Celebrity Sparklers: Five Star Engagement Rings

Jan. 12, 2011— -- Just when you thought Hollywood stars couldn't get any brighter, a slew of celebrities are flashing enough engagement bling to make your eyes hurt.

Natalie Portman is the latest to show off her engagment ring. Last Saturday while posing for photographers after picking up an award at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards, the "Black Swan" actress sported a dazzling round diamond on her wedding finger.

Portman recently announced her surprise engagement and pregnancy with fiancé Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer on "Black Swan."

"I have always kept my private life private, but I will say that I am indescribably happy and feel very grateful to have this experience," Portman said in a statement.

Earlier in the week, Portman's sparkly diamond nearly stole the show when the actress presented at the People's Choice Awards.

The slender engagement ring, which, according to People magazine, has a round diamond with pavé diamonds surrounding it, has a classic heirloom quality.

It's the perfect fit for Portman, whom actor Jake Gyllenhaal called "the Audrey Hepburn of our generation," while presenting her the Desert Palm Achievement Award.

"She is elegant, graceful, has amazing eyebrows ... is talented, really short, funny, smart, dedicated, incredibly kind," Gyllenhaal said.

Here's the 411 on the latest celebrity engagement rings:

Reese Witherspoon

Days after announcing her engagement to Hollywood agent Jim Toth, actress Reese Witherspoon showed off her four-carat diamond engagement ring at a Los Angeles Lakers game last Thursday.

Witherspoon's rare Ashoka diamond stunner is set on a pave diamond-and-platinum band and was custom-designed by the William Goldberg Diamond Corp. The center stone features 62 displayed facets and rounded corners and is based on a classic diamond from around 262 B.C.

According to Goldberg Diamond's website, only a couple of hundred diamonds a year are big enough to create the Ashoka, since 40 to 60 percent of the diamond is whittled away in order to create the cut's signature elongated shape.

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson couldn't wait to display her new bling at a mall appearance for her clothing line in Kansas last November.

Just six months after they began dating, former NFL star Eric Johnson popped the question to his pop star girlfriend. In keeping with his former 49er colors, Johnson gave Simpson a Neil Lane ruby ring flanked by two diamonds.

OK! magazine estimated the cost of the ring at $185,000, "because it's a ruby and because of its rareness."

Vanessa Minnillo

Perhaps Johnson was not about to be outdone by Simpson's ex-husband Nick Lachey, who proposed to long-time girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo a week before Johnson put a ring on Simpson's finger.

Lachey's choice for Minnillo: a large Asscher-cut diamond with trapezoids on the side from designer Bader & Garrin.

Jewelry expert Michael O'Connor told US Weekly that the center stone was approximately 4 carats.

Lachey and Minnillo have been on and off since they began dating in 2006, shortly after Lachey's 2005 divorce from Simpson. But now, Lachey Tweeted, they are looking forward to a "wonderful future together."

Kate Middleton

Prince William reached back to his mother, Princess Diana, to find the perfect ring for his future bride Kate Middleton.

Middleton, the future Princess Catherine, showed off the ring, a sapphire with 14 diamonds encircling it, at St. James's Palace in London hours after news broke of her royal engagement to William.

It's the same ring that Diana wore in 1981 when she became engaged to William's father, Prince Charles. Today, the estimated price tag is $125,000.