The Ultimate Engagement Ring Guide

Beautiful and expensive engagement rings have been popular for centuries to pledge eternal love and commitment between the bride-and-groom-to-be. In the past, it was royalty that monopolized the most exquisite engagement rings. But today, it seems that celebrities have supplanted royalty as the most visible and widely-imitated trendsetters in engagement rings.

Celebrities influence the market trends for clothes, hairstyles and cars, so why not engagement rings too? Ordinary people like you and me could never afford some of these outrageous rings. We could make money at our salaries for a lifetime, and still not even come close. But it doesn’t keep us from dreaming and wishing, and sometimes imitating, these fabulous engagement rings.

Here is a list of some of the most incredible celebrity engagement rings over the last century, courtesy of Kualani Kapuna at One Great Earth:

• Before she became Princess Diana, Lady Diana Spencer received an 18-carat deep blue oval Sapphire encircled by 14 diamonds
• Elizabeth Taylor received an emerald cut diamond of nearly 30 carats from her third husband, Michael Todd
• For Catherine Zeta Jones, the pledge from Michael Douglas was marked by a 10-carat antique horizontal-set marquise diamond
• Jennifer Lopez enjoyed the company of a six-carat radiant-shaped pink diamond as a token of Ben Affleck’s affection, reportedly to the tune of $3 million (It was good while it lasted)
• Another short-lived engagement was marked by Paris Hilton with a 24-carat emerald cut diamond ring
• Not to be outdone, Donald Trump bestowed upon Melanie Knauss a Trump-sized 12-carat emerald cut engagement ring at the cost of at least a cool $1 million
• Queen Elizabeth, always classic, wore a three-carat diamond ring with five smaller stones set in platinum
• First Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio eloped, and then he gave her an eternity band of platinum encrusted with 36 small baguette diamonds
• Madonna’s engagement ring is a three-stone design with bezel settings, weighing in at a modest five carat total

Check out this video of celebrity jewlery and what the trends are in 2010: