Princess Diana’s Engagement Ring Was Perfect for the Woman Who Wore It

Not many engagement rings get the honour of being famous world-wide twice in their lifetimes. But Princess Diana engagement ring does, becoming a style icon like the woman who wore it and the woman who wears it now. This ring has sparked a trend throughout the world, first in the 1980s and again this year, and jewellers all over the world are rushing to keep up with the demand for imitations.

Princess Diana engagement ring is a large 12-carat oval sapphire with 14 solitaire diamonds surrounding it, all set in 18-carat white gold. When Prince Charles proposed, Diana had her choice of many different rings, and she chose this one. Princess Diana engagement ring caused quite a stir, for a number of reasons. One is that she chose it out of Garrard’s catalogue. While Garrard was the designer for royal rings, this ring was already in his catalogue, and anyone in the general public could buy it, supposing they had the money. Traditionally royal engagement rings were custom designed specifically for the bride. Although at the time it was rumoured she wanted it simply because it was the biggest, it was not the truth. She loved sapphires and chose the ring because she thought it was beautiful, and because it reminded her of her mother’s ring.

The other thing to raise a few eyebrows was the fact that Princess Diana engagement ring was not a diamond engagement ring at all – it was a sapphire one, and traditionally royal engagement rings were diamonds. But Princess Diana knew what she wanted, and it started a trend throughout the world. Jewellers everywhere struggled to keep up with the demand for rings that look like Princess Diana engagement ring.

Princess Diana wore the ring even after she was divorced. After her death, Prince Henry inherited Princess Diana engagement ring, but he believed that the ring should be worn by the future Queen, so he gave it to Prince William to give to his fiancé. And now the ring is worn by Kate Middleton, who is said to have the potential to be as much of a style icon as Princess Diana.