All About Marilyn Monroe’s Elusive Engagement Ring

Alex GurleyThu, June 25, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC

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Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe's engagement ring.Credit: Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty; Bettmann/Getty

Marilyn Monroe may have tied the knot three times but she's only known to have received one engagement ring.

The legendary Hollywood actress was briefly married as a teenager to her high school sweetheart, Jim Dougherty, but it was her second marriage to baseball icon Joe DiMaggio that made headlines. The couple, who were introduced on a blind date, were together for two years before making a spur of the moment decision to walk down the aisle in 1954.

There was no big proposal and their engagement was short. Just days after agreeing to wed, Monroe and DiMaggio showed up at San Francisco City Hall to say "I do." Inside the courthouse, Monroe was presented with a ring; experts have debated whether this piece of jewelry was the platinum diamond eternity band she would become known for or a separate family heirloom used as a placeholder.

The ring, which was auctioned off decades later for over $700,000, is shrouded in mystery.

Here's everything to know about Marilyn Monroe's elusive engagement ring.

DiMaggio originally proposed to Monroe without a ring

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty

Monroe and DiMaggio had been dating for around two years when they agreed it was time to tie the knot. Somewhat of a spontaneous decision, it's believed that DiMaggio proposed without an engagement ring and it wasn't until after the couple's actual nuptials that he presented Monroe with the memorable diamond band that has become representative of their relationship, per The Marilyn Monroe Collection.

The couple said "I do" on Jan. 14, 1954 at San Francisco City Hall, several days after canceling their initial plans to wed in Las Vegas, according to Vegas 411. Despite trying to keep the ceremony private, reporters, fans and photographers flocked to the building and were waiting outside for the couple and their small wedding party.

When questioned by the press outside of the courthouse, Monroe spoke of the couple's last minute nuptials, saying, "I met him two years ago on a blind date in Los Angeles, and a couple of days ago we started talking about this," per NPR affiliate, KQED.

When Monroe and DiMaggio emerged from City Hall, Monroe was wearing a shimmering diamond band on her ring finger.

Monroe's engagement ring featured 36 baguette-cut diamonds

The gold & diamond wedding ring offered by Joe DiMaggio to Marilyn in 1954.Credit: Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty

The stunning piece of jewelry Monroe received from DiMaggio, serving as both an engagement and wedding ring, was a platinum diamond eternity band, set with 36 baguette-cut diamonds. It's unknown where DiMaggio purchased the ring or if he had any hand in designing the piece.

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Over the course of the couple's nine month marriage, there are very few photographs of Monroe wearing the ring.

It sold at auction for over $700,000 in 1999

Joe Di Maggio and Marilyn Monroe after their wedding.Credit: INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTOS (INP)/AFP via Getty

In 1999, the eternity band was sold at auction by Christie's as part of their "The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe" sale. By then, the ring was missing one of its 36 diamonds, per The Marilyn Monroe Collection.

While the piece of jewelry was initially appraised to sell for around $50,000, when it came time for the auction, bids far surpassed expectations. By the end of the auction, the ring sold for $772,500, per Christie's records.

The piece of jewelry went up for auction just over a decade later during the now-defunct Profiles in History Icons of Hollywood auction, according to The Marilyn Monroe Collection. It reportedly sold for $516,000. The current owner of the ring has not been made public.

Monroe may have worn a different ring on their wedding day

While Monroe's ring from her marriage to DiMaggio has become iconic, rumors have often swirled that the eternity band is not the same piece of jewelry she wore on her wedding day.

Those who have examined photos from the courthouse, as well as images taken later in 1954, noticed that there are subtle differences in the ring. The Marilyn Monroe Collection founder Scott Fortner believes the ring Monroe had on her finger immediately following the wedding and during her honeymoon was not the same piece as the one she wore in the months that followed and was ultimately sold at auction.

"Perhaps it was a family heirloom, loaned to Joe to use for the hastily planned wedding, ultimately returned to the DiMaggio family after the divorce. Perhaps it still resides with the Strasberg family," Fortner has theorized about the piece of jewelry from the wedding day.

Not much is known about Monroe's rings from other relationships

Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe after their marriage in a religious ceremony on July 2, 1965 in Roxbury, Connecticut.Credit: Bettmann/Corbis/Getty

In addition to Monroe's marriage to DiMaggio, she was married two other times. Back in 1942, she tied the knot with Dougherty, her classmate at Van Nuys High School. She was just 16 years old and it's unknown if Monroe had an engagement ring from this relationship.

Years later, after her split from DiMaggio, Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956. Like DiMaggio, it's believed that Miller did not propose with an engagement ring.

When the couple tied the knot, Miller presented Monroe with a 22-carat-gold wedding band that had reportedly belonged to his mother, per Vogue. According to the outlet, the Cartier piece he ordered didn't arrive in time.

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