How Much Money Do Celebrities Spend on Engagement Rings
Celebrities are famous for wearing more elaborate and extravagant engagement rings than the rest of us can afford. Money enables them to buy bigger, more expensive, more showy engagement rings. But apart from the value and size of such rings, is there any more we can find out about celebrity diamond engagement rings? What do they represent to the men and women who exchange these behemoths featured in gossip magazines and social media?
We might look at celebrities, such as Jessica Alba. She has a rather large selection of diamond rings from which she can choose. Jessica Alba's Instagram page shows off her engagement ring set with a pink tourmaline ring. She is also wearing a white gold ring with a sapphire.
For just about anybody with a pulse, celebrity engagements are something we can all admit to being fascinated with. The drama of celebrity relationships is often unmatched, and rings cost an arm and a leg. Still, did you ever want to know how the cost of the ring matches up to other details such as relationship duration, net worth, relative bra cup size, or even the ring giver's profession?
Obviously, you have since you are just as interested as we are. If you weren't, you'd not have read this far!
A study of 82 of the most costly celebrity engagement rings and correlating with various relationship metrics reveals some unexpected patterns about the question that's on everyone's mind: Can money buy you love?
Celebrity Diamond Engagement Ring Trends
£545,000 for an engagement ring? That's barely a passing grade in the celeb ring game. The most expensive ring in our study was the £7.3 million ring that James Packer gave to Mariah Carey, which eclipsed the £1.8 million ring that she received from Nick Cannon, her estranged husband.
In spite of the massive upfront cost, Mariah never took the walk down the aisle, and the couple ended up splitting after 12 months of engagement in 2016. Being the intelligent lady she is, Mariah kept the ring, which has a whopping 35-carats of diamonds. Hopefully, all those diamonds keep her warm at night since Packer is no longer keeping her warm.
The study covered a range from Mariah's spectacular bauble, right down to a much more realistic £11k ring that Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins received. The research was dominated by classic diamond shapes. Emerald shaped diamonds were the most popular then came oval and round shaped diamonds. That’s something of a surprise because overall, round shaped diamonds are by far the most popular diamonds in engagement rings.
Who Gets The Biggest Engagement Rings?
Want to know which professional gets the best ring in exchange for her hand in marriage? If you look at the research, singers are the ones who get the most of a girl's best friend. That’s right, musicians of all types averaged rings that were about £0.73 million to £145,000 more costly than models and about £500,000 more valuable than an actress could expect.
The bigger the ring, the bigger the mistake
Overcompensating is one common mistake that celebrities aren't immune to. After all, a huge diamond can only cover up problems in a relationship for so long.
The study shows that some of the shortest lasting relationships (6 months or less) had the most expensive rings, averaging over £1.45 million. This is in comparison to celebrity couples whose average rings cost £44,000. The more sensibly priced rings seemed to result in relationships spanning 2 to 3 years, which is like a silver wedding anniversary in "celebrity world".
Still, you shouldn't feel too badly for either Paris. The £3.4 million Paris Hilton courtship cost her fiancée, Paris Latsis, about £36,000 a day (£3.4m/99 days of pre-marital bliss). The £3.4 million ring represented less than .06 per cent of Latsis' net worth, estimated to be over £2.835 billion.
Key Engagement Ring Performance Indicators
Well endowed women and engagement ring value
According to studies, larger physical assets translate to larger financial ones. Celebrity brides-to-be with a D-cup or more ended up netting engagement rings worth over £1.3 million, which is significantly bigger than average from both points of view. However, whether those specific attributes were augmented artificially to achieve the desired effect will need further research.
Women with age and experience get more valuable rings!
Evidence also shows that experience definitely pays off when it comes to ring game. Younger husbands appear more eager to impress their older fiancées with big sparkling diamonds. When the wives were at least three years older than their husbands, the ring's price skyrocketed to an average above £0.73million.
Forget about the two month's income guide if you're rich and she's hot!
When it comes to the amount each ring sets a husband back percentage-wise, the typical 1- to 2-month salary adage doesn't generally seem to hold true for celebrities. Take for instance Mariah's ring, which is the most expensive ring in the study, which is a $7.3 million emerald cut. She could literally throw it away – it only cost .26 per cent of Packer's net worth of £2.835 billion. No wonder he just let her keep it after they split. It wasn't worth his time to ask for it back!.
If you consider net worth, it would appear that the richer the man, the less invested he is in the trappings of marital bliss and the relationship length usually reflects that.
Celebrity Diamond Engagement Rings Price Vs. Net Worth: The Numbers
The vast majority of the suitors with the highest net worth seem not to be especially invested financially in their relationships. After studying the engagement rings of the top 36 wealthiest "would-be" husbands, whose total assets are over $145 million, on average, we discovered that the average ring given by a wealthy suitor is about £545,000, so you do the math.
The super-wealthy, with over £7.3 million in the bank, invested considerably less when on one knee. They spent only 1.5 per cent of their net worth. That is in direct comparison to people with less wealth that spent up to 35 per cent of their total wealth to get married to their soul mate.
Is it possible to love someone with just .02 per cent of your heart or at the very least, your heart? The engagement ring that Monaco's Prince Albert gave to Charlene Wittstock the Olympic swimmer, cost just £73,000, which is nothing compared to his net worth of £326 million. In comparison, the average income in the U.K. is £32,000 – if spending .02% - I'm not sure that a ring costing £7.2 will cut it for most brides-to-be.
That doesn't mean, however, that romance is dead, especially in France, of course, where Jean Bernard Fernandez-Versini, a restauranteur, spent 420 per cent of his net worth on a ring for his wife Cheryl. Unfortunately, even that grand gesture wasn't enough to save the relationship since they ended up splitting in December 2016.
Interestingly, Prince Albert is still happily married. Take from that what you will.
How Do You Compare To Celebrities? Are They More Generous Than You?
If you're looking for a comparable metric for your impending wedding, the average net worth that was spent on a celebrity's engagement ring was 15 per cent. Going back to the average salary in the U.K., that's still a hefty £5,400.
It is often said that the rich get richer, but as our study shows, it doesn't always equate to marital bliss. While the super-wealthy might appear to be dedicated to their betrothed with both financial and emotional investment, the wealthier the prospect, the seemingly less likely the need to truly commit. In the end, the Beatles were right – money and love can never be equated.
When it comes to the amount each ring sets a husband back percentage-wise, the typical 1- to 2-month salary adage doesn't generally seem to hold for celebrities. Take for instance Mariah's ring, which is the most expensive ring in the study, which is a $7.3 million emerald cut. She could literally throw it away – it only cost .26 per cent of Packer's net worth of £2.835 billion. No wonder he just let her keep it after they split. Plenty more where that came from.
If you consider net worth, it would appear that the richer the man, the less invested he is in the trappings of marital bliss and the relationship length usually reflects that.
Exceptions Can Prove The Rule
We have shared examples of excess, many of which did not turn out so well for one or both of the people involved. But, there are exceptions. For example, when George Clooney proposed to Amal Alamuddin, now, of course, Amal Clooney) he gave her a magnificent 7-carat emerald cut diamond engagement ring in platinum. On the other hand in relation to George Clooney's net worth, the £360,000 cost of the ring is not so huge.
When Jay-Z proposed to Beyonce Knowles in 2007 he did so with an engagement ring valued at £3.3 million pounds and they are still together. He spent just 0.2 per cent of his net worth.
So, the lesson appears to be that if you want to have a relationship that has any chance of lasting, you need to be a cheapskate when it comes to ring buying. For instance, David Beckham's relatively inexpensive $73,000 ring for his wife Victoria has seen them living 'happily ever after'. They have close to two decades to their credit, and they are still going strong.
There's a Message About Spending On Engagement Rings Here
It is often said that the rich get richer, but as our study shows, it doesn't always equate to marital bliss. While the super-wealthy might appear to be dedicated to their betrothed with both financial and emotional investment, the wealthier the prospect, the seemingly less likely the need to truly commit. But as somebody else put it, while money may not buy happiness, it can certainly pay for many things that make us happy! In the end, the Beatles were right – money can't buy me, love.
Don't spend silly money on an engagement ring. Be sensible because if love is your goal, the price you pay for the ring will not affect whether she accepts your proposal or not. Nor will it affect how long the relationship will last.
The Rest Of Us… How Do We Go About Getting Our Own Celebrity Diamond Engagement Rings?
There are many reasons why more couples are choosing to have more extravagant engagement rings. Some couples are encouraged to do so because they want to add something special to their relationship. Others do this so that they can add a touch of class to their wedding. One thing is for sure; if a celebrity gets engaged, it will be news everywhere. You won't be able to walk into a department store and not see at least one of their engagement rings.
At All Diamond, we do not sell copies of celebrity rings. Our designers know that you can't get something for nothing, so an inexpensive copy will only be of poor quality – and that's not what we do. You need to buy a ring that contains well cut diamonds of good quality. When you look through our collections of diamond engagement rings, we think that you will see items that inspire you that are on-trend, are of high quality and offer great value.
When you propose with one of our diamond engagement rings, you will be a celebrity in the life of somebody very special, and that's worth more than money.
