Ed Sheeran and his fiancee both wear an engagement ring

His fiancee made it for him

Ed Sheeran wears an engagement ring on the red carpet at the Brit Awards (Getty)

Singer Ed Sheeran is breaking down gender stereotypes - by wearing a very significant piece of jewellery on his ring finger.

When Sheeran was originally spotted with a silver ring on his finger during a concert, many fans assumed he and fiance Cherry Seaborn had married in secret, after recently announcing they were engaged.

But it turns out the childhood friends have not tied the knot just yet - Sheeran is simply showing off his commitment to his fiancee with an engagement ring of his own.

Speaking about the ring at the 2018 Brit Awards, Sheeran told ITV showLorraine, “I never saw why men didn’t wear engagement rings. It’s the same commitment either way.”

And if that weren’t sweet enough, the 27-year-old singer then revealed Cherry made him the ring herself, out of silver clay - and Sheeran “really likes it.”

When asked about the ring’s meaning, Sheeran told a Sky News reporter: “It’s an engagement ring, cause I feel like it’s good to both do things.”

Romantic, yes, especially when considering the historical significance of engagement rings.

Engagement rings were originally meant to imply ownership - and only worn by brides-to-be.

Rings could be a down payment of sorts, as was the case in Roman law - which wedding historian Susan Waggoner described as: “a surprisingly modern view of the engagement ring, recognising it not as a sign of ownership but as a kind of security or down payment paid to the bride-to-be.”

But despite Sheeran paving the way for men to wear engagement rings, it doesn’t seem likely the trend will catch on - as various jewellers have tried to popularise the concept over the years to no avail.

In 2015, The Knot reported that just five per cent of men surveyed were wearing engagement rings, termed “man-gagement” rings.

However, we support Sheeran’s choice to rock an engagement ring - albeit one much more subtle than his fiancee’s - whose engagement ring features a very large diamond.