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Engagement Rings With Real Star Power

By Laura McCreddie-Doak 5 Minute Read

Celebrity engagement rings aren’t just good for celebrity gossip sites, they can also offer inspiration for those looking for something a little more unusual than the traditional four-claw solitaire.

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Summer’s here, which means you’ll be spending every weekend from now until late August watching two people say, “I do”. For the coupled up but not yet affianced, weddings will do one of two things –make you sure you never want to do this ever or plant that little kernel of a thought that maybe the timing is right for a proposal. If you’re in the latter camp, then you’ll be in the market for some inspiration, which is where celebrities can actually prove helpful.

Those in the public eye tend to opt for designs a little more unusual than the standard four-claw solitaire. Luckily, eagle-eyed jewellery designers keep an eye on what’s going on in LaLa Land and find ways to interpret these creations, which means you can choose a design that truly reflects the jewellery tastes of the one you’re marrying.


Take Emily Ratajkowski’s incredible double diamond design. She obviously couldn’t decide which cut diamond she liked the best so chose two – one princess cut, the other pear and both enormous (the ring is an estimated five carats). Double stones are evidently having a moment because Ariana Grande has paired her oval-cut diamond with a pretty pearl. Messika has created a similar style – the white gold and diamond My Twin. However, rather than the two stones set against each other, there’s a sultry flash of skin and a pavé-set surround to make the central two diamonds appear larger.

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By contrast, Amal Clooney’s ring is the fine-jewellery embodiment of the woman herself. The combination of the substantial emerald stone flanked by tapered baguettes in a platinum setting exudes a certain aloof glamour, while the lack of rounded shapes shows that this woman, like the ring, is to be taken seriously. Something Goldsmiths has interpreted for its platinum and diamond emerald-cut Halo design. Rather than flank the central stone with two baguettes, this option uses smaller stones to encircle the central one, flowing out onto the band like a river of diamonds.

Over the last couple of years oval stones have been growing in popularity, the naturally elongated shape makes the hand look more elegant and the stone looks larger than a round cut of similar carat. Which might be why Travis Barker chose one to propose to Kourtney Kardashian. It’s more traditional than you’d expect looking at Travis Barker. Although it’s more unusual than the standard princess-cut solitaire, it is a single stone with pavé set band, which is a traditional engagement design, one that Goldsmith’s has been inspired to reflect with its wonderfully refined Platinum Oval Solitaire Diamond ring.

If understated is your particular Pinterest mood board aesthetic, look to Michelle Obama for inspiration. Unsurprisingly for such an elegant couple, Michelle Obama’s engagement ring is a classic – a round brilliant diamond set in a yellow gold solitaire setting on a simple band, a design to which Goldsmith’s has given a 21st century update by placing a similar stone on a platinum band. However, in 2018 for their 26th wedding anniversary, this ring received an upgrade – a larger stone now set in platinum with pavé set diamonds on the band. Book sales must have been doing well.

It could only have been a ring fit for royalty when the Queen in the North, Sophie Turner, was proposed to by Joe Jonas. The central stone is a gorgeous pear-cut diamond, which is the most brilliant of all the fancy cuts, featuring 58 facets. In an unusual touch, two pavé-set bands support the top and bottom of the gem showing sensual slices of bare skin either side, which Goldsmith’s has emulated with its Diamond Pear Cut Halo ring, with the central stone here surrounded by diamonds as well. If the double-band look is too fussy for you, Goldsmith’s offers this design on a single band, also pavé-set with precious stones.

It is said that on a three-stone engagement ring the diamonds represent the past, present, and future of the relationship, which might have been what Harry was thinking of when he designed his three-stone sensation for Meghan Markle. The cut of the middle diamond is cushion, one that has been around for 200 years, which suggests a nod to tradition, while the two flanking stones were chosen from Diana’s personal jewellery collection. Goldsmith’s doesn’t have access to Diana’s jewels but aside from that detail, its Brightest Diamond Three-Stone Engagement ring is almost identical. We’d advise taking it off should you ever find yourself in the Duchess of Sussex’s company.

Discover an engagement ring to rival the stars here at Goldsmiths online or visit us in store at one of our showrooms where our jewellery experts will be delighted to help you.

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