We became engaged after 5 years and Wed 6 weeks later. We bought the least expensive rings we could that were real gold and spent our savings on a 11 month honeymoon traveling. Rings held though! Thirty years in so far.
Knew him for about 4 years, was engaged for a year, and the ring was free because it was his great-grandmother's and was sitting idle in a safe deposit box.
We were engaged after a year and stayed engaged for a while. My first ring was an ugly sapphire, and a few years later I was given a proper engagement ring. It was about 3,000 I think.