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FANCY COLOR DIAMONDS

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, engaged for the second time after almost 20 years, and exciting the fancy colored diamond market once again.

WITH BEN AND JENNIFER BACK ON AGAIN,
GREEN REPLACES PINK AS THEIR FAVORITE COLOR

 

There always has been a strong association between spectacular diamonds and celebrity, with the former being used by the latter to enhance both fame and notoriety, not to mention prestige. And this is not a recent phenomenon, with the some of the celebrated crowned heads of Europe, such as Burgundy’s Charles the Bold, England’s King Charles I, France’s King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, all being closely associated with equally royal gems.

In more modern times, public interest in the rich and famous shifted from the palace to Hollywood, and so did the gemstones that caught the public’s attention.

That, too, is a fascination has been with us for years already. Remember the Taylor-Burton Diamond? Forever linked the to the oft-married – and sometimes to each other – Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, it was a flawless 68.4-carat pear-shaped stone that, when it was bought by Cartier for $1.05 million in New York in 1969, went down in history for fetching the highest price ever paid for a single stone to date at auction. The very next day it was purchased by Burton for Elizabeth, who was seen wearing it often until they divorced for the second time in 1976.

The Taylor-Burton was eventually sold to New York jeweler Henry Lambert in 1978, who then sold it to Robert Mouawad of Mouawad Jewelers in 1979.

But, why if you are celebrity with cash on hand and love in heart, should you make do with only one diamond, especially when your relationship is going into its second round? That’s the question that Ben Affleck asked himself, when considering how to express his feeling for his former and once again current fiancée, Jennifer Lopez.

WITH BEN AND JENNIFER BACK ON AGAIN

Jennifer Lopez dressed in her trademark green, at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Sao Paolo. Brazil, in 2014.

AMAZING THINGS HAPPEN IN GREEN

In November 2002, Affleck proposed with a 6.1-carat fancy pink diamond ring, which he reportedly bought at Harry Winston. The two had earlier met on the set of Gigli, a romantic comedy in which they hey played gangsters who fall in love. The movie flopped at the box office, but it did result in one of Hollywood’s more talked about love stories.

The relationship did not last, with Ben getting cold feet and the two officially splitting in 2004. Jennifer, however, got to keep the pink diamond ring.

For the jewelry industry the relationship was far from a failure, as the price of pinks skyrocketed, fueled by other celebrities getting onto the bandwagon. Nick Cannon proposed to Mariah Carey with a 17-carat pink diamond ring in 2008, and Ryan Reynolds proposed to Blake Lively in 2012. with a 12-carat pink diamond in 2012.

Fast forward to 2022, and Bennifer, as Ben and Jenifer once were known as, are back on again. But, while a diamond is forever, a different decade evidently required a different color, with pink being replaced by green, reportedly 8.5 carats of it.

“I always say the color green is my lucky color,” Lopez was quoted by Entertainment Tonight. “Maybe you can remember a certain green dress,” she said, referring to a frock she once wore to the Grammy Awards. “I’ve realized there are many moments in my life where amazing things happened when I was wearing green.”

SIX ENGAGEMENTS AND SIX DIAMOND RINGS

Lopez has been engaged six times. And while all, with the exception thus far of the last, ending in the failure of the relationship, she did pretty well as far as diamonds were concerned. Her first was to restaurateur Ojani Noa, with whom she took a trip down the aisle in 1997, after a received a $100,000 diamond ring. They divorced one year later.

Next up was Criss Judd, a backup dancer, who she met on the set of her “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” music video. From him she received and engagement ring said to be worth six figures, but their marriage in 2001 lasted not much more than her first.

The next chapter was Bennifer Part 1 in 2002, and the 6.1-carat fancy pink diamond ring from Harry Winston. As mentioned, the engagement was broken off before they ever got married.

Number 4 was Latino singer Marc Anthony, who proposed with an 8.5-carat fancy blue diamond ring from Harry Winston. They couple married in 2003, but separated in 2011. They divorced in 2015.

In 2017 Lopez began dating the baseball player Alex Rodriguez, who reportedly asked for hand in marriage in March 2019, with an emerald-cut diamond ring that was said to be between 10 carats and 15 carats in size and worth $1 million to $5 million. They broke off their engagement early 2021.

Which brings us to Bennifer Part 2, and the 8.5-carat green diamond. Maybe this once will stick and they’ll live happy ever after. A true Hollywood ending, for all but the celebrity jewelers.

pink diamond

The Pink Legacy, of similar design to the 6.1-carat fancy pink diamond ring given by Ben to Jennifer in 2002, but with a center stone that is 18.96 carats in size. It sold at Christie’s in New York in 2018 for $50.4 million. (Photo courtesy of Christie’s) 

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