Can the price of fame be measured in the size of the engagement ring? Recent celebrity engagements suggest so.
Mariah Carey and billionaire fiancé James Packer just raised the bar to impossible heights with an incredibly huge 35-carat emerald-cut diamond surrounded by two tapered smaller stones in a platinum setting. The design is by Wilfredo Rosado. Would you expect any less from the casino entrepreneur and fourth-richest man in Australia?
The Daily Mail says most celebrity diamonds usually top out around 20 carats. That’s the estimated size of the marquise diamond media tycoon Rupert Murdoch put on the finger of Texas supermodel Jerry Hall to the tune of $3.4 million guesstimated at current exchange rates.
The recent trend toward gigantic may be overshadowing even the 18-carat diamond valued at about $5 million that Beyoncé received from Jay Z. The setting for that rock was designed by Lorraine Schwartz. Lorraine Schwartz also designed Kim Kardashian’s 15-carat solitaire. Yet another beautifully gigantic Lorraine Schwartz design is on the finger of Julianne Hough, who received her engagement ring from hockey player Brooks Laich.
When fashion designer Tory Burch posted an Instagram photo to promote her new Tory Sport line, her enormous engagement ring from French fashion exec Pierre-Yves Rossel stole the show. Jenny McCarthy’s massive sapphire engagement ring from Donnie Wahlberg is an eye-catching canary yellow.
Eva Longoria flashed her diamond-and-ruby charmer from TV exec Antonio on The Today Show and matched the look with ruby and diamond earrings. A gigantic square-cut diamond from former NFL player Ed Hartwell sealed the deal for just-married former Cosby Show child star Keshia Knight Pulliam.
Here’s some perspective on engagement rings.
Prince William gave Kate Middleton an oval sapphire that first came into the royal family in 1981 when Princess Diana first picked it out. E! Online puts the original value at about $47,000, although other estimates says it was closer to $60,000. The iconic 12-carat sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds would be worth about $500,000 at 2010 exchange rates.
For more on the escalating size of these icebergs, go to Best Celebrity Engagement Rings.
