Celebrity engagement rings

The world’s most talked about celebrity engagements and weddings feature some of the world’s most admired - and most imitated - celebrity engagement rings.

Celebrity engagement rings are fascinating not just because they belong to some of the world’s hottest stars, but because those stars usually don’t have the same spending limits that we face when it come to selecting engagement rings.

Hollywood star Michael Douglas proposed to Welsh-born Catherine Zeta-Jones with a 10 carat marquise cut diamond engagement ring.  The couple later celebrated in style with a $1 million wedding party.

If that sounds like serious money to you, those who have it are more than happy to flaunt it when it comes to celebrity engagement rings.  Donald Trump gave his girlfriend Melanie Knauss a 12 carat emerald cut engagement ring that was reported to have cost $1 million alone.

Celebrities may be fabulously wealthy in their own right, but most jewellers also bend over backwards to ensure that they can offer an engagement ring from their particular collections.  After all, when an Oscar winning actress or a chart topping singer gets engaged, her engagement ring will be featured in closeup on the covers of thousands of celebrity magazines and newspapers.

Coloured diamonds

Celebrity engagement rings inspire others and help create trends as much as they follow existing trends. When singer Seal popped the question to supermodel Heidi Klum, he did so with a stunning yellow diamond engagement ring – a choice that reflected personality but also was on the button when it came to hot jewellery styles.

Coloured diamonds also feature on other celebrity engagement rings.  Jennifer Lopez made headlines when Ben Affleck proposed to her with a 6 carat radiant shaped pink diamond ring reported to have cost more than $3 million.

Platinum is the most popular choice of precious metal for Hollywood engagement rings, although former a Baywatch babe opted for a 4 carat round solitaire ring with a yellow gold band.  Christina Aguilera’s engagement ring is part of a white gold engagement and wedding ring set featuring white diamonds around the band topped by a 4 carat round diamond.

Remarkably few celebrities appear able to fall back on family heirlooms when it comes to their engagement rings.  Former ‘Saturday Night Live’ comedienne Molly Shannon is a rare example of a celebrity sporting a family heirloom: her partner proposed to her using his great-grandmother’s engagement ring. 

Vintage engagement rings, by contrast, are all the rage in Hollywood.  Actor David Arquette slipped a vintage engagement ring with two diamonds that formed a figure eight on the finger of former ‘Friends’ star Courtney Cox.  Actress Rebecca Romijn-Stamos also opted for vintage Hollywood glamour with a 5 carat emerald cut diamond from Neil Lane’s vintage collection.

Large diamonds

It will come as no surprise that bigger is most definitely better when it comes to diamond celebrity engagement rings.  Liz Taylor’s ring for her engagement to third husband Michael Todd was dominated by an emerald cut diamond of nearly 30 carats. 

Paris Hilton briefly sported a $4.7 million 24 carat emerald cut diamond engagement ring, thought to have been one of the world’s most expensive celebrity engagement rings.  She later auctioned off the ring to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina at less than half of its original price tag.

The stars seem increasingly to select engagement rings with multiple stones from the collections of the top jewellery stores.  Whitney Houston’s engagement ring featured a whopping 10 carat oval diamond with a trillion on either side.

Madonna was presented with an Edwardian platinum engagement ring topped by three diamonds, thought to either represent past, present and future or simply the three members of her family at that time.

Other stars get to choose their own engagement rings.  Pop princess Britney Spears, for example, selected a 4 carat cushion cut round diamond engagement ring with a platinum band encrusted with pave diamonds.

Getting your own celebrity engagement ring

Not every celebrity wears an engagement ring with a diamond at its centre.  When Javier Bardem proposed to Penelope Cruz, he presented her with a stunning blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. 

Bollywood royalty Aishwariya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan had their diamond studded sapphire engagement ring chosen for them by a close family friend.  Another Bollywood actress, the former Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty, married one of the richest Indians after he gave her a flawless 20 carat diamond engagement ring.

Celebrity engagement rings inspire others with more modest budgets.  Although most of us may not be able to spend millions on our engagement ring, it is certainly possible to select a ring that looks similar on a much smaller budget.

Instead of platinum you could decide to opt for a less expensive white gold engagement ring, perhaps with a larger diamond of a higher colour grade or more inclusions – all of which should look perfectly fabulous in their setting on the hand of your bride-to-be.

If your girlfriend has her heart set on an engagement ring just like one she’s seen in a celebrity magazine, give our engagement ring and diamond experts a call on 0800 530 0541 and they’ll be able to advice you on a ring in a similar style within your budget. You can also email us on service@diamondmanufacturers.co.uk.