Bling Rings
These epic baubles—no single-digit carats here—graced the left hands of some very lucky ladies. From Kim Kardashian to Elizabeth Taylor, we count down eleven ladies with enormous engagement rocks.
Heidi Klum received her 10 carat oval cut canary diamond from Seal when he proposed on a glacier at 14,000 feet in Whistler, British Columbia, in an igloo built just for the event, no less.
Jayne Mansfield, actress and sex symbol, scored a 10 carat round diamond from Mickey Hargitay (an actor and Mr. Universe 1955) when he proposed in 1957. At the time, it was valued at $25,000. The couple famously had a heart-shaped swimming pool in their Beverly Hills mansion, “The Pink Palace.”
Catherine Zeta Jones received a 1920s antique marquis engagement ring weighing in at 10 carats from Michael Douglas. The Fred Leighton ring—supporting a stone interestingly placed horizontally rather than vertically—is reportedly worth $2 million.
Khloé Kardashian received a 12.5 carat radiant-cut diamond from Lamar Odom reportedly worth $850,000 when he proposed after only about a month of dating. The pair were married less than a week later in front of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians cameras. The couple now star in the aptly named Khloé and Lamar.
Donald Trump gave Melania Knauss a 15 carat emerald-cut diamond worth $1.5 million when he proposed in 2004. Though the notorious deal-maker reportedly only ended up paying half that price.
Elizabeth Hurley received a 15-carat Asscher-cut Chopard ring from Arun Nayar before their lavish multi-day wedding in 2007.
When Beyonce isn’t wearing the 18 carat emerald-cut ring from from Jay-Z (estimated at $5 million), she has a more subtle, but far more permanent reminder of her husband—the numeral IV inked on her ring finger (four being a “special number” for Beyonce: they were married on April 4, both of their birthdays fall on a 4).
After six months, NBA star Kris Humphries proposed to Kim Kardashian by waiting in her bedroom on bended knee with “will you marry me” written in rose petals…and a 20.5 carat Lorraine Schwartz ring—a 16.5-carat emerald-cut center stone flanked by a pair of 2-carat trapezoids—reportedly worth $2 million.
Paris Hilton was given a 24-carat emerald-cut ring worth a reported $4.7 million from fellow Paris, Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis (she was also reportedly gifted a 21-carat canary diamond “I love you” ring at the same time). The engagement only lasted five months and the ring was later auctioned off for charity.
Among her many baubles was the 33-carat emerald-cut Krupp Diamond gifted to her by Richard Burton in 1968. Though the $305,000 ring was not an engagement ring (the pair had married in 1964) she wore it constantly and it even made it’s way into a story line during Taylor’s guest spots on I Love Lucy and The Simpsons.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis received a 40.42 carat marquise-cut Lesotho III diamond ring from Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis before their 1968 marriage. The ring, one of eighteen gems cut from a 601-carat rough diamond named the Lesotho, was sold at auction at Sotheby’s in 1996 for $2.6 million.
