Eileen Moylan

Jewellery Designer & Goldsmith Cork

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The Origin of the Engagement Ring Part 2

04.29.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This is Part two of a series on the Origin of the Engagement Ring. To see Part one click here.

In the first part of this series I discussed how the engagement ring developed from a piece of string tied around the bride’s wrist to the gold rings worn today. In my research I discovered that while gold and gemstones were commonly used, diamonds didn’t feature until the 1400’s.

Tiffany engagement ring
Tiffany engagement ring

The first documented use of diamonds in an engagement ring was in 1477 when Archduke Maximilian of Austria commissioned a ring for his future bride Mary of Burgundy. After this engagement giving a diamond ring became very popular amongst the wealthy and famous. Around the world the trend continued with the upper classes and over the next few centuries the custom was limited to this sector of society. This changed in 1870 when several diamond mines were discovered in South Africa. Suddenly diamonds dropped in price and were now more readily available to the general public. The market was now flooded with a newfound diamond supply and sales flourished in Europe and the United States.

Tiffanys which had been in business since 1837  began to bring out new engagement ring designs to meet the demand and in 1886 they created the six prong diamond solitaire engagement ring. This revolutionized the concept of the engagement ring as they concentrated on the beauty of the diamond rather than ornate and elaborate metalwork which was the fashion of the time. The diamond was set in a simple band with a four or six claw setting to accentuate the sparkle of the diamond.

DeBeers 1955 Advert
DeBeers 1955 Advert

In the early 20th century De Beers experienced a drop in sales in America that lasted two decades. So in the 1930’s it sought the help of the advertising firm N.W. Ayer to devise a national advertising campaign to promote it’s diamonds. Ayer convinced Hollywood actresses to wear diamond rings in public and encouraged fashion designers to discuss the trend towards diamond rings. Their efforts paid off with diamond sales jumping by 55% between 1938 to 1941. The market continued to grow as the advertising became more influential. In 1947 Frances Gerety a female copywriter came up with the line ‘ A Diamond is Forever’. This has been used ever since to reinforce the idea that the strenght of the diamond represents the unbreakable bond between the engaged couple. What brilliant marketing!

In the 1950’s Marilyn Monroe helped to secured the the appeal of diamonds for women when she sang ‘Diamonds are a girls best friend’ in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I couldn’t find the statistics for Europe but by 1965 in America 80 percent of American women had a diamond engagement ring. Not bad for a custom that only became popular amongst the general public 100 years previously. The diamond ring had finally become a requisite element of the engagement ritual.

 

 

Categories // My Inspirations Tags // De Beers, Diamond, Engagement ring, Jewellery, Jewelry, Tiffany

Elizabeth Taylor and her Diamonds

03.25.2011 by Eileen Moylan //

This week I decided to write a post about Elizabeth Taylor and some of her amazing jewellery. While she will be remembered for being a great actress she will also be remembered for having amazing taste in jewellery, most especially diamonds! I knew that she was a collector of jewellery but it wasn’t until I went looking did I discover to what extent, it’s not many of us can say we have a diamond named after us!

She even had a book about her jewellery collection called ‘My Love Affair with Jewelry’. If you get a chance to have a look at it you’ll see the unbelievable size of her collection. Rather than try and cover everything I’ve picked out a few of her notable pieces.

3. The Krupp Diamond

The Krupp Diamond
The Krupp Diamond

This was the first piece of jewellery she received from her Richard Burton in 1968 and fair play, he didn’t disappoint! It’s an asscher cut diamond that has a weight of 33.19 carats and was set in ring with two small diamonds on the shoulders. I say small, but that’s only in comparison to the huge centre stone. I’m including a picture of her wearing it so you can get a sense of the size. The diamond was named after it’s previous owner Vera Krupp, the Krupp family had supplied the Nazi’s with arms during the war. When Taylor saw the ring she thought

how perfect it would be if a nice Jewish girl like me were to own it.

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and The Krupp Diamond
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and The Krupp Diamond

When Burton bought it at a New York auction it was the highest price ever paid for a diamond ring ($302,000). Taylor is quoted as saying

the Krupp was my prize for beating Richard at ping-pong

 

 

2. The Taj-Mahal

(The diamond not the place)
For her 40th birthday in 1972 Burton gave her a heart shaped diamond known as the Taj-Mahal. It was set with rubies and diamonds in a gold rope pattern necklace. Burton said ‘ I would have liked to buy her the Taj-Mahal but it would cost too much to transport’. This heart shaped diamond is inscribed with the words ‘Love is Everlasting’  in Parsee and can be traced back to the 1600’s. The diamond was given to Shah Jahan by his father who gave it to one of his wives Queen Mumtaz. He married her when she was only fourteen (he was fifteen). She went on to have fourteen children and when she died he erected the Taj Mahal as a tomb for her.

Liz Taylor wearing the Taj Mahal on a chain
Liz Taylor wearing the Taj Mahal on a chain

This was the best photo I could find of the diamond necklace.

1. The Taylor-Burton Diamond

The Taylor-Burton Diamond
The Taylor-Burton Diamond

By far the best known of Burton’s diamond purchases was a 69.42 carat diamond which became known as the Taylor-Burton diamond. The great thing about this diamond is that it can be traced right back to the mine. The stone came from a rough stone weighing 240.80 carats that was mined in the Premier Mine in 1966 which is just east of Pretoria, South Africa. The stone was bought by Harry Winston who had it cut into two stones. His cleaver Pastor Colon Jr. spent six months studying the stone before he made a single cut. The stone was marked, measured, erased and redrawn a number of times before he was happy with the cut. When stone was finally cut it was was set in a ring and bought by Mrs Harriet Annenberg Ames who returned it to be resold two years later as she said it was too big as she would find herself keeping her gloves on for fear it would have be seen.

According to Burton Elizabeth wanted the ring after he insulted her hands. He wrote in his diary

That insult last night is going to cost me

When the stone was put up for auction it was sold to Cartier for over $1,050,000 (Burton has listed a limit of $1 million). Determined to get the diamond Burton contacted Cartier and agreed to pay $1.1 million for the stone on agreement that the stone would be displayed in the Cartier stores in New York and Chicago. The diamond attracted ten thousand people a day. When the diamond was given to Taylor she had it set in a diamond necklace.

The Taylor-Burton Diamond
The Taylor-Burton Diamond

 

These are just three of her better known pieces of jewellery. I love that we can trace the history of these diamonds and link Elizabeth Taylor with such things as the Taj Mahal.

Categories // My Inspirations Tags // Diamond, Elizabeth Taylor, Jewellery, Jewelry, Krupp Diamond, Richard Burton, Taj Mahal, Taylor-Burton Diamond

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