It was quite impossible to escape news this week of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's engagement. Everywhere you looked, media outlets covered everything from the proposal caught on video, to the jubilant tweets sent out by the pair's family and friends, to Kim's gigantic ring. But if you, like some of us here at HuffPost Celebrity, are clueless as to what a 15-carat (D-stone, type 2A cushion cut) diamond means, we're here to give you some perspective.



In 2011, The Wedding Report stated that the average diamond engagement ring carat weight is 1.18, per Glamour magazine. Yahoo Finance estimated the average ring to be 1 carat for the center stone and 1.4 carats in total stones, according to the XO Group Inc. 2011 Engagement Engagement & Jewelry Survey. Lauren Conrad, for instance, recently got engaged with a 2-carat diamond, reports E! News, further cementing her status as that-girl-who's-almost-like-you-but-way-better.


This means that Kim's new bauble is roughly 10.7 to 15 times larger than the average American woman's stone (Kardashian's previous ring from ex-husband Kris Humprhries was 20 carats, just as an FYI).


Though it's not surprising to learn celebrities can afford way more than we common folk, let's put this into further perspective.


According to YourTango, Crystal Harris' ring from Hugh Hefner was 3.39 carats; Paris Hilton's engagement ring from Paris Latsis was 24 carats; and Richard Burton gifted Elizabeth Taylor with both a 33.19-carat diamond ring and another 69.2-carat gem (pictured below).


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Jennifer Aniston's engagement ring from Justin Theroux is estimated at 8 carats, according to Us Weekly, while the jewel her ex-husband Brad Pitt gave Angelina Jolie is 16 carats (though other reports put it at 10 carats).


According to InStyle, Fergie's ring from Josh Duhamel is 4 carats, as is Reese Witherspoon's ring from Jim Toth; Jessica Simpson got a 5-carat stunner from Eric Johnson; Jerry O'Connell proposed to Rebecca Romijn with a 6-carat diamond; and Mariah Carey's ring from Nick Cannon is 10.02 carats.


So next time you overhear Kimye engagement chatter, confidently chime in. Say the reality star does the average girl 15 times over, but she's still no Elizabeth Taylor.



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  • Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson


    Simpson and Johnson, who have two children together, have been engaged since Nov. 2010. So, when's this wedding happening?! We'll have to wait and see.




  • Kim Kardashian and Kanye West


    <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/kim-kardashian-kanye-west-engaged_n_4141401.html?utm_hp_ref=celebrity" target="_blank">Kanye proposed to Kim</a> with a 15-carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond ring at the San Francisco AT&T Park on her 33rd birthday.




  • Lauren Conrad


    The former "Laguna Beach" and "The Hills" star is engaged to her boyfriend William Tell.




  • Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko


    Panettiere announced their engagement on "Live With Kelly & Michael" on Oct. 9, 2013.




  • Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis




  • Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo




  • Katie Couric


    Couric got engaged to boyfriend John Molner in early September 2013.




  • Casey Wilson


    Wilson is engaged to "Happy Endings" creator David Caspe.




  • Lance Bass


    The former *NSYNC star is engaged to boyfriend Michael Turchin




  • Naya Rivera and Big Sean


    The "Glee" star's rep confirmed that Rivera is engaged to marry Big Sean (otherwise known as Sean Michael Anderson) after just six months together.




  • Zayn Malik


    The One Direction singer is engaged to girlfriend Perrie Edwards.




  • Matthew Morrison


    The "Glee" star is engaged to model Renee Puente.




  • Kelly Osbourne and Matthew Mosshart


    Osbourne announced her engagement to boyfriend Mosshart in the summer of 2013.




  • Tyler Posey


    The "Teen Wolf" star is engaged to his longtime girlfriend Seana Gorlick.




  • Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser


    The pair, who came out publicly with their affair this past June, <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/alexis-bledel-vincent-kartheiser-engaged-mad-men-costars-to-marry-2013203" target="_blank">confirmed to Us Weekly that they are set to marry</a>. "They couldn't be happier," a friend of the twosome told the magazine.




  • Jamie Lynn Spears


    The 21-year-old sister of Britney Spears is engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Jamie Watson.




  • Jamie-Lynn Sigler


    The actress is engaged to Cutter Dykstra -- and expecting her first baby!




  • Christina Ricci


    The actress is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/02/christina-ricci-engaged-james-heerdegen_n_2605849.html?utm_hp_ref=weddings&ir=Weddings">engaged to her beau of a year</a>, James Heerdegen, she announced on Feb. 1, 2013.




  • Brandy and Ryan Press


    Brandy got engaged to Press in Dec. 2012.




  • Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux


    Aniston and Theroux got engaged in Aug. 2012 and are currently planning their wedding.




  • Nick Loeb and Sofia Vergara


    Vergara and Loeb got engaged during her 40th birthday weekend in the summer of 2012.




  • Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt


    Jolie and Pitt have been together for eight years and have six children. They got engaged in April 2012.




  • Guy Ritchie and Jacqui Ainsley


    Ritchie is set to wed girlfriend Ainsley after the pair got engaged in Oct. 2012.




  • JWoww and Roger Mathews


    JWoww got engaged to Mathews in Sept. 2012.




  • Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi and Jionni LaValle


    Snooki and LaValle got engaged in March 2012.




  • Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka


    Harris and Burtka have been engaged for seven years and plan to wed soon.




  • Kate Hudson and Matthew Bellamy


    Hudson and Bellamy got engaged in April 2011, but have yet to tie the knot.




  • Jesse Metcalfe and Cara Santana


    Metcalfe and Santana have been engaged since Jan. 2012.




  • Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber


    Watts revealed Schreiber gave her a ring in Jan. 2010, but the pair have yet to confirm whether or not they've actually tied the knot.




  • Amy Adams and Darren Le Gallo


    Adams has been engaged to Le Gallo since July 2008. the pair have a daughter together, Aviana.




  • Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga


    Hudson and Otunga have been engaged for five years and have a son together.