Cristiano Ronaldo and girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez are engaged, but all eyes are on the ring

NEW YORK – In an Instagram post on Aug 11, Georgina Rodriguez, the long-time girlfriend of Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, uploaded a photo of a gigantic rock on her ring finger.

Beneath her hand, adorned with long, freshly manicured, glazed French nails, was another person’s hand – presumably Ronaldo’s, as he was tagged in the photo.

“Yes, I do. In this and in all my lives,” the model captioned the photo in her native Spanish.

Immediately, the oval-cut ring had people talking. Some people compared the diamond ring with a Ring Pop, the lollipop candy, and others joked it was probably so expensive that it could save world hunger.

“To wear this stone regularly, you’re going to need a finger reconstruction surgery,” said jewellery-focused social media influencer Julia Chafe in a video on Instagram. “Just imagine wearing a hundred-pound kettlebell on your finger all day, every day. Painful, but worth it.”

Ronaldo, 40, and Rodríguez, 31, met at a Gucci store in Madrid in 2016. She was working there at the time, while he was playing for Real Madrid. He now plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr.

The couple have two daughters aged seven and three. Ronaldo has three more children: a 15-year-old son and eight-year-old twins.

Ms Anya Walsh, a jewellery specialist from London-based retailer 77 Diamonds, said she was surprised to see a diamond ring that large.

“Usually when you see even celebrity proposals, it’s around two to three carats or maybe five carats,” Ms Walsh said. “This ring is in a league of its own. It’s taking a good third of her finger.”

But it did remind her of a few other rings worn by celebrities and socialites.

She estimated the cost of Rodriguez’s ring to be at least US$5 million (S$6.4 million), and the total weight to be around 35 carats. She said it looked similar to American singer Mariah Carey’s 35-carat emerald-cut engagement ring in 2016 from her former fiance, Australian billionaire James Packer.

Rodriguez’s ring also reminded Ms Walsh of late Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor’s 33-carat stone, gifted by her former husband and Welsh actor Richard Burton in 1968. It sold for US$8.8 million at a Christie’s auction in 2011.

There was also late American basketball star Kobe Bryant’s “apology ring” that he gave to wife Vanessa Bryant in 2003 after he admitted to cheating on her. It was rumoured to cost US$4 million.

Ronaldo, the most followed person on Instagram with more than 660 million followers, and a man with a level of international fame that cannot be overstated, is bound to inspire trends with his engagement ring.

“Knowing who he is and knowing his impact on the world and his popularity, I don’t think he could have done it any other way,” Ms Walsh said.

“This is one of the biggest celebrity engagements we’ve seen in a while. So many people are really huge fans of him. A lot of men as well. I can guess there’s going to be an uptick in oval diamonds for sure, but will people want larger diamonds now?”

Oval diamonds are popular for their romantic, soft look. “Even though this is a huge diamond, it has that sort of contour where it’s quite delicate,” Ms Walsh said. After the round brilliant ring, the oval diamond is the second most popular choice at 77 Diamonds, generating about 20 per cent of total sales.

“Because it’s an elongated diamond, it helps make your hand seem a bit more slender, a bit finer than a more geometric or rectangular-looking stone,” she added.

Rodriguez’s engagement ring also appears to be flanked by two smaller oval diamond side stones, which is called a trilogy design. The three diamonds typically signify the past, present and future.

Ms Olivia Landau, founder of New York jeweller The Clear Cut, said the side stones appeared to be around three carats each. She predicted that the three-stone ring, with three ovals, would be more popular now, though on a smaller scale.

Ms Landau added that, given Rodriguez’s track record with fine and high jewellery, she believed it was a natural diamond. “She’s known for being a maximalist with her jewellery.” NYTIMES