Celebrity MEGA Bling Engagement Rings: Avril Lavigne, Reese Witherspoon And Angelina Jolie Show Off Their Rocks

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Avril Lavigne (with Chad Kroeger), pic from People.com

Wow. Just; wow. Check out the size of Avril Lavigne's engagement ring (above and below). The rocker got engaged this week to Nickelback singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger (no, us neither), and he presented her with a platinum-set pear-shape diamond with half-moons totalling 14 carats from the catchily-named XIV in Beverly Hills. Apparently this is Avril's 'dream ring'. Well, duh. It's HUGE! Like, crown-jewels huge.

XIVKARATS.com

Of course, ever since the divine Elizabeth Taylor, A-listers' rocks have been a cut above those owned by mere mortals, but in the last few years we've noticed betrothal baubles are getting bigger and bigger, and our jaws keep hitting the floor.

We blame Beyonce, or more accurately Jay-Z. For their 2007 engagement, Jay-Z gave Beyonce a whopping $5 million emerald-cut solitaire featuring an 18-carat (wha..?) flawless diamond set on double diamond studded platinum bands, that was the size of a swimming pool.
And when Angelina Jolie got engaged to Brad Pitt last Spring, her ring, featured flawless, 17 carat custom-cut diamonds around a humungous central stone. The term 'table-cut diamond' gives you some idea of its size. It took her fiance over a year to design it for the future Mrs Pitt, and cost $500k.

And let's not forget Kim Kardashian's ill-fated engagement to basketball player Kris Humphries in May last year, featuring the betrothal bling to end all others - a whopping 20-karat diamond that reportedly cost two million dollars, with a monster emerald-cut diamond that, not surprisingly, she wanted to hang onto well after the marriage was over. Well you would, wouldn't you...
So check out our gallery of the most mega bling engagement rings. And tell us below - are these outrageous rocks the ultimate in romantic luxury or just horrendously vulgar, hmmm ?