Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos made memories in May 2023 as the couple got engaged while traveling in Southern Europe. Paparazzi captured photos of Lauren’s large engagement ring while she partied with her then-fiance overseas. Soon afterwards, the press started to calculate the price of the former Fox 11 anchor’s bling as well as the number of carats it has. Her engagement ring is a solitaire with a large pink diamond, estimated to be 30 carats, and it cost somewhere between $3 and $5 million. However, the wife of the Amazon founder isn’t the only celebrity with a large diamond ring, and hers pales in comparison to the one Elizabeth Taylor received from her fifth husband, Richard Burton.
Bettmann & Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty & undefined
The diamond came from South Africa and was 240 carats before being split up into more wearable sizes. Taylor had her eye on the 69-carat pear-shaped jewel for a while, but the gem bounced between bidders at multiple auctions before she got it. After she and Burton saw the diamond on their Swiss vacation, he tried to buy it for her birthday. The Welsh actor bid $1 million at a 1969 auction but lost it to Cartier. Burton then bought the 69-carat jewel from Cartier for $1.1 million, which is equivalent to around $7.6 million today. The ring Burton gifted to Taylor is so large that it hid the width of her finger whenever she wore it. For Lauren, her engagement ring isn’t big enough hide her fingers.
Both women had controversy surrounding their gaudy jewelry
Lauren Sánchez Bezos gets a lot of flak for her controversial romance with Jeff Bezos and for marrying a billionaire in general. Her 2025 wedding in Venice, Italy, was soon followed by commentary on the obscene price of another ring from her husband and online criticisms about the ways wealthy people spend and save their money. But the former TV journalist isn’t alone in dealing with public scrutiny about her love life and everything attached to it.
Aside from her acting skills, Elizabeth Taylor was famous in Old Hollywood for her relationship history that resulted in eight marriages. By the time she married Richard Burton, anything Taylor did seemed to raise eyebrows. She overheard Princess Margaret calling her 33-carat ring from Burton “vulgar” at a wedding in the late ’60s, so the judgment wouldn’t have died down at the sight of the 69-carat one. Large diamonds are still polarizing, but netizens on X commented on Taylor and Burton’s short-lived, temperamental union when reacting to a clip of her largest ring. “She was married a whopping 8 times, twice to Richard Burton,” one user wrote. “That diamond meant nothing, regardless of monetary value lol.”
Luckily, Lauren’s first marriage lasted longer than Taylor and Burton’s two marriages, which is a sign that she’s likely serious and cautious about her union with Jeff. However, being known for marrying a billionaire makes people assume that Lauren is very out of touch. She wouldn’t have been able to pull off a 69-carat engagement ring because people comment on how Jeff has too much access to wealth and spends it on himself or his loved ones. Lauren isn’t really considered a legend either, which is why Taylor got away with having a big diamond.
