George Clooney Chose an Emerald-Cut Sparkler When He Asked Amal to Marry Him .QN

Amal Clooney’s engagement ring includes a nod to her career as an international human rights lawyer.

Amal and George Clooney met through a mutual friend in July 2013 at a dinner held at the actor’s home in Italy. The two began communicating over email and had their first official date at Abbey Studios in London in October 2013. Six months later, George proposed to Amal with an emerald-cut diamond ring. All the diamonds were ethically sourced, meaning they were mined in a way that didn’t exploit workers or the environment.

In September 2014, the couple tied the knot in a star-studded ceremony in Venice. During an interview with GQ in November 2020, George opened up about how he hadn’t planned to remarry or have children until he met Amal.

“I was like, ‘I’m never getting married. I’m not gonna have kids,’ ” he said. “I’m gonna work, I’ve got great friends, my life is full, I’m doing well. And I didn’t know how un-full it was until I met Amal. And then everything changed. And I was like, ‘Oh, actually, this has been a huge empty space.’ ”

George added that marriage changed him “because I’d never been in the position where someone else’s life was infinitely more important to me than my own.”

Here’s everything to know about Amal Clooney’s engagement ring.

Amal’s emerald-cut ring is 7 carats

Amal’s custom engagement ring has a stunning yet simple design. It features an ethically mined emerald-cut diamond as its center stone — estimated to be about 7 carats — flanked by two tapered baguettes set on a platinum band. While the jeweler is unknown, George did help design the overall ring.

She showed off her ring for the first time in April 2014

The same month she got engaged to George, Amal showed off her new bling when the pair attended Rande Gerber’s 52nd birthday party in Santa Barbara. While the pair had been spotted out to dinner a few times before this outing, this was the first time Amal’s engagement ring was on full display.

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George proposed to Amal at home

George proposed to Amal during a date night at home in April 2014.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in September 2017, George opened up about the intimate proposal. After the two enjoyed a pasta dinner the actor had made, he asked Amal to get a lighter from a drawer to light a candle, and she pulled out a ring instead.

“I did all the stuff, got down on my knee and did all the things you’re supposed to do,” George said. “I had a playlist with my Rosemary songs on it [his late aunt was the singer Rosemary Clooney], and I was waiting for this song, ‘Why Shouldn’t I?’ ‘Why shouldn’t I take a chance when romance passes by? / Why shouldn’t I know of love?’ It’s a really good song about why can’t I be in love?”

He added, “It played, and she’s like, ‘Holy s—!’ And she just kept staring at the ring, going, ‘Oh, my God.’ It was 20 minutes of me on my knee, waiting for her to say yes, because she was so shocked.”

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Amal eventually said yes during the song “Goody, Goody,” which George said “isn’t very romantic — it’s kind of mean: ‘So you met someone who set you back on your heels, goody, goody.’ ”

Though Amal accepted George’s proposal, he revealed during a May 2015 appearance on CBS This Morning that he and Amal hadn’t discussed marriage before he popped the question.

“I knew fairly quickly that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Amal,” he said. “When I asked her we had never talked about it. There wasn’t like ‘Maybe we should get married.’ I dropped it on her!”

George realized he wanted to marry Amal while on a safari

George and Amal were dating for six months before he proposed. During an interview with Vogue in April 2018, the Ocean’s Eleven star said he had an epiphany when they went on a safari with friends in Africa.

“Some giraffes walked up to her,” he recalled. “They just came out of the blue. I took a picture of her, and she was smiling. I said to my buddy Ben, ‘You know, I think I should ask her to marry me.’ And Ben said, ‘I think that’s a good idea.’ ”

Amal wears a diamond wedding band

When Amal and George tied the knot in September 2014, they exchanged matching wedding bands. Amal’s ring was a diamond eternity band, which complemented George’s simple platinum wedding band. While the international human rights lawyer does occasionally wear both of her rings, she’s often spotted donning just her diamond wedding band.