The best celeb engagement rings of 2023

Fashion & Beauty

By Raquel Laneri

May 16, 2023 | 7:00am

Kate Bosworth confirmed her engagement to actor Justin Long on Instagram with a series of blurry photos of the two of them cuddling through the years.

“Mad Men” star Christina Hendricks announced her engagement to cinematographer George Bianchini with a low-key snap and the caption: “We proposed to each other and we said yes!!!” Allison Williams let her partner Alexander Dreymon quietly drop the news of their upcoming nuptials — the “M3gan” star hasn’t posted on social media in about two years.

None of these women posted ring pics.

They did not show off the diamonds on their fingers or go on talk shows sharing how their boyfriends got down on one knee. (Bosworth, instead, discussed the proposal on her betrothed’s “Life Is Short” podcast and let Long do the ring-pic posting.) 

It’s not just the announcements that have gotten small; the rings have, too.

No more diamonds as big as the Ritz with flashy eternity bands. Brides are embracing simpler styles in traditional cuts.

“This year feels very different from 2022, where the focus was on really unique rings: heart shapes, portrait cut, vivid colors — things that were unusual and stood out,” says Sam Broekema, editor-in-chief of Only Natural Diamonds, the Natural Diamond Council’s online publication. “There’s been a real trend toward traditional and vintage styles — smaller natural diamond engagement rings, things that feel more understated.”

When newly betrothed celebs did walk a red carpet, fans had to zoom into the event photos just to catch a glimpse of their subtle sparklers.

“It feels more quiet and personal,” notes Broekema.

Take Beanie Feldstein’s custom ring from fiancée Bonnie Chance Roberts.

The yellow-gold band’s inside has a tiny diamond that belonged to Roberts’ mother, while the outside sports an antique cushion-cut diamond surrounded by tiny pear-shaped stones, inspired by “a rare flower in bloom,” according to jeweler Michelle Oh.

It’s a sweet style that has an antique feel while remaining distinctly personal. “It’s definitely a retro throwback type of look,” says Scott Udell, vice president of London Jewelers. “But it has an elegant, New Age twist.”

Hendricks, meanwhile, opted for an antique-style ring that complements her own preferences for 1940s-inspired fashions. “It’s made up of a grouping of stones, like Beanie’s,” says Broekema. “It’s more about the design than it is about the impact of a central stone.” 

“I think it speaks to the way they announced [the engagement] as making the decision together,” Broekema points out. “It was, ‘We made a commitment to one another’ versus ‘He asked me and needed to wow me to say yes to the ring.’ ”

Udell says that brides who do opt for a single central stone are paring them back as well: emerald-cut diamonds, as well as round stones and oval shapes with simple yellow-gold or rose-gold bands, such as the case with Bosworth and Williams.

“I think a lot of brides today recognize that [an engagement ring] is something that they wear every day, day in and day out, and they want something that’s not going to be out of style in three to five years,” he says. 

Even a pop star like Vanessa Hudgens (who showed off her ring in a selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower) has reined back the glitz, opting for an oval sparkler set in yellow gold. Says Broekema: “It is a big ring, yet it’s very classic.”