Diamonds are a girl’s best friend (OST Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, performed by Marylin Monroe). Rihanna’s Diamonds, Drake’s Diamonds Dancing, Kylie Minogue’s White Diamond, and Sam Smith’s Diamonds are only a few from a very long list of songs that depict the relationship between celebrities and diamonds. Not only in the world of kayfabe but in reality, celebrity-adorned diamonds have become the talk of the tabloids for weeks and have steered the fashion industry in their direction.
If you look throughout history, you’ll notice that luxury diamond jewelry, be it diamond engagement rings or diamond necklaces, has always been associated with high-status women. It is as if, when paired together, they enhance each other’s beauty. However, in some incidents, diamond jewelry pieces have managed to outshine the stars who adorned them. I’ll take you through five such incidents where diamond jewelry outshined the women who adorned them.
1- Tabloids Went Gaga For This Tiffany & Co Necklace
Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta, more famously known as Lady Gaga, has been a prominent A-list celebrity in Hollywood for almost two decades. Apart from her powerful vocals, she is famous for her over-the-top fashion sense, which always has an underlying meaning. She created history in 2019 by winning an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe award for her blockbuster movie “A Star Is Born” within the same year. But the talk of the town on her Academy Award-winning night, which many would refer to as the most important night of their career, was surprisingly not Gaga herself. It was the Tiffany & Co. necklace she adorned. The necklace’s centerpiece was the famous fancy yellow “Tiffany Diamond,” weighing 128.54 carats. Gaga paired it with an off-the-shoulder black dress with high gloves accentuating the diva’s neckline, highlighting the already unique stone with a rich history. The same night, tabloids were inundated with red-carpet photos of the star from every angle. It is noteworthy to remember that Audrey Hepburn had previously adorned the same stone in a necklace but in a slightly different setting. She wore it at a campaign to promote the legendary film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
2- The World’s Most Famous Engagement Ring
A historic event took place on the morning of November 16, 2010, when Kate Middleton and Prince William officially announced their engagement. Kate appeared before the cameras, adorning a beautiful white gold engagement ring with a 12-carat oval sapphire surrounded by 14 colorless diamonds. This caused the photos of the most beloved princess of the world, Princess Diana’s pictures, wearing the same ring to be emblazoned across the national press. In a survey of 2000 people for “the world’s most famous engagement ring” by the Sun newspaper in 2020, Kate Middleton’s engagement ring won by a landslide. A “ring like Kate” became the trend for many brides to be in the UK and throughout the world. Increasing the demand for sapphires corroborated by jewelers specializing in the creation of bespoke diamond engagement rings.
3- Queen Of Hollywood’s Love Affair
Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair With Jewellery, an autobiography published in 2002, was dedicated to the Queen of Hollywood’s jewelry collection. Elizabeth Taylor loved jewelry and amassed an amazing collection of 269 truly opulent pieces. Most of these pieces were gifted by her husbands, friends, or fans. She had other passions, most notably colorless diamonds and jewelry by the Italian brand Bulgari.
If you could only imagine the kind of sensation this collection stirred at the auction. Some of the most notable pieces in the collection were the 33.19-carat Krupa diamond, the 55.95-carat flawless La Pelegrina pearl, a real diamond tiara, the 69.42-carat Cartier-Taylor-Barton diamond, and The Grand Duchess Vladimir Suite parure adorned with at least 150 carats of emeralds. The total amount for all the lots sold in 2011 was $116 million.
4- The Largest Robbery of The 21st Century in France
“Kim Kardashian robbed in Paris at GunPoint” was the headline in many newspapers in 2016. A total of $10.8 million worth of goods were stolen from the A-Lister. Kim gave away all her jewelry, including a 20-carat diamond engagement ring gifted to her by her now ex-husband Kanye West. This event “officially” acquired the title of the Largest Robbery of the 21st Century in France. The diamond engagement ring was worth more than $4 million. Although the robbers were detained soon, the jewelry had already been sold by then. The star was not physically hurt in the incident but had to be shifted to the hospital after a nervous breakdown. Kim later made this event the main theme of the thirteenth season of her hit reality TV show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians.”
5- Crazy Rich Asian: Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh, the highest-paid actress in Asia and one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, played “Eleanor Sung” in Crazy Rich Asians (2018), the highest-grossing Rom-Com of the previous decade. The former Miss Malaysia was also chosen as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People’s magazine. John M. Chu, director of the film, said that Michelle was unhappy with the engagement ring her character in the movie was supposed to wear. Michelle then showed Chu an emerald and diamond ring from her own collection. And that was the ring worn by Michelle Yeoh’s character Eleanor in the movie. At first, many viewers didn’t pay much attention to the ring, but to everyone’s surprise, Michelle wore it to the red carpet of the Golden Globes show in 2019, making it the talk on the red carpet.
In the end, these stars, like many from the past, will also be a part of history like all living beings on the planet. However, the luxury diamond jewelry that once was a part of their outfit will live on, and its association with the stars will only increase the value of the diamond jewelry. As John Barry once said,
“For When Love’s Gone, They’ll luster on
Diamonds are forever, forever, forever.”
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