While it’s true enough that all engagement rings have a story to tell (given that they do hold the title for ‘most romantic piece of jewellery’), there are some with a little bit more than others.
Vintage rings that have lived through different decades (or even centuries), custom rings with hidden messages or personal inscriptions, or rings passed down through generations, these pieces have fascinating stories behind their glittering façades.
And given their higher rates of disposal incomes and their seemingly infinite access to the finest jewellers in the world, celebrities often find themselves with rings of such backgrounds.
Here, we round up the most storied engagement rings in celebrity history.
Elizabeth Taylor
The ring: A 33-carat cushion-cut diamond on a platinum band.
The story: When Elizabeth Taylor married her fifth husband Richard Burton, he actually proposed with a 18.6-carat emerald pendant necklace. Then, after they had divorced and then reconciled, he gave her the colossal 33-carat Krupp diamond, which Taylor had made into a ring. It appeared in several of Taylor’s films and was re-named the ‘Elizabeth Taylor Diamond’ after her death.
Zoë Kravitz
The ring: A Georgian trio of rose-cut diamonds, backed by foil and set in silver-topped gold.
The story: If we got our hands on all the jewellery in our Instagram Saved folders, we’d be very happy women. Zoë Kravitz found and fell in love with her engagement ring on Instagram, after spotting on The One I Love NYC’s page. A (very good) friend of Kravitz’s sent the ring to Kravitz’s boyfriend, Karl Glusman, who ended up buying the one-of-a-kind antique for her before anyone snapped it up.
Grace Kelly
The ring: A 10.48-carat emerald-cut diamond on a platinum band.
The story: When Prince Rainier of Monaco proposed to actress Grace Kelly in 1956, he did it with a diamond and ruby eternity band. It was only during the filming of High Society that Kelly debuted her second engagement ring, a 10 carat sparkler from Cartier. Rumour has it that Kelly was meant to wear a large fake prop ring for the role, but that Rainier had offered to buy her ‘a real one’ that she could then keep. During the film, Kelly (as Tracy Lord) is seen comically polishing and cleaning the ring.
Queen Elizabeth II
The ring: A 3-carat round-cut diamond, surrounded by 10 small diamonds, set in platinum.
The story: Although he was born a Greek prince, Prince Philip’s family was not particularly wealthy. After fleeing the war and relocating to Paris, Philip met and fell in love with the young Princess Elizabeth. When it came time to propose, Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenburg, gave him her wedding tiara, so that he could dismantle it and use its stones for a ring. Queen Elizabeth still wears the ring to this day.
Diana, Princess of Wales
The ring: A 12-carat Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds, set in white gold.
The story: In what was—at the time—a very unusual move for a royal bride-to-be, the then-Lady Diana Spencer chose to skip a custom design or a piece from the royal vaults and instead selected her sapphire ring from a Garrard’s catalogue. This was a controversial choice at the time because it meant anyone could buy the same ring (and many did). However, that didn’t bother the princess. She wore the ring even after divorcing Prince Charles, and left it to her sons.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
The ring: A 12-carat Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds, set in white gold.
The story: While the image of the Duchess of Cambridge is now tied with her iconic sapphire ring, it’s fascinating to note that it wasn’t always meant to be her’s. After the tragic passing of Princess Diana, her sons picked a piece of her jewellery each as a memento. William chose her Cartier tank watch and Harry chose her engagement ring. However, when it came time to propose to his then-girlfriend Catherine Middleton, William asked his brother for a trade so he could give it to her. The ring is now cheekily known as the ‘commoner’s sapphire,’ as it belonged to two royal brides of ‘common’ origin.
Emily Ratajkowski
The ring: A set of pear- and princess-cut diamonds on a yellow-gold band.
The story: After getting married at city hall (in one very chic Zara suit), Emily Ratajkowski wore just her gold band for a while, before debuting her massive engagement ring in 2018. The ring was designed by both Ratajkowski and her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, who was working on the movie Uncut Gems at the time.
“We liked the idea of two stones instead of one and spent a long time looking at rings with multiple stones for inspiration,” Ratajkowski said of the ring. “At one point it included a ruby as the second stone, [but] ultimately we loved the idea of the femininity of the pear contrasted with the architecture of the princess.”
“We wanted the stones to be the main attraction, so we went for the lowest possible setting in white gold and yellow gold band to match my wedding band.”
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
The ring: A 3.5-carat diamond, surrounded by round-cut stones, on a platinum band.
The story: Like Kate Middleton’s, Meghan Markle’s ring was also designed with Princess Diana in mind. As revealed by Prince Harry in an interview, all the elements of the ring were carefully thought-out. The centre stone was sourced from Botswana, his “second home”; the surrounding stones came from Diana’s personal collection; and it was set in yellow gold because “that’s favourite.” After welcoming baby Archie in 2019, Meghan had the ring re-designed to sit on a micro-pave band.
Halle Berry
The ring: A 4-carat cushion-cut emerald on a thick gold band.
The story: When Olivier Martinez was planning on proposing to Halle Berry, he tapped his Parisian neighbour and legendary jeweller Robert Mazio to create it. It reportedly has “esoteric codes” inscribed into the band which can only be understood by the couple themselves.
Olivia Wilde
The ring: A round-cut diamond surrounded by an emerald halo.
The story: Olivia Wilde’s vintage ring from Jason Sudeikis came with a beautiful history, according to the actress and director. “All they know is that it went through Paris around 1921,” Wilde told Brides. “I love imagining the story of this ring. Who had it? It’s a bit of an aqua emerald, not a deep dark green. Jason said it reminded him of my eyes, which is very sweet.” Unfortunately, the two have since split.
Priyanka Chopra
The ring: A 4-carat cushion-cut diamond on a platinum band.
The story: In a move that we thought only happened in Sweet Home Alabama, Nick Jonas took his time picking out Priyanka Chopra’s 4-carat engagement ring… he shut down a Tiffany & Co. store in London in order to shop in privacy.
Scarlett Johansson
The ring: A 11-carat ‘light brown’ oblong-shaped diamond on a black band.
The story: After receiving two traditional rings from her first two husbands, Ryan Reynolds and Romain Dauriac respectively, Johansson received a very unique rock for her engagement to Colin Jost. The unusual ‘light brown’ diamond on a black band was designed by James de Givenchy, the nephew of Hubert de Givenchy of the House of Givenchy. Known for innovative and unique designs, de Givenchy often creates one-of-a-kind pieces with unexpected materials. Only Scarlett could pull this one off.
Hailey Bieber
The ring: An 6 to 10-carat, oval-cut diamond on a yellow gold band.
The story: If you’ve been discussing marriage with your partner and they know you and your style well, it’s logical that you’ll end up with the ring of your dreams. However, in Hailey Bieber’s case, she got the exact ring of her dreams. Following her engagement, fans noticed an old tweet of hers from 2012 which read, “If my ring isn’t as big as Blake Lively’s, I don’t want to get married.” And lo and behold, Bieber’s own ring was a spot-on likeness of Lively’s: a large, 10-carat oval-cut diamond on a simple, thin band.
Ashley Graham
The ring: A round-cut-diamond on a brushed gold band.
The story: Our favourite kind of engagement ring? One that’s designed exactly to our tastes and grows over time. “I told [husband Justin Ervin] everything I didn’t want and then I told him a few things that were very important to me,” Graham revealed about her ring. “I knew I wanted a flat diamond so I could put my hand in my pocket easily. I also didn’t want traditional, super-shiny gold. I don’t want it to be too much, I like it to be just enough, so I picked brushed gold.”
She also added: “I added another diamond and band at our fifth anniversary, and for our upcoming tenth anniversary I will get another diamond. We take our anniversaries very seriously and our relationship is important to us. Getting to ten years nowadays is quite rare and no easy feat. I feel like I deserve that diamond!”
Rebecca Romijn
The ring: A 6-carat yellow diamond on a yellow-gold band.
The story: While Rebecca Romijn’s Lorraine Schwartz ring may have started out traditional, it was anything but after a redesign in 2008. After having to remove her ring due to swelling fingers during her pregnancy, Romijn had the ring altered so that the diamond dangled off the band. She said of the chan
Megan Fox
The ring: An emerald and diamond on a silver encrusted band.
The story: After proposing to Fox in early 2022, Machine Gun Kelly took to Instagram to describe the sweet back story to designing the engagement ring alongside famed British jeweller, Stephen Webster.
“I know tradition is one ring, but I designed it with Stephen Webster to be two,” the rapper wrote.
“The emerald (her birth stone) and the diamond (my birth stone) set on two magnetic bands of thorns that draw together as two halves of the same soul forming the obscure heart that is our love.”
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