Celebrities get the best of everything, don’t they? Well, maybe not everything, but they certainly seem to get the very best engagement rings. In case there was any doubt whatsoever about that reality, here are 12 of the most lavish engagement rings celebrities have ever gotten. Once you’ve read our list, don’t forget to come back next month to see part 2!
Kate Middleton
Most of the celebs on this list had their men buy them opulent rings. Not Kate Middleton. Don’t feel bad for her, though: Prince William presented Middleton with an 18-carat blue sapphire set in white gold that belonged to his mother, Princess Diana.
Amal Alamuddin
George Clooney, long-known as Hollywood’s “Most Eligible Bachelor” took more than two decades between weddings because he wanted to be sure he had found the right girl the second time around. When he did, he gave Amal Alamuddin a seven-carat ethically sourced diamond ring when in April of last year.
Lady Gaga
Actor and model Taylor Kinney proposed to always-gone-her-own-way popstar Lady Gaga on Valentine’s Day of this year, and he did it with, appropriately, a heart-shaped ring made by Lorraine Schwartz.
Kim Kardashian
Co-designed by Kris Humphries, the NBA star who presented her with it, Kim Kardashian’s engagement ring came in at 20.5 carats when the pair got engaged in 2011. Its emerald-cut center stone was surrounded by a duo of two-carat trapezoids. Sadly, while diamonds may last forever, their marriage did not, ending after just 72 days.
Kim Kardashian (Again)
Not even pop superstar Kanye West could top the size of Kim’s first engagement ring. Still, at 15 carats, the diamond ring that brought the world “Kimye” – and later North West – is nothing to sneeze at. Kanye gave Kim the Lorraine Schwartz-made ring in 2013, and the couple is, of course, still together today.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton was surrounded by the spotlight back in May 2005 when she was seen wearing an incredible 24-carat diamond ring valued at $4.7 million. But seeing as that she was heiress to about a trillion zillion dollars, that alone was apparently not enough. That’s why Paris Latsis – yeah, her boyfriend was named Paris too – also gave her another ring: a 21-carat canary diamond. They two never wed, though, and the engagement lasted only four months.
Beyoncé
Jay-Z and Beyoncé may be the ultimate music industry power couple. And when they got engaged in 2007, it was with an 18-carat flawless diamond with a platinum setting. The ring was designed by Lorraine Shwartz and is said to be worth $5 million.
Victoria Beckham
Thirteen is the number for Victoria Bechkam. Not 13 carats, though. No, the football/soccer star’s wife is said to have 13 large engagement rings from David, her husband of 16 years, that she swaps between regularly.
Kate Hudson
Muse front man Matthew Bellamy proposed to Kate Hudson sometime before April 2011. When exactly? It’s hard to say, because when Hudson showed up to the Today Show wearing her nine-carat ring valued somewhere around $200,000, she said of it, “I was waiting for someone to notice.” The two were married for about three and a half years and had a son, Bingham, together.
Jennifer Aniston
It was during an October weekend spent in Santa Fe when the actress best known for her turn on Friends first showed off her eight-carat engagement ring from Justin Theroux. Anniston confirmed her engagement to the actor/director/screenwriter in August of 2012, and the pair was just recently wed.
Gabrielle Union
Actress Gabrielle Monique Union Wade got engaged to Miami Heat shooting guard and star player Dwayne Wade just a few days before Christmas of 2013. The ring is an 8.5-carat diamond said to be valued at a cool million.
Bryiana Noelle
Professional skateboarder, actor, entrepreneur, producer, reality TV star – MTV’s Rob Dyrdek has a lot of titles. But for the purpose of this list, it’s “Bryiana Noelle’s fiancé” that interests us most. Dyrdek proposed to the Playboy playmate with an absolutely enormous solitaire diamond on a gold band in April of this year.
Cubic Zirconia Engagement Rings
We can’t all be millionaire celebrities or billionaire “socialites,” whatever that is exactly. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a ring that’s any less spectacular. Birkat Elyon is a renowned provider of cubic zirconia engagement rings of the highest quality. We use only Russian Formula cubic zirconia, which is the only kind that captures the light as beautifully as the real thing. In fact, our stones are so alike real diamonds that even experienced gemologist have trouble seeing the difference. Take a look for yourself and see how uncanny their similarity to diamonds is.
Image Source: Pop Sugar