Most engagement rings are private stories. A handful became public ones — photographed, copied, auctioned — and between them they explain almost every fashion in rings of the last five centuries: why diamonds, why platinum, why sapphires came back, why three stones, why yellow gold returned. Each of the rings below is famous for its owner. Each is also a lesson in reading a ring, which is the part you can use on the one in your own drawer.
- 1477
Mary of Burgundy
- Given by
- Archduke Maximilian of Austria
- Stones
- Thin, flat diamonds, reportedly forming an “M”
The diamond engagement ring has a paper trail that starts here. Advisers to the young Habsburg archduke recommended a diamond ring for his betrothal to Mary, heiress to the immensely rich Burgundian lands, and the gift set a fashion among Europe’s nobility. The stones would look nothing like a modern diamond: before faceting developed, diamonds were polished into flat tables and points that showed hardness and rarity rather than sparkle.
What it teaches: the cut dates the stone. Flat table and point cuts belong to the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries — see antique diamond cuts.
- 1839
Queen Victoria
- Given by
- Prince Albert
- Design
- A gold serpent set with an emerald, her birthstone
A snake seems an odd choice for a love token, but for the Victorians a serpent biting its tail meant eternity, and the young queen’s ring made snake rings one of the defining styles of the age. It’s also a reminder that coloured stones, not diamonds, were the norm for engagement for most of history.
What it teaches: motifs date rings as well as cuts do. Snakes, hands and hearts point to the early Victorian decades — see how to date a vintage ring.
- 1936
Wallis Simpson
- Given by
- King Edward VIII
- Stone
- A 19.77-carat emerald by Cartier, in platinum
- Inscription
- “We are ours now 27 X 36”
The king proposed weeks before he gave up the throne to marry her, and the ring’s engraving records the date: 27 October 1936. After the Duchess of Windsor’s death her jewels were sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva in 1987, a sale that made around $50 million, then a record for a single owner’s jewelry collection.
What it teaches: always read the inside of the band. Inscriptions, dates and initials can identify a ring’s first owner — and documented history multiplies value at auction.
- 1947
Queen Elizabeth II
- Given by
- Prince Philip
- Made by
- Philip Antrobus, London, in platinum
- Stones
- A round diamond of about 3 carats, with smaller diamonds
Philip didn’t buy new diamonds. His mother, Princess Alice, gave him a tiara she had received as a wedding present — from Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia — and its stones were taken out to make the ring and a bracelet. The ring was slightly too big when he gave it to her and had to be resized before the engagement was announced.
What it teaches: a ring can be younger than its stones. Reused family diamonds are common, so date the stone and the mount separately.
- 1953
Jacqueline Kennedy
- Given by
- John F. Kennedy
- Made by
- Van Cleef & Arpels
- Stones
- A 2.88-carat diamond beside a 2.84-carat emerald
Two stones side by side — a toi et moi, “you and me” — in an Art Deco-style mount. In 1962 Van Cleef reworked it, replacing the original baguettes with marquise and round diamonds. Her later engagement ring from Aristotle Onassis was something else entirely: the Lesotho III, a 40.42-carat marquise diamond, which sold at Sotheby’s in 1996 for $2,587,500.
What it teaches: rings get remodelled. Settings that don’t quite match their stones, or accents in a later style, often mean a ring was updated.
- 1956
Grace Kelly
- Given by
- Prince Rainier III of Monaco
- Made by
- Cartier, in platinum
- Stone
- A 10.47-carat emerald-cut diamond with two baguettes
Rainier first proposed with a Cartier eternity band of rubies and diamonds, then replaced it with the ring the world remembers. Kelly wore it on screen in High Society, her last film, the same year.
What it teaches: an emerald cut is a step cut — long, flat facets like a staircase — which shows clarity more than sparkle. A large emerald-cut diamond has to be very clean to look good.
- 1968
Elizabeth Taylor’s Krupp diamond
- Bought by
- Richard Burton, for about $305,000
- Stone
- A 33.19-carat Asscher-cut diamond
- Sold
- Christie’s, 2011, for $8,818,500
Not an engagement ring — Taylor and Burton were already married — but probably the most famous diamond ring of the twentieth century, worn almost daily. After her death it sold as the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond for nearly thirty times the 1968 price. Her other great stone has its own story: the Taylor–Burton diamond.
What it teaches: provenance can be worth more than the stone. A documented famous owner turned a large diamond into a legend.
- 1981
Diana, Princess of Wales — then Catherine
- Given by
- Prince Charles; then Prince William, in 2010
- Made by
- Garrard
- Stones
- A 12-carat oval Ceylon sapphire with 14 diamonds
Diana chose it from a selection presented by the crown jeweler — a design anyone could order, which caused a stir at the time — and it set off a boom in sapphire engagement rings. Prince William proposed to Catherine Middleton with the same ring in Kenya in 2010, and the copies started all over again.
What it teaches: sapphire is hard enough — 9 on the Mohs scale — for daily wear, which is why it works where softer stones don’t. Most sapphires are heat-treated; see how to identify a gemstone.
- 2017
Meghan Markle
- Given by
- Prince Harry
- Made by
- Cleave & Company, in yellow gold
- Stones
- A cushion-cut diamond from Botswana, two from Diana’s collection
Three stones — past, present and future, in the usual reading — and a yellow-gold band chosen because it was her favourite. Together they helped push both three-stone designs and yellow gold back into fashion after decades of white metal.
What it teaches: metal colour follows fashion. White metals dominated from the 1990s; yellow gold’s return makes a ring’s metal a weaker dating clue than its cut.
Why the diamond became the default
For most of history engagement rings were gold bands or coloured stones. The diamond solitaire is largely a twentieth-century habit, shaped by new supplies from South Africa and by advertising — De Beers’ 1947 line “A Diamond Is Forever” is one of the most successful slogans ever written. The rings above show the counter-current: emeralds, sapphires and heirloom stones have never really gone away, and they’re back in fashion now.
Wondering about a ring of your own? Ring Identifier reads the style, setting and stones from a photo and gives a likely description and a ballpark value. For the centre stone, Diamond Identifier looks closer at its cut and colour. Both are a first opinion — a famous name, like a valuable stone, still needs paperwork.
The takeaway
Famous rings are valuable for who wore them, but they’re useful for what they show: cuts date stones, motifs date mounts, inscriptions name owners, and stones outlive settings. Read your own ring the same way — and if you’d like to see how today’s choices of stone, metal and setting change the price, try our engagement ring designer.
At a glance
| Year | Ring | Stone |
|---|---|---|
| 1477 | Mary of Burgundy | Flat diamonds |
| 1839 | Queen Victoria | Emerald, in a gold snake |
| 1936 | Wallis Simpson | 19.77 ct emerald, Cartier |
| 1947 | Queen Elizabeth II | ~3 ct diamond from a family tiara |
| 1953 | Jacqueline Kennedy | 2.88 ct diamond and 2.84 ct emerald, Van Cleef & Arpels |
| 1956 | Grace Kelly | 10.47 ct emerald-cut diamond, Cartier |
| 1981 | Diana, then Catherine | 12 ct Ceylon sapphire, Garrard |
| 2017 | Meghan Markle | Three diamonds in yellow gold, Cleave & Company |
Frequently asked questions
What was the first diamond engagement ring?
The first well-documented one was given by Archduke Maximilian of Austria to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.
How big is Princess Diana’s engagement ring?
Its oval Ceylon sapphire weighs 12 carats and is surrounded by 14 diamonds. Prince William proposed to Catherine with the same ring in 2010.
How many carats was Grace Kelly’s engagement ring?
Its emerald-cut diamond weighs 10.47 carats, set by Cartier in platinum with two baguettes.
What happened to Elizabeth Taylor’s Krupp diamond?
The 33.19-carat Asscher-cut diamond Richard Burton bought in 1968 sold at Christie’s in 2011 for $8,818,500 and is now called the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond.
Sources and further reading
- Engagement Rings Through the Ages — GIA (Gemological Institute of America)
- Engagement ring — Wikipedia
- Mary of Burgundy — Wikipedia
- Elizabeth Taylor Diamond — Wikipedia
Links checked October 4, 2026.
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