I think a promise ring is romantic no matter the age. If you want to give it to her give it to her! We can’t make the decision for you so if you want to go for it you should. It’s up to you and only you 
I think it’s adorable and, if it doesn’t work out, something that will be remembered fondly. I say go for it and enjoy the rush of first love as long as it lasts. Also, the teenage years are the perfect time for a promise ring. What, you think 30 is better?
I’m just curious how you know if someone is giving you a promise ring or just a regular ring. Also, what the difference even is. But either way, 6 months isn’t too soon for it and 18 isn’t too young. What are you supposed to do, give one when you’re 27 and have been dating someone for 2 years? It would be even weirder to get a promise ring at that point. When you’re a teenager, then it’s like, oh okay, silly kids, aren’t they cute or something.
6 months isn’t too soon in and of itself. My parents were married 6 months after they met. However 18 is generally too young for something like that.
pulykamell’s explanation is exactly my experience. To the letter. Although I’ll say that it’s generally a high-school, late adolescent thing; never heard of it once I was in college a couple of years.
El SpouseO and I are high school sweethearts (as are my brother and his wife), so these early relationships *can *go the distance. (We’ve been married for 13 years, together for 20. Next year our relationship will be old enough to drink, good god.) By and large, though, generally they don’t.
Buy her a ring, if you like, but make sure it’s something affordable and without any “promise” wording attached to it. Better might be to take El SpouseO’s path (and recommeded above): buy her some other jewelry she’d like. A bracelet, necklace, or earrings. El SpouseO never gave me any sort of ring except for the engagement ring. (Well, except the rings out of the quarter vending machines that turned my finger green - we joked that those were our promise rings. I still have them, so these can be sweet, too.)
Since I know absolutely nothing about the OP or his beloved, I won’t offer any absolute “Yes” or “No” answer as to whether he SHOULD offer a gift that speaks of permanence.
I’d just ask him to ask himself:
- As wonderful as his girlfriend may be, is he sure she’s the one he wants to spend his life with? (Forever is a LONG time, kid!)
If so, how soon until marriage is a realistic, practical possibility? How soon until they can get jobs and afford to live together in their own home without massive financial support from their families? If the answer is “Soon,” then it may be fine to buy a Promise RIng. If the answer is “It’s going to be a few years,” you may want to wait.
- Is he sure she feels the same way he does?
If she’s NOT thinking yet of marriage, a Promise Ring may actually scare her off. If SHE wants a Promise Ring and has dropped hints about one, great! If not, you may be jumping the gun.
Whatever happened to exchanging class rings?
Class rings are fucking expensive?
There’s also a chance she’ll freak out and run screaming into the night.
I was going to say don’t do it but then I got to thinking; go ahead, but be aware of the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Basically, don’t stay with the relationship if it starts to fail simply because you have invested time/resources/emotions into it and don’t want to “waste” them.
Any more so than not a class ring?
Easy. You throw it into the fireplace and then check for runes.
Most people can find a cute gift ring for less than the $250-$700 class ring price point.
I’ll grant you that it feasibly that it could start at 200 rather than 250 but if you’re talking about a super cheap $100 ring, you can also get a super cheap $100 class ring and it’d be more socially acceptable to skimp on the gold and gemstones for a class ring than a promise ring.
Plus, a class ring you get back when you break up. It’s a cointoss for the promise ring.
Class rings weren’t a “thing” in my high school, so the idea that you would just have one on hand to trade didn’t occur to me. I was picturing someone buying a class ring specifically to give away, which is crazy.
I feel like we had a recent thread, noting that they weren’t a “thing” many places anymore, due to their ridiculous expense and low quality.
When I was in 7th grade, if you were going steady with a girl, you’d give her an ID bracelet with your name engraved on it to wear.