THE DIAMOND WORLD

The definite star of the night was Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, or, as she is better known, Lady Gaga. While she lost the best actress award to Britain’s Olivia Colman, she certainly was recognized for wearing the most spectacular diamond, which itself is a legend of the silver screen.

The rumor mill before the ceremony was buzzing that the Lady Gaga, who once made a fashion statement by wearing a dress comprised entirely of raw meat, had signed the most expensive jewelry deal ever with Tiffany’s.

The concept of making high-end diamond jewelry available to Academy Award attendees is not a recent phenomenon. For decades, the power behind the scenes was a De Beers-sponsored organization called the Diamond Promotion Service, which was shut down by the company in 2010. Part of its brief used to be to keep the profile of diamonds high, by having them appear regularly in movies and at popular Hollywood events.

There is no event more popular than the Academy Awards.

A DISTINGUISHED CLUB OF ACTRESSES AND DIAMOND JEWELRY

Lady Gaga joined a distinguished club in much publicized walk down the red carpet at the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony. One year earlier it was the turn of Dame Helen Mirren. For the night she wore a cushion-cut sapphire and diamond necklace, with matching earrings, all by Harry Winston, worth a cool $3.8 million.

But most of the Hollywood glitterati are not paid for the privilege of wearing the jewelry, nor do they own it. The bulk of the items worn on Hollywood’s biggest night are borrowed, from a variety of jewelry designers and manufacturers keen to get their creation into the public eye. And as much as they want to their jewelry seen, and talked about, there are actresses and growing number of actors who are willing to wear them.

The concept of making high-end diamond jewelry available to Academy Award attendees is not a recent phenomenon. For decades, the power behind the scenes was a De Beers-sponsored organization called the Diamond Promotion Service, which was shut down by the company in 2010. Part of its brief used to be to keep the profile of diamonds high, by having them appear regularly in movies and at popular Hollywood events.

There is no event more popular than the Academy Awards.

A DISTINGUISHED CLUB OF ACTRESSES AND DIAMOND JEWELRY

Lady Gaga joined a distinguished club in much publicized walk down the red carpet at the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony. One year earlier it was the turn of Dame Helen Mirren. For the night she wore a cushion-cut sapphire and diamond necklace, with matching earrings, all by Harry Winston, worth a cool $3.8 million.

In 2011 Anne Hathaway co-hosted the 2011 Oscars with James Franco, and made seven outfit changes during the evening. She started the night out wearing a \$10 million Tiffany Lucida Star diamond necklace, with an estimated weight of 94 carats.

In 2008 Nicole Kidman wore necklace by L’Wren Scott that had been custom-made for the Australian actress. Reportedly worth $7 million, it featured more than 7,500 diamonds and was said to have taken 6,200 hours to make. Believe it if you wish.

But almost certainly the most expensive diamond jewelry item ever worn at the Oscars was a 15-carat Fancy Blue diamond necklace by Harry Winston, which was worn by Gloria Stuart in 1998. She was the actress who played the octogenarian Rose, to the much younger incarnation of the heroine played by Kate Winslet, in that year’s blockbuster hit Titanic.

Ms. Stuart was herself nominated for a best supporting actress award for her role in Titanic. She never won, but for her walk down the red carpet with the blue diamond she became part of Hollywood folklore.