1. Nicole Richie
Not all of us have the opportunity to collaborate with a jewellery-designer as well known as Neil Lane to design the perfect engagement wedding ring. But Nicole Richie did. Together, they created a vintage-style round, 4-carat diamond, encircled with an octagon of diamonds, finished off on a platinum and diamond band. When she was a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman, she announced the good news. At the time Joel Madden tweeted, “Yeah we’ve been engaged for a while so you’re all kind of late on that. But thanks for the hoopla all the same.”
2. Victoria Beckham
When a Spice Girl and one of England’s most celebrated footballers get engaged, it is guaranteed to be an event and in 1998 when they announced their impending marriage, it certainly was. David Beckham got down on one knee and offered Victoria a $65 000 custom designed 3-carat marquise-cut F1 diamond ring with two trillion cut gemstones on either side and diamonds set in 18-karat gold. Quite a mouthful. And probably quite heavy on your finger too.
3. Katy Perry
No one who follows Russell Brand would have thought he was the type of person to tie the knot. But on holiday in India, the bad-boy comedian asked “California Gurl” Katy to be his one and only. He presented her with a custom designed single-diamond ring, possibly a rare Golconda diamond designed by Hanut Singh, a contemporary jewellery designer in India. It was during a spiritual ceremony at the foot of a mountain that Russell got down on one knee.
4. Carrie Underwood
Ice hockey player Mike Fisher, a forward for the Ottawa Senators, was the lucky man who got engaged to Carrie Underwood. Fisher asked the country singer for her hand in marriage at his Ottawa home, in front of his parents. And by his choice of ring, he proved that he knows his way around the ice – he gave her a Johnathon Arndt-designed round, 5-carat yellow diamond estimated to be worth more than $150 000!
5. Scarlett Johansson
There are unconfirmed reports that actor Ryan Reynolds proposed to Scarlett Johansson via text message, and perhaps we should take that as a word of warning. He gave her a 3-carat round, brilliant-cut solitaire diamond on a yellow gold band with two intertwined loops. It is estimated to be worth over $30 000. Unfortunately they are now divorced. Let that be a lesson to you, guys.
6. Anna Paquin
Not only a couple onscreen, Anna Paquin and her True Blood costar, Stephen Moyer are together in real life too. Moyer says he found inspiration to propose in song from True Blood’s first season. Moyer spent a lot of time perusing designs with his good friend and jewellery designer, Cathy Waterman. On a beach in Hawaii, Bill presented Sookie, sorry, Stephen presented Anna with a custom designed round 1.5-carat rough-cut Victorian-style antique diamond ring on a platinum band worth $50 000.
7. Gisele Bundchen
They say quarterbacks get all the girls and in this case, this seems to be true. Brazilian supermodel and super-hottie, Bundchen got engaged to NFL quarterback Tom Brady on a Christmas Eve flight from Boston to New Jersey. Brady kitted out their private jet with white roses and champagne and popped the question thousands of feet above the ground with a 5-carat round yellow diamond solitaire ring from Cartier valued at $145,000. Touchdown!
8. Kate Middleton
Royal weddings are always an event. Always something to remember and this will be no exception. The long running relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton has now been made official. He got down on one knee and asked her to be his princess in the Mount Kenya National Park in a remote Rutundu log cabin next to a lake. The 18-carat sapphire surrounded by 14 smaller white diamonds was Princess Diana’s engagement ring and it fit Middleton perfectly, a good sign to be sure.
9. Jessica Simpson
Love her or hate her, Jessica Simpson is here to stay. And perhaps her ex-husband Nick Lachey is in the latter group. She stole his thunder by announcing her engagement to former NFL player Eric Johnson just two weeks after Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo got engaged. Johnson made it official with a $100,000 ring: a three stone Neil Lane ring with a five-carat oval ruby flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds on a yellow gold band. Ruby also happens to be Simpson’s birthstone and is also said to be a symbol of pure love.
Sorry Nick.