Say a female friend gets engaged. You hug her, congratulate her, ask when the big date is.

And then, of course, you want to see the ring (I know this won’t mean much for the guys out there, but bear with me).

You try it on, admire the sparkle. Diamonds are forever. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. You’d like one, too.

Now you can go get one.

Apparently the latest in women’s jewelry is the right-hand diamond ring. It’s marketed at women who can afford a diamond and don’t want to wait for someone to give it to her. The thought is, hey, I want a diamond, I’m successful enough in my job to afford it, and I deserve a sparkler.

Now, I’m not crazy about the designs of these rings but I think the message is pretty empowering. If you want a diamond, you go get it, girl!

My frequent partner-in-crime for evenings out made an are-you-kidding-me face when I asked her about the right-hand rings. Do single women really need such frivolous, material things to make a statement about our comfort level with ourselves, she seemed to wonder.

Valid point. It’s a good thing I didn’t tell her the ad’s slogan: “Women of the world, raise your right hand!” Pretty awful, huh?

Anyway, back to the jewelry.

I found several styles on www.adiamondisforever.com, under the “What’s Hot” category, no less.

“The right hand need not be ignored any longer,” the Web site’s spiel begins. “… The newest trend is the diamond Right Hand Ring. The diamond Right Hand Ring signifies the strength, success and independence of women of the twenty-first century.”

These rings come in styles called modern vintage, floral, romantic and contemporary, so figure out your “individual personality” when deciding on a ring (I’m feeling kind of modern vintage today …).

By the way, there’s a whole section on this diamond Web site for men, but it’s no celebration of singlehood. In fact, it’s all about how to buy an engagement ring. It’s a partnership between the diamond people and Maxim magazine. Kind of ironic, considering Maxim seems to be a magazine that celebrates the swinging life of a single guy.

So I wondered, what’s the equivalent for men? I can’t think of many guys I know who would go out and buy themselves a ring to celebrate their singlehood. A co-worker suggested that men celebrate their freedom with toys, things such as snowmobiles, monstrous TV sets, garage door openers.

Makes sense, even if it’s a bit stereotypical. If I had the cash for a diamond ring, I’d rather spend it on the new James Bond DVD collection. I already have a ring for my right hand. It was a gift from a nutty family friend, Aunt Margie. She bought it on the Home Shopping Network.

One of my favorite waitresses at the Bear Brew Pub in Orono wears a ring on her left hand that is a dead, um, ringer for an engagement diamond. I asked her about it one day and she said she was most definitely not engaged. It’s just a ring she likes to wear, she told me.

Now that’s empowering.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at jbloch@bangordailynews.net