
another possibility is to have him go with a close friend or relative who knows and understands your taste.
I would tell him what ring cut I would prefer and give him little hints about how I would like it to be (i.e. not a thick band or too flashy) but would leave the ultimate decision to him.
Re: Engagement ring shopping
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
will that ever happen… i think i’ll get married directly… (maybe) 
I dont wear jewelry so I think I will tell him I dont want a ring. But if he insists, I will let him pick it out cause I dont know the first thing about jewelry.
If I didn't trust his choice I would tell him exactly what I want and if I did I would give him a clear hint on what style I am loking for and leave the rest to him. Again if his choice is good enough to go with me, I'm sure he would have good taste :p
this reminds me of something funny that happenned with one of my friends...her would be mangetar was insisting k y dont u choose the ring since u r gona wear it, and she was like no i want u to choose it...n they debated this over ages...
btw girls there is that case too when girls who r like i want my mangetar to choose the ring n the mangetar ends up delegating the task to his mom n sis coz he knows nothing abt rings anyway...so in the end its not his choice after all!
When I was previously engaged (gosh, it's been 5 years since), my fiance flew down from London and we went ring shopping together. Fortunately we both fell in love with this same really beautiful marquis-cut set in 18K gold, which is what we ended up buying.