Tag diamond engagement

While Gen Z-er’s seem to be growing less inclined to don engagement rings with large diamonds, it seems many of them may also be gravitating toward a more affordable, lab grown stone too.

After coming across TikTok user Zahné’s (@zzzahneee) video in which she explains why her engagement ring is not a diamond, Gen Z bride Ella Parr-Tierney (@ellaparrtierney) and her husband, Drake, felt compelled to do the same.

“My wedding band is diamonds and my engagement ring is a moissanite,” Parr-Tierney says on Sept. 22. For her and her husband, buying a diamond engagement ring wasn’t worth the potential debt it would put them in.

“At the end of the day, it is just a piece of jewelry,” she adds. “I want to buy a house before 25. I want to take a very long, expensive honeymoon throughout Europe. I want to buy designer bags. There are other things that I was more interested in spending my money on.”

Parr-Tierney claims that “you literally can’t even tell the difference” between her diamond wedding band and moissanite engagement ring, and that both “look amazing” stacked on one another.

“I’ve never tried to hide the fact that my ring is moissanite,” she says. “And there’s obviously nothing wrong with wanting a diamond, but I know a lot of people may think, ‘Oh my god, Drake balled out…all this money on a ring and they weren’t even out of college yet.’ No…we are somewhat, at least, trying to be financially responsible.”

So what exactly is moissanite?

According to the Moissanite Company (@themoissanitecompany), a jewelry shop founded in Australia, moissanite is a diamond alternative that was discovered by the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Henry Moissan in 1893.

“Today, naturally occurring moissanite is exceptionally rare and

When Sotheby’s first announced the auction of a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink emerald-cut diamond with rounded corners, flanked by two shield-shaped white diamond side stones and set in platinum, in 2010, it was expected to sell for between $27 million to US $38 million.

Much to the auction house’s delight, the ring, which had previously been sold to its former owner by jeweler Harry Winston in the 1950s, sold to diamond dealer Laurence Graff for $46 million, making it “the most expensive single jewel ever sold at auction at the time.” Naturally, the lucky new owner named the magnificent beast the Graff Pink.

While we firmly believe that neither the size nor the price of an engagement ring has any bearing on the worth of a marriage proposal, the history of how we came to associate them with betrothals is undeniably fascinating.

Considering this got us thinking about some other interesting engagement rings and proposal stories, which, for better or for worse, have grabbed our attention in the past.

RELATED: The One Marriage Proposal Video You Need To See (Involving A Bus And A Robot)

Here is the true story of the first diamond engagement ring — plus 4 more weird and notable proposal stories:

1. The first diamond engagement ring was given to Mary of Burgundy by Archduke Maximilian of Austria in 1477

Legend has it that in 1477, Archduke Maximilian of Austria — the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I — was the first man to present his beloved, Mary of Burgundy, with a diamond engagement ring (apparently at the advice of his court counsel).

“Maximilian,” the story goes, “set off for Burgundy after arranging a proxy marriage. But he was an impoverished suitor, thanks to Austria’s penchant for war. So, it is said, as he

Both Parts 1 and 2 of The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 17 reunion were filled with fireworks, to say the least, with dramatic rifts between castmates and a few bombshells we definitely weren’t expecting.

Another dramatic part of the reunion? The ladies’ gorgeous, sexy-“chic” styles, including Heather Dubrow’s black cutout Chiara Boni dress she noted to BravoTV.com was giving “classic Heather vibes.” 

There was another “classic Heather” moment we had to take note of, and yes, it involved diamonds. 

Heather Dubrow’s massive diamond engagement ring 

On Part 2 of the RHOC Season 17 reunion, Heather’s diamond engagement ring made a jaw-dropping cameo when Tamra Judge asked Gina Kirschenheiter if she and Travis Mullen would ever get married.

“If I get a rock like this,” Gina quipped, pointing to the enormous diamond sparkler on Heather’s finger. Cut to the beautiful piece that definitely puts stars in our eyes. 

Even Tamra couldn’t deny being impressed by the ring, telling her fellow ‘Wives, “We all want a rock like that,” which caused Heather to chuckle. 

Heather Dubrow’s update on her next house 

In addition to showing off her fabulous fashions at the reunion, Heather gave an update on her current living situation. 

When host Andy Cohen concluded Part 2 of the reunion by asking the cast members what they were going to miss about the season. 

While newcomer Jennifer Pedranti noted, “I’m never gonna have another first experience like this ever again,” Gina stated she was looking forward to moving past some things rather than missing them. Then, after Heather shared her thoughts on “sisterhood,” Gina stepped in with another idea: “I kind of take it back, because I will miss your house,” Gina said to Heather.

To that, Heather declared, “I have news: There’s a better one coming.” 

Considering how 

For people who want to get married, the diamond engagement ring is a tale as old as time—and advertisers and media companies alike make the rather expensive tradition seem inescapable. The slogans from South African diamond behemoth De Beers speak for themselves:

“A diamond is forever.”

“Is two months’ salary too much to spend for something that lasts forever?”

More From Popular Mechanics

 

“Show her you’ll love her for the next thousand years.”

On top of it, the marketplace for diamonds can be really confusing. There are grades of clarity and color that lead to an overall quality rating. And, of course, diamonds are very expensive. The International Gem Society reports that the average amount spent on a diamond ring in 2021 was $5,000. (At the iconic jewelry store Tiffany’s, a budget of $5,000 barely gets you into the diamonds, let alone the showy single diamonds people prefer on engagement rings.)

All of these reasons have driven consumer interest in lab-grown diamonds, and in lab-grown diamond engagement rings in particular. So, we spoke to an expert from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to learn everything you need to know about lab-grown diamonds—the production methods, the colors, the intangibles, and more. They say lab-grown diamond rings can cost up to 20 percent less than natural diamonds, which would knock that $5,000 ring down to $4,000. It’s not a Black Friday doorbuster percentage of discount, but that’s a lot of money to save.

Lab-Grown Diamonds vs. Natural Diamonds

Sally Magaña is a research scientist and the manager of diamond identification for the Carlsbad, California-based GIA, which now has locations around the world; the GIA creates and upholds standards and education for jewelers around the world. Today, one of its key concerns is telling apart lab-grown diamonds from natural diamonds,

The Duchess of Sussex was spotted without her three-stone diamond sparkler during a lunch date with friends last week.

On November 17, 2017, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made their first debut as an engaged couple after the Duke of Sussex popped the question with a three-stone diamond engagement ring. Ever since then, the Duchess of Sussex has almost always worn the sparkler—no matter the occasion. However, on August 15, 2023, Markle was spotted without the valuable piece of jewelry on her left ring finger, which sparked rumors about the royal couple’s current marital status. Markle was enjoying a lunch date with two of her friends, Cleo Wade and Kadi Lee, celebrating a belated birthday lunch, which was most likely for the duchess, who turned 42 on August 4, 2023. A photo taken of the group shows that Markle’s diamond rock was absent, replaced by a gold band. A few days after the luncheon, on August 18, 2023, an insider revealed the real reason why Markle ditched her engagement ring, and it has nothing to her marriage to Harry. The source tells markle-hasnt-been-wearing-her-engagement-ring-from-prince-harry/” data-ylk=”slk:Page Six;elm:context_link;itc:0″ class=”link “Page Six that the ring is simply “being fixed.”

Louella Anderson, cofounder of So Synced, told The Mirror that there could be other reasons why Meghan decided to ditch her engagement ring. “Meghan Markle has always had her own unique sense of style,” she says. “It’s possible that her decision to change or remove the engagement ring reflects her evolving taste or desire for something different. She’s not over the top about her jewelry and usually chooses to keep her look quite simple and classic. Taking off the ring could be her way of expressing this personal preference for a less flashy look. Meghan’s engagement ring was particularly large and

In a move sure to further disrupt the jewelry industry already disrupted by consumers’ rapid turn to lab-grown diamonds, De Beers has introduced engagement rings under its lab-grown jewelry brand Lightbox, a category it once reserved exclusively for its Forevermark natural, mined diamonds. Now it offers a selection of 16 lab-grown diamond engagement rings priced from $500 to $5,000.

While the company positions the move as a limited market test, it is groundbreaking for De Beers, whose fortunes have been inextricably linked to natural diamond futures.

De Beers is the world’s leading natural diamond company, with its reach into diamond exploration, mining, grading, marketing and retail. It singlehandedly made the diamond engagement ring the symbol of everlasting love in its famed 1947 “A diamond is forever” ad campaign.

Into The Lab-Grown Diamond Fray

When De Beers first dipped its toes into the lab-grown jewelry market with Lightbox in 2018, it was positioned as fun, pretty, affordable fashion jewelry that “may not be forever, but is perfect for right now,” said Bruce Cleaver, then-CEO De Beers Group and now its co-chairman.

At the time, LGD were reserved for earrings and necklaces set with an emphasis on colored stones, but also available in clear-white diamonds.

Initial prices were set at $800 per carat, exclusive of the setting, and the company has held the line on per-carat price since then. However, it has since added a finest grade above its standard offering, priced at $1,500 per carat for LGD stones of finer cut and clarity with the clearest color rating.

It stepped deeper into the bridal waters

It appears that De Beers has spotted the writing on the wall in an increasingly crowded lab-grown diamond market.

The diamond behemoth has begun testing engagement rings under its lab-grown subsidiary, Lightbox, after years of avoiding the category. It is understood that the company had long tried to maintain natural diamonds’ position as engagement ring stones, while attempting to silo lab-grown diamonds as fashion jewelry.

More from WWD

De Beers established Lightbox in 2018 in order to help steer the lab-grown diamond narrative. It set a strict per-carat pricing model for the stones (pro-rated at $800 per carat, regardless of the stone’s size or color) in an attempt to lead the industry’s treatment of lab diamonds.

As newly instated Lightbox chief executive officer Antoine Borde told WWD earlier this month, the company is focused on designs intended for self-purchasing and personal expression.

“We are pursuing the positioning of the brand around fashion, freedom, fun — it’s a good dynamic that we are seeing this happen,” Borde said.

Since its launch Lightbox had sold loose lab-grown stones that could be set as engagement rings, but the company had never sold ready-made engagement rings as part of its own distribution.

Now as more and more players enter the lab-grown arena, it appears that De Beers and Lightbox had little choice but to test the engagement category.

The company’s website has launched a limited series of 16 solitaire rings — all priced at $5,000 or less, with the average hovering around $2,500. They are offered with stones from one to two carats and come in settings that range from very simple gold bands to more elaborate halo styles, set alongside smaller pavé lab-grown stones.

Borde said in a statement: “As part of Lightbox’s promise to bring transparency to lab-grown diamonds,

When Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck got engaged the first time, in 2002, he gave her a very pricey ring. That engagement ring was reportedly worth as much as $2.5 million, made by luxury jeweler Harry Winston and adorned with a 6.1-carat pink diamond.

After the movie stars broke up in 2004 without getting married, J. Lo said she intended to return the ring “quietly” to Affleck. Whether or she ever did that or not, was Lopez entitled to keep the that rock or any of the others she got from her numerous ex-husbands and former fiancés?

The answer can matter to anyone who is engaged, married – or even thinking about tying the knot. No one knows for sure how many engagements end in a breakup, although there are estimates that roughly 1 in 5 do so.

As law professors who teach property and family law, we frequently talk to students – and our own relatives – about gifts and marriage. Students often ask us who owns the engagement ring if couples don’t get married or if they eventually divorce. They also want to know what happens if the ring is stolen.

While taxes, laws and insurance are not very sexy topics, marriage has never been only about romance. It’s also a partnership with economic repercussions.

Rare before the 20th century

Engagement rings were fairly rare until about 100 years ago, even though the first diamond engagement ring was apparently given by Emperor Maximilian to Mary of Burgundy in 1377. But it wasn’t until the end of the Great Depression that a sophisticated advertising campaign created a market for diamond engagement rings in the United States.

By 1940, 10% of brides received diamond rings. That share jumped to 80% by 1990.

Perhaps