It’s a love story and Taylor Swift said yes.
The music superstar and three-time Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce announced that they’re engaged to be married, delighting fans around the world. They shared a joint post on Instagram on Tuesday afternoon, joking that “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
The mega-famous couple shared a five-photo carousel of Swift and Kelce, both 35, surrounded by flowers with Travis on one knee. While there’s no word on when the nuptials will take place, well wishes started pouring in from the worlds of music and sports.
Oversized engagement rings have long been associated with Hollywood and high society, but recent celebrity proposals suggest the trend is accelerating, with stones appearing bigger than ever.
Earlier this summer, Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo proposed to longtime partner Georgina Rodríguez with an oval diamond estimated at 25 to 35 carats. The gem, so large it appeared to cover much of her knuckle, quickly became a subject of online debate for its extraordinary size.
In June, Lauren Sánchez Bezos revealed her own ring while celebrating her wedding in Venice. Her rare pink diamond, estimated at 30 carats and worth between $3 million and $5 million, drew widespread attention as she arrived by private water taxi.
Singer Taylor Swift has also recently unveiled an engagement ring, though hers is comparatively modest in scale. The antique mine-cut diamond, estimated at 7 to 10 carats, was designed by fiancé Travis Kelce in collaboration with jeweler Kindred Lubeck. Jewelry experts note that Swift’s elongated cushion-cut stone, believed to date back to the 18th or 19th century, is one of the rarest gems of its kind.
While Swift’s ring is considered refined and wearable, the emphasis on size remains undeniable. In the United States, the average engagement ring typically weighs between one and 1.7 carats, according to wedding planning service The Knot. By contrast, Swift’s ring, though smaller than those of Rodríguez and Sánchez Bezos, is still several times larger than the national average.
The fascination with oversized stones is not new. Actress Elizabeth Taylor famously wore a 33.19-carat diamond gifted to her by Richard Burton. However, experts suggest that social media has amplified the appeal of large stones, with Instagram “ring shots” helping set new expectations for size. Advances in diamond-cutting technology have also made it easier to maximize the yield from rough stones, contributing to the growing prevalence of larger rings.
Charlie Boyd, digital jewelry and watches editor at Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, describes the current trend as a “flash-first aesthetic,” where thin platinum bands are designed to highlight the stone itself. Antique jewelry specialist Garret Weldon adds that such designs prioritize spectacle over artistry, as there are limited ways to showcase very large diamonds elegantly.
Although diamond rings only became a mainstream tradition in the United States in the 1940s following De Beers’ “diamonds are forever” campaign, they are now considered central to marriage proposals. Yet experts note that the impracticality of supersized rings may see many worn only on special occasions and stored safely the rest of the time.
Despite concerns over wearability, demand for oversized engagement rings shows little sign of waning. Experts point to a phenomenon known as “diamond shrinkage syndrome,” in which stones begin to appear smaller as wearers grow accustomed to them. In this sense, what once seemed extravagant may quickly become the new normal.
