Why engagement rings keep getting bigger – from Taylor Swift’s to the one chosen by Cristiano Ronaldo

The spectacle of the ring has reached a new crescendo in the world of celebrity engagements. Consider last month, when Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo proposed to his partner Georgina Rodríguez with a staggering oval-cut diamond estimated to be between 25 and 35 carats – a stone so commanding it dominated her finger and ignited gossip columns.

But this maximalist moment was far from isolated. Travis Kelce proposed to Taylor Swift with a diamond reportedly between eight to 10 carats – roughly 10 times the size of the average engagement ring in the US. Then there’s the rare 30-carat pink diamond Jeff Bezos gave Lauren Sánchez, to the elegant stones marking commitments between Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco or Zendaya and Tom Holland. A new trend appears to be emerging: if you’re going to get engaged, do it audaciously with a statement piece.