Taylor Swift's engagement ring, and the celebrity trend for big rocks
Tayvis are engaged - and this is the ring
- Published
Taylor Swift has announced her engagement to her partner Travis Kelce, sharing a series of pictures, including one of the ring, on Instagram.
The post was accompanied by the caption: "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married."
Not every English teacher can afford a diamond ring costing six or even seven figures, however.
Fans and curious onlookers have been sharing their opinions on the proposal and the eye-catching ring.
Kelce is reported to have designed the ring with a jeweller, with its vintage-inspired style seeming to match the aesthetic of Swift's newly announced album The Life of a Showgirl.
Industry experts have estimated it could cost anywhere from £500,000 up to £4m, said Ruth Faulkner, the managing editor for Retail Jeweller magazine.
The diamond looked to be an 8-10 carat vintage stone, which Ms Faulker said is "quite rare" for an antique piece.
Jewellery journalist Rachael Taylor said the softer sparkle on the stone was likely because it was an antique cut by hand rather than by machine.
She added that Swift's ring plays into a trend towards vintage styles with different cuts and oversized stones, which fits into the singer's "romantic" aesthetic.
"Whenever a celebrity gets engaged, if their ring is particularly standout, it's always going to spark a bit of interest in that," Ms Faulker added.
Chunky gold bands, as seen on Dua Lipa, have been increasingly popular this year, Ms Fitzpatrick said
General trends have been leaning towards bigger stones for celebrities and the public alike - but stars are opting for statement pieces to set them apart, Rhona Fitzpatrick, the founder and CEO of the Diamond Expert, told BBC News.
Rings spotted on different celebrities' fingers this year - such as Zendaya's unusual horizontally set diamond and Dua Lipa's round diamond on a chunky gold band - show a preference for a larger stone in a less traditional setting.
Even when celebrities stick to trends - such as big, oval diamonds - they tend to do it in an extravagant way which is harder to replicate.
Zendaya wore her east-west set diamond - on her left hand - at the Golden Globes earlier this year
Cristiano Ronaldo's partner, Georgina Rodríguez, made headlines when she shared a picture of the ring she received from the footballer earlier this month.
The huge, oval cut rock is reportedly worth up to $5m (£3.7m), Ms Fitzpatrick said.
"It's not the kind of ring you'd be popping to Tesco with," she added.
Following Rodríguez's announcement, some bridal jewellery suppliers started to bring out their own takes on the ring.
"It's a lot harder for everyday people to afford the same price tag," Ms Fitzpatrick said, adding that some jewellers are instead opting for cheaper lab-grown diamonds as a way to cater to a larger variety of styles.
"Yes, I do. In this and all my lives," Georgina Rodríguez said as she shared the news of her engagement
This alternative has been increasingly popular, Ms Fitzpatrick said, adding that around 52% of the world's engagement rings now feature lab-grown diamonds.
Some customers are also opting for lab-grown for ethical reasons- but Ms Taylor said the debate is not as simple as it looks.
Lab-grown is not automatically more sustainable than natural mined stones, as the process uses a significant amount of energy.
Ms Taylor said some communities are financially dependent on the industry and rely on it for survival. There are, however, concerns over working conditions in diamond mines.
"As long as you are buying from a reliable source that's cleaning up the environment and looking after the communities involved," Ms Taylor said, "you have to decide, what's more important to you?"
She added that the ethics surrounding antique diamonds like Swift's are also complicated.
"Vintage can be more of an ethical choice, but its origin and story you don't necessarily know," Ms Taylor said.
Buying antique diamonds means no additional mining, but you also "have no idea what circumstances that was mined in", she added.
"If we're talking 100 plus years ago, that circumstance was probably not very nice."
Shoppers have increasingly turned to repurposing vintage pieces to create something more bespoke, Ms Faulkner said.
Couples will often choose to re-use jewellery with a "story behind it", she said, such as pieces that are passed down from relatives.
While it's not known whether Swift's ring has a backstory, she is clearly happy with the choice. But if her lyrics are anything to go by, it's the not most important thing.
"I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings," she sings in her song, Paper Rings.