Victoria Beckham
To announce their engagement in 1998, Posh and Becks were photographed wearing matching yellow-gold Rolex Yacht-Masters, with Victoria sporting a marquise-cut diamond engagement ring on her French-tipped left hand, while David wore a chunky pavé diamond band. Rumour has it that Victoria has amassed 16 different engagement rings since their marriage, including a pavé-halo oval pink diamond she received for her 30th birthday, which was reportedly worth more than $1 million at the time.
For the big day in 1999 at Luttrellstown Castle, near Dublin, Posh opted for a champagne-hued Vera Wang gown with a 20-foot train, accessorized with a coronet-style tiara loaned by Irish designer Slim Barrett. Crafted in yellow gold and set with drop diamonds, it was the perfect complement to the infamous gold-and-purple velvet thrones the couple sat on after the ceremony. In 2002, the tiara was featured in the 100 Tiaras: Past and Present exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Barrett later consigned it to auction at Bonhams in 2013, where, surprisingly, it failed to meet its reserve price after bidding stalled at £14,000.
Grace Kelly
More than 30 million people around the world watched Grace Kelly wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco on 19 April, 1956, in a fairytale ceremony at Monaco’s Saint Nicholas Cathedral. Kelly’s very own Prince Charming presented the Hollywood icon with not one, but two engagement rings. The first: an eternity band-style ring crafted from alternating rubies and diamonds, a nod to the colors of Monaco’s flag, reportedly designed by Cartier. The second: a ring centred on a jaw-dropping 10.48-carat emerald-cut diamond, also by the Place Vendôme jeweler.
For the public ceremony itself, Kelly eschewed the royal tradition of wearing a tiara, choosing instead a veiled Juliet cap made using antique Brussels lace, embroidered with blooms and pearls. But the night before provided a moment for a dazzling diadem. After Kelly and Rainier’s day-before civil ceremony, held in the Throne Room at the Palais Princier, the future princess wore a ruby-and-diamond tiara by Cartier to a pre-wedding gala at the Opéra Garnier, gifted to her by Société des Bains de Mer, a Monegasque tourism company. She paired the piece with a Lanvin gown and a host of other jewels: a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond bracelet from the National Council of Monaco, and a three-strand diamond necklace from her new husband.
