We know what Meghan Markles engagement ring looks like but a royal wedding is not just about the ring gifted during a proposal – its about the wedding ring, too.
While Meghans engagement ring caught the attention of the public, as we scrambled to find out who designed it, if it was an heirloom and how it was connected to Prince Harrys mum Diana, Princess Of Wales, were yet to see what her wedding ring will be like.
Its traditional for royal brides to don a yellow gold band, created from special Welsh gold. Given Meghans love of yellow gold, it seems highly likely this is what she will end up with.
Royal engagement rings and wedding rings have always captured the publics fascination – from the Queens custom-made rock featuring diamonds from Prince Philips mothers tiara to Diana, Princess of Wales sapphire design, which is the only ring in this collection not to have been custom-made.
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So, while we wait for Saturday 19 May when Meghans choice of band will be revealed, we take a look at which of the leading ladies in the royal family is wearing the most expensive cluster of precious diamonds on their left hand – from the Queens ring which she has been wearing for an impressive 71 years to Princess Eugenies.
And with the help of Gemologist Deborah Papas from Prestige Pawnbrokers, which features on Channel 4s Posh Pawn, we reveal which royal lady has the most valuable of all of the royal rings…
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
Prince Philip designed Queen Elizabeths engagement ring himself, with the help of jeweler Philip Antrobus Ltd. It was made in London and features a 3ct old cut diamond set in a traditional claw setting in platinum. It has five smaller diamonds on each shoulder.
Philip used diamonds taken from a tiara belonging to his mother, Princess Alice of Greece, for the ring.
Traditionally, the royal family have their wedding rings made of a simple band of gold mined from the Clogau St David mine at Bontddu in North Wales.
This tradition dates back to 1923, when George VI married Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. As the mines in Wales were expensive to run, gold from them is scarce as no mining takes place there today, meaning the Clogau gold reserves are almost depleted.
The Queens wedding ring is made up of Clogau gold from a gifted nugget from the mine.
The engagement ring value:
Deborah Papas estimates: Queen Elizabeths engagement ring stays away from the coloured gemstones that future generations have.
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Her majestys ring is more likely to be in the price bracket of £200,000.
The wedding ring value:
The value of the Welsh gold rings depends on the weight and purity of the told used. The Queens wedding band is reported to have a purity of 87.5%, which would make it 21ct gold, Papas adds.
A 3mm band could be worth around £1,500 – £2,000. This will be less if the bands were made in 18ct gold but I would not anticipate any lower in purity would be made for the Royal familys rings.
The value is likely to be worth 30 times more than the same equivalent of gold mined elsewhere.
Engagement announcement: Thursday 10 July 1947
Marriage: Thursday 20 November 1947
DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES & CATHERINE, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE
Prince Charles gifted Diana, Princess Of Wales a stunning sapphire engagement ring. So stunning, in fact, Prince William went on to propose to Kate Middleton with that very same ring following Dianas tragic death in 1997.
Created by royal jeweler Garrard & Co Ltd, the ring features 14 solitaire diamonds which surround a Sri Lankan 12-carat oval faceted blue Ceylon sapphire. It is set in 18-karat white gold.
Interestingly, Diana and Kates ring was not custom-made like all of the other royal rings featuring in the list.
It actually featured in Gerrards jewellery collection, available for anyone to buy at the time of Dianas proposal. Diana had apparently chosen it as she thought it was a beautiful ring and some historians believe it reminded her of her mother, Frances Shand-Kydd, own ring.
It is sometimes referred to as the Commoners Sapphire for this reason.
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The engagement ring value:
Deborah Papas estimates: Coloured gemstones are becoming more popular again. They had their boom in the early eighties when Prince Charles and the then Lady Diana Spencer became engaged.
The ring renewed a sales boom in sapphire and diamond rings in 2010 when the royal couple became engaged.
The ring worn in memory of Prince Williams mother, was originally valued at £28,000 in 1981; today the ring is estimated to have an insurance value of approximately £300,000.
Of course when the history and sentiment behind Dianas ring is considered, its value is simply priceless.
Dianas wedding ring value:
Papas adds: Just as the Queens wedding ring is made up of Clogau gold from a gifted nugget from the mine, wedding rings for Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, and Princess Diana were too and they hold the same value.
Kates wedding ring value:
The Duchess of Cambridges wedding ring was also made from Welsh gold that has been in the family for years that was given to Prince William from the Queen after the couple announced their engagement. With Kates ring, however, its hard to establish if it was made purely from the famous Clogau mined gold, making its total value hard to estimate, Papas reveals.
Diana and Charles engagement announcement: Tuesday 24 February 1981
Diana and Charles marriage: Wednesday 29 July 1981
Kate and Williams engagement announcement: Tuesday 16 November 2010
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Kate and Williams marriage: Friday 29 April 2011
SARAH, DUCHESS OF YORK
When Prince Andrew proposed to Sarah Ferguson in March 1986, he did so with a stunning deep red Burmese ruby stone, which was surrounded by 10 pear cut diamonds and sits on a yellow gold band.
Also created by Garrard & Co, it was designed by Prince Andrew himself. He is believed to have selected the ruby to complement Sarahs red hair.
The engagement ring value:
Deborah Papas estimates: Burmese rubies are considered to have the best colour and are often referred to as Pigeons Blood.
At the time, it was reported the ruby alone cost Prince Andrew £25,000. Today the whole ring could be worth between £150,000 – £200,000 and given the fineness of the ruby, possibly a lot more!
The wedding ring value:
Papas adds: After Charles and Dianas wedding, the Queen received just over an ounce further of the rare Clogau gold so that future wedding rings could be made for the Royal family. The Duchess of Yorks wedding band was therefore made from this gold and carries the same value.
Engagement announcement: Wednesday 19 March 1986
Marriage: Wednesday 23 July 1986
CAMILLA, DUCHESS OF CORNWALL
When Charles proposed to Camilla in 2005, he did so with a diamond ring that is believed to have belonged to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Its thought the ring was gifted to her when she gave birth to her first daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
The ring features a centre square-cut diamond of approximately five carats with three diamond baguettes on each side.
The engagement ring value:
Deborah Papas estimates: The estimated value of this ring is approximately £220,000.
Whilst a little bit of difference in the quality can make a big difference in the price; I would image such an important piece of the Royal Familys historic jewellery collection, would be of very high quality and emerald-cuts tend to be high clarity due to their “transparant” appearance and less of the “sparkle” seen in a brilliant-cut diamond.
The wedding ring value:
Papas adds: After Charles and Dianas wedding, the Queen received just over an ounce further of the rare Clogau gold so that future wedding rings could be made for the Royal family. The Duchess of Cornwalls wedding band was therefore made from this gold and carries the same value.
Engagement announcement: Thursday 10 February 2005
Marriage: Saturday 9 April 2005
ZARA TINDALL
The bespoke diamond and platinum ring Mike proposed to Zara with was created by a jeweler with his input.
It featured a single solitaire diamond sitting on tens of pave set diamonds on a split shank of band of platinum.
The engagement ring value:
Deborah Papas estimates: The estimated value is £25,000, but this could be a lot more depending on the weight of the centre stone, which is unknown.
The wedding ring value:
Papas adds: Zaras wedding band is likely a platinum band to match her engagement ring. Depending on whether or not this is a branded piece, it could be worth anything from £1,000 to upwards of £1,500. Unbranded, it could be a little less.
Engagement announcement: Tuesday 21 December 2010
Marriage: Saturday 30 July 2011
MEGHAN MARKLE
Prince Harry designed Meghan Markles engagement ring himself, using diamonds which belonged to his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
There are two brilliant cut outside stones of around 0.75ct each which came from the late princess personal collection. At the centre of the ring is a large, cushion cut diamond of around 3.5cts from Botswana, a country that holds special significance for Harry, who has visited many times since he was a child.
It is also a place where the couple had spent time together over the last year and a half, Kensington Palace said.
Like his grandfather, Harry opted against using a coloured gemstone in Meghans engagement ring.
Jeweler Cleave And Company created Meghans stunning three-stone engagement ring with Harry. And they vowed they wont be making the same style for anyone else, saying in the aftermath of Harry and Meghans engagement: Were not going to be making replicas of it. If you want a ring, then well design you a different one.
Of Meghans wedding ring, Deborah Papas commented: We are yet to see what ring Meghans will be but all the aforementioned have been simple plain bands and if followed, would match very well with the yellow gold shank part of Meghans engagement ring.
However, Meghan has her own desires of jewellery from Canadian jeweller Birks, so will she have a ring made by them? Whatever is chosen, I am sure it will complement the beautiful three diamond engagement ring but I suspect it will be a plain band of Welsh gold of similar width the engagement ring shank. After all, that is all that ring needs.
The value:
Deborah Papas estimates: Depending on the quality, it could easily be valued as high as £250,000.
While a monetary value can be estimated by gemologists, as with all of the royal engagement rings – considering the history and the owners of the stunning pieces – their real value is surely priceless.
Engagement announcement: Monday 27 November 2017
Marriage: Saturday 19 May 2018
PRINCESS EUGENIE
Princess Eugenies ring features a padparadscha sapphire which is surrounded by 10 brilliant cut diamonds and two pear cut diamonds, to give it an edge to the standard cluster.
Padparadscha is the name given to the corundum gem that bears a mixture of red and yellow, a sort of cross between a ruby and yellow sapphire.
This beautiful gem is sought-after and treasured by gemstone experts, considered the rarest and most valuable of all the corundum varieties.
The value:
Deborah Papas estimates: With its carefully faceted cut and the set off with the whitest of white diamonds, this ring could easily be worth over £100,000.
Engagement announcement: Monday 22 January 2018
Marriage: Friday 12 October 2018
Which royal has the priciest engagement ring? – A ranking
Zara Tindall – £25,000
Princess Eugenie – £100,000
Sarah, Duchess Of York – £150,000 – £200,000
Queen Elizabeth II – £200,000
Camilla, Duchess Of Cornwall – £220,000
Meghan Markle – £250,000
Diana, Princess of Wales & Catherine, Duchess Of Cambridge – £300,000
As with any jewellery, a little bit of difference in quality can mean a big difference in price. Estimating something with a vast tolerance is always difficult without having full sight of it or the full details.
MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan silent nod to Diana during royal wedding ceremony
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