Diamond Engagement Rings: A History

Ever wondered how the diamond engagement ring became the superstar of the jewelry world? The Jewelry Insider offers a brief history for your reading pleasure.

'Tis the season to pop that fateful question fellas...

Diamond Engagement Rings: A History

Because of their beauty, strength and durability, diamonds for centuries have symbolized the eternal love of two people that have pledged to join together in marriage.

The actual tradition of giving a diamond engagement ring as a promise of marriage is thought to have started in 1477, when Archduke Maximillian of Austria presented Mary of Burgundy with a diamond ring. This practice became a trend among royalty and the wealthy, and the rest of the world's upper classes began to embrace it over the next few centuries.

But giving a diamond engagement ring as a symbol of betrothal really started to become an established, widespread tradition once the gems became more accessible and affordable to the public. And that all started in 1870 with the discovery of diamond mines in South Africa. These new sources flooded the market and led to the creation of the De Beers conglomerate to control the worldwide diamond supply. During these early decades of the De Beers dynasty, diamond sales flourished in Europe, the United States and other key world markets.

By the late 1930s, however, the United States and much of Europe was in the wake of the Depression, and Europe was bracing for the start of World War II - and demand for diamonds had plummeted to an all-time low. Thus, De Beers diamond mogul Sir Ernest Oppenheimer sent his son Harry to New York to meet with the N.W Ayer advertising agency. The plan was to transform America's taste for small, low-quality stones into a true luxury market that would absorb the excess production of higher-quality gems no longer selling in Europe. The result of Ayer and young Oppenheimer's efforts was a campaign - led by the enduring "A Diamond is Forever" slogan - that helped turn the United States into the premier market for the world's supply of gem-quality diamonds. The successful campaign also cemented the diamond's status as the engagement ring stone of choice in America.

Here are some other interest historical facts related to the engagement ring:

• The tradition of placing both the engagement ring and wedding band on the fourth finger of the left hand stems from a Greek belief that a certain vein in that finger, the vena amoris, runs directly to the heart.
• In the Middle Ages, men often kept a betrothal ring suspended from the band of their hats, ready to give to their chosen maid.
• Posy rings, which were inscribed with love poems and messages, were popular betrothal rings from the Middle Ages until Victorian times.
• A popular engagement ring style during the Renaissance was called the "Gimmel," or twin, ring. The ring was typically made of two (or three) interlocking rings: one worn by the bride-to-be, and another by the groom-to-be (and sometimes a third worn by a witness). All three parts were reunited into one to become the wedding ring on the day of marriage. Martin Luther and Catherine Bora were wed with an inscribed gimmel ring in 1525.
• The smallest engagement ring on record was given to two-year-old Prince Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, on the event of her betrothal to the infant Dauphin of France, son of King Francis I, in 1518. Mary's tiny gold ring was set with a diamond.
• A diamond cluster ring in the shape of a long pointed oval was popular as an engagement ring during the time of Louis XVI (1754-1793), and remained fashionable for 150 years afterward.
• Hearts were popular motifs for engagement and wedding rings during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Such rings often combined rubies (signifying love) and diamonds (signifying eternity).
• Despite the diamond's growing hold on the bridal market, colored stone rings were still quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Often, the first letter of the stones within the setting spelled out the name of the giver or a word (for example, "dearest" would be represented by diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, epidote, sapphire and turquoise).
• Queen Victoria's (1819-1901) engagement ring was in the form of a serpent. The snake motif was believed to be a symbol of good luck.
• The Tiffany, or solitaire, setting was introduced in the late nineteenth century.
• The "princess ring," a type of English engagement ring sporting three to five large diamonds in a row across the top, was popular in the United States in the early twentieth century. The three-stone style has enjoyed a major comeback recently.
• In the early part of the twentieth century, platinum was the metal of choice for engagement rings because of its strength and durability in holding a diamond. However, platinum was declared a strategic metal during World War II, and its usage was restricted to military purposes. This led to the rise of both yellow and white gold in bridal jewelry.
• The famous "A Diamond is Forever" campaign established many of today's standards for diamond engagement rings, including the "two months' salary" guideline - which basically says that a prospective groom should plan to spend two months' salary on an engagement ring for his bride-to-be.
  
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Championship Ring Sales on the Rise

Professional athletes dedicate their entire life to achieving one goal: winning a championship. And while big salaries, flashy diamond jewelry and a visit from MTV Cribs goes along with being at the top of the heap, nothing is more symbolic of a number-one ranking than that big-old, gaudy-as-all-get-out championship ring.

They make those hideous high school class rings we all bought back in the day look like trinkets from a gumball machine, right? Regardless, you have to think that these guys count the symbolic bauble among their most prized possessions.

But CNBC reports this morning the sad news that more and more sports stars are hocking their championship rings for cash these days due to economic woes.

Say it ain’t so!

Can you imagine anyone from that miracle Super Bowl-winning Giants team last year selling the ring that symbolizes the triumph of the ultimate underdog? According to Tim Robbins from Championship-Rings.net, someone already has.

Robbins tells CNBC that championship ring sales are enjoying a banner year as the economy adds to the pressures of athletes who may have more bills than their paychecks can cover.

“A lot of times people sell the rings because of what we call the three D’s. It’s usually drugs, divorce, and/or death. And in recent times we’ve had to add an “E” to it because of the economy.”

But why don’t these guys just get rid of the fourth Porsche in the driveway or the second home in the Hamptons?

“With players, it’s more of a private sale. Instead of going off and selling their house, their expensive cars, they look for items that most people don’t see very often because they don’t necessarily wear their rings out everywhere,” Robbins explains.

It’s a sad day in Mudville, sportsfans, when you hear something like this. Maybe because jewelry is (to us dazzle hounds, especially) the ultimate expression of emotion and experience, but also because the rings represent memories that will no longer get passed down through the families of these guys.

A Porsche is nice and all, but a diamond ring is (as they say) forever. Even if it looks like something from Liberace's treasure chest.

Diamond Jewelry Gifts Go Back to Basics

It’s that time of year again – and, guys, the Jewelry Insider knows how you feel. You’ve been thinking about what to get her for weeks now - putting it off until somehow the gift-giving gods provided some kind of divine inspiration. But now it’s crunch time, and you’ve got, well, a whole lot of nothing. Am I right?

The good news is: there’s still time. And the better news? We have the perfect gift idea that will wow her without breaking the bank. Diamonds.

Why spend money on meaningless cardigans, boring bathrobes and sad-sack sock sets when you can consolidate your list into one shining gift that she’ll treasure forever?

According to the Diamond Information Center’s Sally Morrison, diamond jewelry is experiencing a return to basics this holiday season. Staples like diamond studs are a surefire winner. Three-stone jewelry and right hand rings are also popular choices. And while interest rates may be lowering (along with the stock market and our 401k balances), there’s no denying that love will never go out of fashion. In other words – pop the question fellas. There’s no time like the present!

Ms. Morrison also points out that price points for all of these jewelry categories are far from frightening – and I couldn’t agree more.

In a recent appearance on Chanell 11 news in New York, she features these diamond studs from Jewelry.com for only $250.















And how about this 1/4 carat three-stone diamond dazzler for just a bit more?

















And what better way to get rid of those butterflies than to get on bended knee with this stunning diamond bridal set from Kay Jewelers for only $700!















So take your finger off the panic button, gentlemen, and let one little box do all the talking this holiday season. ‘Less is more’ never looked this good.

Paris Hilton's Stolen Jewels

Socialista, Paris Hilton, may have a new BFF, but she no longer has about $2 million of her own jewelry. The Los Angeles Times reports that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and gloves entered through the front door of Hilton’s Sherman Oaks home at 5 a.m. Friday morning and ransacked her bedroom before fleeing with the icy loot and other personal belongings.

Sources told the Times that Paris was not home at the time - even though she was photographed the previous night at several LA night spots.

Interesting…

Authorities do not believe the Hilton robbery was connected to burglaries that have beset the Westside and Hollywood Hills lately, costing many celebs hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry and other valuables.

In those incidents two or three men wearing ski masks and gloves hit more than 70 homes usually at night and often on weekends. Some of the victims of these gloved intrusions include former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and her Oscar-winning director husband, William Friedkin, Los Angeles Clippers basketball star Cuttino Mobley, Duran Duran guitarist John Taylor and his wife, Juicy Couture President Gela Nash-Taylor, and country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Jewelry thieves seem to be making a comeback these days, with the shocking Harry Winston drag queen robbery in Paris making headlines and the economy perhaps forcing many others to put their sticky fingers where they don’t belong. Or maybe it’s Hollywood copycats paying homage to their most famous incarcerated gloved criminal, one Mr. O.J. Simpson?

Regardless, celebs like Hilton might want to take extra security precautions until the crime wave passes. Like, say, locking her door? Just a thought...

December's Birthday Blues

December birthdays are tough. It's no fun to share the spotlight with Santa and his various hangers-on, nor is it easy to compete with Hanukkah's not one, or two - but eight days of gifts.

Before you get the blues, take a gander at December's birthstone, the Blue Topaz. It's a rare natural gemstone that is one of the more popular colors on the market today. In my humble opinion, it beats November's Citrine hands down and October's Opal in a landslide.

So cheer up, all you Sagittariuses and Capricorns. Learn about your icy blue birthstone here, put one on your gift list - and learn to embrace the verb 'gloat' when you have more boxes under the tree this year.

HISTORY:

Blue topaz has become one of the most popular gemstones on the market today, due to its clarity, durability, availability and affordable cost. Yet it is a shade of topaz rarely found in nature. The stone's watery blue color is most often created through a combination of heat treatment and irradiation.

Topaz is one of the well-known pegmatite minerals that also includes beryl and tourmaline. Blue topaz is the birthstone for December - and is also the recommended gemstone for couples celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary.

Blue topaz has a definite, uniform color ranging from sky blue to Swiss blue. It is sometimes confused with the more costly aquamarine - yet whereas aquamarine sometimes has a greenish-blue or bluish-green tint, blue topaz will always look blue or bluish gray. The one exception is for surface-enhanced topaz, a process introduced in 1998 that enhances the stone's appearance and brings out colors such as blue to greenish-blue to emerald green.

Most blue topaz starts life as a colorless or slightly tinted topaz from places like Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and China. It is then irradiated (to incite the color change) and heated (to stabilize the change). The result is a permanent aqua shade. To get deep blue color out of topaz, treaters use neutron bombardment in a nuclear reactor and market the final product under the name "London blue." In fact, neutron bombardment is the only means by which to produce smaller calibrated stones with deep color.

Despite the stone's exposure to irradiation, experts say it poses no health hazard whatsoever to the wearer.

In addition to blue, the stone comes in a variety of colors, including golden yellow, orange-yellow, reddish-orange, sherry red, deep pink, honey brown, light green, and many shades in between.

Topaz holds the distinction of being the gemstone thought to have the widest rage of curative powers. According to legend, the stone can dispel enchantment and improve the eyesight. The ancient Greeks believed that it had the power to increase strength and make its wearer invisible in times of emergency. Topaz is also said to change color in the presence of poisoned food or drink. Throughout history, different cultures have believed that the stone could cure insomnia, asthma and hemorrhages; bring friendship; promote patience and a pleasant disposition, and ensure fidelity. To the ancients, it was also a symbol of love and affection and was even thought to ward off sudden death.

With a ranking of "8" on the Mohs scale of hardness, blue topaz is exceptionally strong and durable and well-suited to everyday wear. However, it should be protected against hard blows that can split, crack or chip it.

Diamonds, Sapphires and Dior

Diamonds and gemstones have been dripping from hi-tech gadgets like ipods, ear buds and remote controls for years now. And while top designers like Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani have all entered the designer phone market, Dior is launching a luxury model that is about to blow them all out of the water.

The new Dior Phone Diamonds (Glorious Black) is set with a whopping 641 diamonds, weighing in at 3.251 carats. Not enough bling for you? How about 34 black sapphire crystals for good measure?

Of course this game of telephone will cost you. But what fashionista on-the-go doesn’t want to spend $28 g’s for her all-important talking device?

Yup, that’s three zeros, people….

The ultra-slim clamshell design was created by Modelabs and comes with a sleek hand-brushed stainless steel case engraved with the Dior logo. A flat electro-luminescent keyboard and a luxe crocodile holder are also part of the package.

For the frugalistas out there, Dior offers a less expensive Swarovski crystal version in a leather case. Prices start at a mere $8160, and there are five glittering color options to choose from.

But why sell yourself short when you can carry the equivalent of a decent four-door sedan in your Birkin bag?

Ring a bling bling...

Flawless Diamond Sells at Sotheby’s - And It Was All Yellow

Fancy colored diamonds have taken the jewelry world by storm in the last decade, and the demand for these rare beauties doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon. Sotheby’s highly anticipated Magnificent Jewels Auction featured a flawless fancy vivid yellow diamond ring on their program cover, and the lot fetched the highest bid of the night.

The ring featured a 36.99-carat, oval, yellow diamond flanked by two shield-shaped gems weighing over 3 carats a piece. According to the accompanying GIA report, the center stone is internally flawless – two words you just don’t hear to describe much these days.

The lot was expected to rake in between $2 and $3 million, and the final bid fell within that range at $2,658,500. While some of the top items did not sell, Sotheby’s was happy to bring in over $20 million when all was said and done.

Natural colored diamonds are extremely rare – with yellow being one of the most sought after hues in the jewelry rainbow. Tom Cruise gave Katie a 5-carat yellow diamond engagement ring on that fateful Paris night, and Heidi Klum has a 10-carat cushion cut yellow stone rumored to have put Seal back about $150,000.

If you don’t have the budget for a natural yellow stone (and not many of us do these days), treated colored diamonds are a more affordable alternative. In fact, most colored diamonds on the market today are actually white diamonds that have been treated with intense heat to generate colors ranging from black, brown, pink, green, blue, to – of course - yellow.

So whether you’re a high rolling couture hound with a penchant for pink or a sensible susan who yearns for yellow – you don’t have to go to an auction to find colored diamonds to suit your particular ‘fancy’.

Jewelry Goes Cosmic

Glittering objects have long been associated with celestial phenomena– from sparkling meteor showers to the twinkle, twinkle of little stars. But astronomy enthusiast, Kara Knack, paired my favorite shiny thing – jewelry – with her passion for all things cosmic - and the result is out of this world.

The famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles is displaying Knack's unique exhibit, the Cosmic Collection, which represents a timeline of the universe - from the Big Bang to the present. And it's all made out of jewelry.

More than 2,200 pieces shaped like crescent moons, multi-pointed stars and radiant sunbursts are displayed in an undulating line along a 175-foot wall at the observatory.

Ms. Knack amassed the jewelry collection over two decades from swap meets, junk shops, discount stores and garage sales. She then enlisted 18 volunteers, who stationed the jewelry along a display board, earring by bracelet by necklace by pin, with Knack organizing the pieces to appear "random and chaotic."

A heavenly themed timeline, even one made of costume jewelry, Knack told The Los Angeles Times, allows people to reconnect with objects in the sky and perhaps inspire them to ask important questions: Why are we here? What is an individual's place in the vast universe?

Edwin C. Krupp, the observatory's longtime director, says "It's a very digestible universe for people. They're drawn by this unexpected way of displaying the march of cosmic time."

While the Cosmic Collection doesn't include the diamond and gemstone styles that make our hearts go pitter pat, I'm sure Ms. Knapp would approve if we rocketed on over to Jewelry.com to pay homage with shiny stars of our own. And the sun and moon shine bright there as well.

May the force be with us.

Salma and Goldie - amFar's Diamond Duo

Jaw-dropping diamond jewelry fashion was the belle of the ball at the 2nd Annual amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Dubai Gala this Friday. The event took place at the new Atlantis, The Palm Hotel, which recently opened with an extravagant party rumored to be the most expensive bash the world has ever seen.

It’s no surprise, then, that the celebrities on hand to raise money for AIDS research didn’t feel shy about bringing out the big guns in the bling department. It also didn’t hurt that diamond powerhouse, Cartier, was one of the largest sponsors for the worthy event.

The always-gorgeous Salma Hayek stunned the crowd with both her auctioning skills and a stunning Boucheron statement necklace with a diamond rosette. Laura Linney appeared in a classic metallic gown with diamond dangle earrings that exemplified her ‘less is more’ style. And Goldie Hawn always lights up a room – but her lobster-bib sized diamond necklace with gemstone accents took things to an entirely new level.

Jeffrey Wright, Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte and directors, Oliver Stone and Terry Gilliam, helped the diamond-clad event chairs raise $1.8m for amfAR, auctioning off items that included a stint on the Hayek-produced show Ugly Betty and a one-of-a-kind Cartier diamond cuff with Hayek’s signature.

Salma and Goldie – can they do no wrong? They can act, they can produce, they can auction, they have excellent taste in diamonds – and they have long-term partners who they aren’t getting married to anytime soon. They’re a veritable diamond-clad Thelma and Louise.

Without the ‘driving off a cliff to their doom’ incident…

The Wittelsbach Blue Diamond Sells Big!

As you jewelry hounds know, I’ve been tracking the Christie’s auction of the stunning 35.56-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond. The rare blue gem was expected to fetch around $15 million, but global economic woes and recent jewelry auction disappointments put the estimated figure in jeopardy, to say the least.

The 17th-century stone was originally given to Infanta Margarita Teresa by her father King Philip IV of Spain on the occasion of her engagement to her uncle, Leopold I of Austria. The diamond remained in royal custody for over 300 years until it found its way into a private collection, where it has remained since 1964.

So what did the historic diamond go for? How about a record-setting $24.3 million! Recession? What recession?

"In the midst of these challenging times, we were thrilled to achieve an historic price for an historic diamond," said Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie's Europe and auctioneer for Wednesday's sale.

The previous sales record was a mere $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995.

International jeweler Laurence Graff was the wealthy winner on Wednesday, Christies said in a release. Graff was bidding against Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading, a professional of Russian origin based in New York.

What on earth will Graff do with the dazzling diamond? According to Bloomberg news, Graff’s son, Francois, said they care less about the historical provenance of the stone and more about its unique diamond properties.

“We’re looking at the stone for what the stone is.” Graff Diamonds will re-cut the diamond with the intention of making the slightly chipped stone flawless and a deeper color, he said: “We’ll lose a few carats, but nothing too substantial.”

What's a few carats between friends, really...

Earrings Shine at Benjamin Button Premiere

As promised yesterday, here is a glittering recap of the red carpet jewelry fashions at the premiere of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I just watched the Golden Globe nominations, and the film got nods in several big categories - including a Best Actor nomination for Brad Pitt!

The stylists-to-the-stars seemed to agree that a classic earring statement was the jewelry choice for the red carpet walk - from Angelina to J-Lo, Eva Longoria to Julia Ormond. Veteran actress, Mimi Rogers, brought the brooch bling out to shine, and Sharon Stone's oversized diamond dragonfly pin was cause for some serious jewelry buzz. Sorry. Pun intended.

While there were some that overdid it (Alfre Woodard - you are such a great actress but the gold chains aren't working), most of the looks - from today's A-listers to the ladies of yesteryear - were just like the movie. Top notch.

Cate Blanchett's Golden Gown

The divine Cate Blanchette didn’t wear any jewelry for the premiere of her latest film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I was so disappointed. How can you share a screen with Brad Pitt and then a red carpet with the likes of Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez and not bring out at least a little bling?

Then I took a closer look at her dress, and it all made sense. The bell-shaped Steve McQueen couture frock is literally made out of metallics and gold beads! Adding anything else would have been complete overkill.

I’m not sure if I actually like the frock, but you have to give Blanchett credit for pushing the fashion envelope. The sculpted gown is made only by special order, and McQueen seamstresses require several fittings to get things just ‘sew’.

If you have $120,000 to spend, you too can light up the night with a bell-shaped McQueen gown of your own. Apparently, some red carpet-watching fashion hound already put in an order after spotting Cate at the premier, according to McQueen’s New York Store.

Stay tuned for my recap of other notable jewelry looks that made an appearance that night. Aside from A-listers like Angelina, J-Lo and Eva Longoria – there are surprising showings from style veterans, Sharon Stone, Julia Ormand (Brad’s costar in this film and, of course, Legends of the Fall. No one did unrequited love quite like those two), and Mimi Rogers. Yes, the very same “I used to be married to Tom Cruise when he was 25” Mimi Rogers!

Random red carpets are often the best red carpets.

In the meantime, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button opens in theaters on Christmas Day.

Jewelry Hits and Misses at the Kennedy Center Honors

Diamond, gold and gemstone jewelry lit up our nation’s capital, as the Kennedy Center handed out their coveted medals to six deserving performing artists last week.

This year’s honorees included The Who’s Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend, dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp, actor Morgan Freeman, country’ music’s, George Jones, and singing sensation, Barbara Streisand (who exchanged a much-publicized awkward smooch with her favorite political punching bag, George W.)

The prestigious Kennedy Center Honors are known as the most ‘formal’ event on the award show circuit, so it’s no surprise the celebs brought their A game in the bling department.

Beyonce was the belle of the ball in a form-fitting Zuhair Murad gown and tasteful black diamond clips (It’s clear she’s no longer getting dressed by her mother. It’s about time).

Queen Latifah put the ‘ice’ in ‘ice queen’ with her stunning diamond and black pearl Y-necklace and matching diamond cuff. And look at that Linda Carter – all svelt and shimmery in a beaded navy dress with eye-popping diamond chandelier earrings. She can fight for my rights in her satin tights any day!

Unfortunately, while Babs can belt one out like no other, she has some work to do in the fashion department. The chunky gold chain doesn’t do much to help the flowy caftan look she’s been wearing since 1992. And Michelle Lee’s black gemstone choker and Nancy Pelosi's gold ensemble don’t fare much better. Sorry, Madam Speaker.

But the special night was about the art – not what the artists wore, I should be reminded.

"With their extraordinary genius and tenacity, the 2008 Honorees have redefined the way we see, hear and feel the performing arts. We will forever be thankful for the great gifts (the honorees) have shared with us," said Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman.

The ceremony will be broadcast in its entirety December 30th on CBS.