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Image / Style / Weddings

16 of the most unusual celebrity engagement rings including JLo’s ‘extremely rare’ green diamond


By Sarah Finnan
13th Apr 2022

IMDb

16 of the most unusual celebrity engagement rings including JLo’s ‘extremely rare’ green diamond

Jenny from the block has some new bling courtesy of Ben Affleck who reportedly proposed to his longtime love at her favourite place in the world... the bubble bath.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock with no service, news that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are engaged (again) is sure to have reached you by now. Reuniting last summer after over 17 years apart, absence definitely made the heart grow fonder and they’ve been going from strength to strength ever since.

Reportedly in escrow for an impressive $55 million Bel Air estate with 17 (17!!!) bathrooms, the couple took another step forward this week when Ben dropped down on one knee for the second time. Filling fans in on how exactly he popped the question, Jen shared more of the details over on her newsletter, On the JLo, revealing that it happened on a Saturday night at her “favourite place on earth”… the bubble bath. 

“Did you ever imagine your biggest dream could come true?”, she asked. “My beautiful love got on one knee and proposed. I was taken totally off guard and just looked in his eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying hard to get my head around the fact that after 20 years this was happening all over again. I was quite literally speechless and he said, ‘Is that a yes?’ I said ‘YES, of course that’s a YES!’”

“I was smiling so big and tears were coming down my face, feeling so incredibly happy and whole,” she recalled. “It was nothing fancy at all, but it was the most romantic thing I could’ve ever imagined… just a quiet Saturday night at home, two people promising to always be there for each other. Two very lucky people. Who got a second chance at true love.

As for that ring?! Show-stopping, spectacular, never the same… I could go on. The green diamond is also extremely rare too. “The rarity of a natural green diamond cannot be overstated,”  diamond expert Grant Mobley told People. “Generally speaking, green is the second rarest natural colour of a diamond with fancy red being the rarest. Only a small handful of green diamonds come to the market every year and almost never are they in the vivid colour and size of this diamond.” Good job Ben. 

Jen’s gorgeous new rock also got us thinking about some of the other more unusual celebrity engagement rings we love. Here’s a selection of the ones that come to mind.

Megan Fox & Machine Gun Kelly

Everything we know about Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s relationship has been learned against our will… including the fact that they celebrated their soon-to-be nuptials by drinking each other’s blood. Standard. 

That aside, MGK actually did a pretty good job planning how we would get down on one knee though and brought Megan back to the place where the couple first fell in love.  He even went so far as to design a one-of-a-kind ring for the occasion too and I hate to say it, but we’re impressed. 

Forgoing tradition in marriage as in life, the Blonde Don (as he’s known on Instagram) opted for two diamonds and two bands instead of one. “I know tradition is one ring, but I designed it with Stephen Webster to be two: the emerald (her birthstone) and the diamond (my birthstone) set on two magnetic bands of thorns that draw together as two halves of the same soul forming the obscure heart that is our love”. 

Completely batsh*t, but the ring is gorgeous. 

Lily Collins & Charlie McDowell 

The Emily in Paris star and her filmmaker beau tied the knot it a beautiful rustic ceremony in Colorado last year. Inviting a small number of friends and family to join them for the special occasion, the two said their vows to the backdrop of an extraordinary alpine valley complete with a gently trickling waterfall and everything. Managing to capture the moment he proposed to Lily on camera (thanks to a cleverly planned self-timer video), Charlie teamed up with American jeweller Irene Neuwirth to design the ring which features a square rose-cut diamond set in a yellow-gold band. 

The ring is good but the wedding dress is even better. 

Ariana Grande & Dalton Gomez

Clearly a fan of the movie Bride Wars, Ariana Grande followed Kate Hudson’s lead and wore a custom-designed Vera Wang dress on her wedding day. Lily-white in colour, the silk charmeuse number featured an empire waist and sculpted neckline which the singer paired with a shoulder-length veil and satin bow. Accessories were kept to a minimum and the singer only wore a pair of pearl and diamond earrings along with her beautiful engagement ring. 

Pricey as the ring is, it’s worth much more than money to the singer and Dalton was insistent on including a pearl as he knew how “sentimentally special” that would be to his fiancé who has another ring her grandmother made for her with the pearl from her grandfather’s tie pin. 

Princess Eugenie & Jack Brooksbank 

Just after welcoming their first child together last February, Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack walked down the aisle back in October 2018. And it was quite the royal affair to say the least. Getting married in the same venue that hosted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding earlier that year, all eyes were on the bride who went for a low-back ivory gown and emerald tiara for the occasion. Deliberately opting for a dress that would show the scars on her back (which resulted from spinal-correction surgery she had at age 12), Princess Eugenie chose not to wear a veil for this very reason. 

As for the ring? Instead of a traditional diamond, the Queen’s granddaughter received a rare padparadscha sapphire stone which gives off a beautiful pinkish/orange glow. The main stone is surrounded by several other diamonds, arranged in the shape of a flower (also known as a cluster shaped ring). Coincidentally, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and singer Katy Perry also have similar engagement rings.  

Camila Alves & Matthew McConaughey 

Alright, alright, alright. Turns out Matthew McConaughey has great taste – at least judging by the engagement ring he gave to his now-wife Camila Alves back in 2012. Proposing to Camila on Christmas Day (we’ll forgive the cliché), the Brazilian first gave the world a look at the rose-cut diamond ring a couple of days later at a red carpet event. 

Julia Stiles & Preston Cook 

Stiles’ engagement ring is surprisingly low-key in comparison to those of some of her peers, but it’s no less beautiful or unique. Another rose-cut number, Julia’s is simple and understated – perfectly suited to her minimalistic style and down-to-earth personality. Also getting engaged over Christmas time (we’re sensing a celeb trend here…), Preston got down on one knee while the two were on holidays in Isla Grande, Colombia. The beach, the sea, those pastel sunset colours; the man knows what he’s doing. 

Nikki Reed & Ian Somerhalder 

When vampire worlds collide, eh? Best known for their roles in Twilight and The Vampire Diaries respectively, the couple first came to be back in 2014 and have since welcomed daughter Bodhi together too. Proposing with an unconventional round diamond cluster-shape ring, Reed told US Weekly that she loved it “more than anything in the world” (aside from her fiancé, we’re assuming…)

She wouldn’t be opposed to updating the design though. Actually launching her own jewellery brand, Bayou With Love, while pregnant, Nikki has said that Ian is “fully on board” with her idea to redesign her current engagement ring with a  cultivated diamond. 

Evan & Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson’s engagement ring is just about as unique as they come. In fact, it probably doesn’t get less traditional than this but that’s why we love it. Comprising a five-carat marquise-shaped diamond, it’s set in platinum and yellow gold and surrounded by rubies and 140 white diamonds. 

Designed by Neil Lane – who also designed a ring for Ashlee’s sister, Jessica – he described it as “one of the most beautiful rings [he’s] ever done.” We’d have to agree there. Asking both Jess and mom Tina for their help when coming up with the idea, Evan said that he wanted the ring to be “a true symbol of love, beauty, romance, character and unity”. 

Alison Brie & Dave Franco 

I only found out that Dave Franco was married, let alone in a long-term committed relationship, this morning. I don’t know how I missed that news but the two have reportedly been dating since January 2012 so I’m way behind! The two are notoriously private about their relationship though so I’m using that as my reasoning for not being up to date. I digress. Back to the engagement ring. 

According to Jewels by Grace, the ring was designed with Irene Neuwirth and features a rose-cut diamond centre which are apparently predominantly found in antique pieces from the Georgian or Victorian eras. The centre is surrounded by a double halo of pavé diamonds for “some extra twinkle”. 

Carrie Underwood & Mike Fisher

Crafted by Jonathan Arndt, one of Carrie’s favourite jewellery designers, together with Mike, the resulting ring is very unusual – and yet very Carrie Underwood. Worth approximately $150,000, it has a canary yellow diamond at its centre and is embellished with a diamond halo and pave diamonds along its shanks. A mix of modern and vintage that is thoroughly fitting for a country queen of her stature. 

Heidi Klum & Tom Kaulitz

Escaping to Il Bel Paese for their wedding, supermodel Heidi Klum and now-husband, Tom Kaulitz, got married on a yacht off the Amalfi Coast back in 2019. A yacht that once belonged to Jackie Kennedy’s second husband. Yes, really. 

Making sure we were all good and jealous of their idyllic Italian ceremony, Klum shared a number of photos from the day over on Instagram to celebrate – her in a voluminous off-the-shoulder wedding dress, him in a complimentary cream-coloured suit. Describing the ring to The Zoe Report, Brilliant Earth jeweller Kathryn Money, noted that it “aligns perfectly with Heidi’s individual sense of style and penchant for making statements”. “Heidi’s unique three-stone yellow gold ring features an estimated 3 to 4.5-carat cushion-cut teal sapphire surrounded by a diamond halo and accented on each side by cushion-cut diamonds.”

Poppy Delevigne & James Cook

A family known for their quirky tastes (sister Cara has a vagina tunnel in her house?!), Poppy Delevingne was probably never going to stick to the tried and tested ring design. Glad she didn’t though because the result is much more eye-catching. Wider than the average style, it has a blue centre and one heart-shaped stone on either side. In fact, Poppy loves it so much that she said it’s the one piece she’d never leave home without. Till death do us part and all that. 

Emily Ratajkowski & Sebastian Bear-McClard

Friends long before they ended up getting together, Emily had known Sebastian for years prior to their first date. Now parents to baby Sylvester, the couple tied the knot at a secret ceremony at a New York courthouse… after only a few weeks of dating. I guess when you know, you know as they say. 

Forgoing the traditional white dress in favour of a mustard pantsuit, EmRata looked every-bit the style icon that she is and her ring is definitely one of the more unique ones out there too. It wasn’t the first one her husband gave to her though. The story goes that he originally proposed to the model with a paper ring he fashioned out of a restaurant bill secured with a paperclip. The other ring came later and features a two-carat princess-cut diamond alongside a three-carat pear-shaped diamond all on an 18-carat yellow gold band. 

Emma Stone & Dave McCary

Designed by Tokyo-based master jeweller Yoshinobu Kataoka, Emma’s pearl engagement ring is extremely dainty and elegant… and quite unlike many of the other celeb versions we’ve seen so far. Zoom in and you can see just how intricate a design it really is with sunken floral embellishments and several diamonds too. 

Usually very private when it comes to matters of their relationship, McCary was too excited to tell the world he was engaged and shared the sweet selfie to his Instagram account immediately after Emma said yes back in December 2019. He let the photo do the talking though and captioned it with a simple heart emoji. Enough said. 

Myleene Klass & Simon Motson

Colour has become more common in engagement rings over the years but it’s rare you come across one like Myleene Klass’ – which she actually designed herself. Speaking to  Hello Magazine about the engagement, Klass confirmed that Motson initially proposed with a promise ring. After she said yes, the two got to work with Myleene’s friend Ira Kormind to create her dream ring. 

“Ira was sending us photos and we were sitting round the kitchen table, drawing pictures and sending her bits of paper. It was about making something that we both loved.” A lot of people really love it though and it turns out that the black emerald-cut centre stone is the only one of its kind in the world.