13 June 2011

Does Size Matter?

Not "that" size ya sickos who were thinking dirrrrty! 

How about size of a Diamond? 

How big is TOO big?

 Hmmmm...Recently there was the unveiling of Kim Kardashian's engagement ring. 



You think that's a lot of carats? Let's take a quick trip down memory lane to the current but recently diseased record holder of the largest engagement ring.......




Elizabeth Taylor




The Taylor-Burton is a diamond made famous when purchased by actor Richard Burton for his wife Elizabeth Taylor in 1969, receiving worldwide publicity for its size and value. The original rough diamond was found in 1966 in the Premier Mine in South Africa, weighing 241 carats (48 g). It was cut by Harry Winston to 69.42 carats (13.88 g) in the shape of a pear. The diamond was originally owned by Harriet Annenberg Ames who gave the diamond away to be auctioned, because she couldn’t enjoy the diamond. 


 The stone was promptly named the 'Cartier'. Richard Burton (Elizabeth Taylor’s fifth husband) purchased the 69.42 carat, inch thick diamond from Cartier for $1.1 million, making it the world’s most expensive diamond at the time. Richard had a limit of one million he was prepared to spend on the ring, but after a fierce bidding war, the ring was sold to Cartier for $50,000 more than his top price. He made a deal with Cartier, who sold him the ring for $1.1 million; making a $50,000 profit on a ring they had owned for about a day. One stipulation of the purchase was that the ring would be displayed at Cartier boutiques in New York and Chicago. Burton agreed, and 10,000 people lined up each day to see the gem. When the newly renamed Taylor-Burton diamond was finally in Elizabeth’s possession, she originally wore it as a ring, but because of its mammoth size, later decided to have Cartier suspend it from a necklace.



 The actual diamond appeared on the Here's Lucy episode "Lucy Meets the Burtons" in 1970. Lucy Carter (played by Lucille Ball) found the ring and got it stuck on her finger. Lucy ends up having to substitute her own hand for Miss Taylor's at a press party held to show off the ring. This was the highest rated episode of the very popular series and earned an Emmy nomination for comedy writing. Lucy, the Burtons, and the ring appeared on the cover of the September 5, 1970 issue of TV Guide.




 The ring was also at the centre of a humorous exchange between Elizabeth and the late Princess Margaret of England. “Is that the famous diamond? But it’s so large—how very vulgar!” “Yes,” said Elizabeth. “Ain’t it great?” Margaret then asked to try on the huge stone. “It doesn’t look so vulgar now, does it?” remarked Elizabeth. After their divorce, Taylor auctioned the diamond in June of 1978 for $5,000,000, and donated the money to charity. It was bought by Henry Lambert, a New York-based jeweler. Its current owner is Robert Mouawad, who had the diamond recut to 68.0 carats (13.6 g) to remove minor imperfections and to restore it to its previous Flawless status.
*all info on her ring was googled.


Don't worry Ms. Taylor. Kim Kardashian ain't got nothin on you sistah! 


Photobucket

17 comments:

  1. I've found that my ring, in its entirety ... is just over 1 carat stones, and I really like that it's not super gaudy -- I'd be terrified that a larger stone would constantly snag on clothing etc etc etc. Besides, I have such a small figure (and hands!), that I think a large hunkin set of bling would just look ... oh so wrong on me.

    I love looking at the big flashy sets of engament and wedding bands, but BOY, pricetag aside .. it just ain't me.

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  2. I'm sorry for writing this question on this post, but can you please teach me how to make a button/make the little link at the bottom appear for everyone to be able to grab it??

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  3. I don't think either are attractive. I do think there a lot that are too big!

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  4. I think if they are too big they just look funny. Or not real. I didn't really have a size preference when I was getting engaged, just wanted a certain cut, that just so happends to be an emerald cut just like miss Kim!

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  5. Cute post--that Liz Taylor ring is freaking massive! I do love Kim's ring though.

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  6. I'd be terrified to wear a diamond that huge! I'm already scared of losing my ring, and it's a microscopic fraction of those:-) xoxo

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  7. Hahaha! I love this. I can't believe KKs ring - that is massive, I don't think it would be comfortable!

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  8. I love how Kim's ring looks but I think it's too big....it would look just as good (in my opinion) if it were smaller! I feel like my hands are so small that it would look silly on me. Plus I'd rather have that money spent on something else...like our home or something! My main stone is about .75 carats and my two side stones are .25 and I have little diamonds that add up to about .1 carats. I think it's perfect and the whole (engagement) ring doesn't even add up to 1.5 carats!

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  9. I think diamond rings, like all jewlery, have to be made well. Quality over quantity! I will never forget this: as a young woman (16'ish) I worked in a card shop. An older woman, probably 70, would come in with her husband and I admired her engagement ring every time. It was a series of small, very well cut pear shaped diamonds - probably totaling 1 ct between the three. They were set in a low platinum setting with beautiful detail. I would look at her beautifully aged hands every time she came in and think of all of the years that ring had been worn every day, symbolizing the love between she and her husband. One day, about 10 years later, I happened to be filling in at the store. She came in...beautiful ring on her finger. I told her how much I'd always loved her ring. She teared up and said "no one has ever commented on it before". I was shocked! She was so touched by my love for the ring - and that day has stuck with me forever. Size does not matter, quality does.

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  10. I agree with Taryn, I would be worried about the ring snagging on something it was that big!

    I love my 1-carat just fine : )

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  11. Cute post! KK's ring is gross -- way to over the top. They should have donated some of that money, but instead she's just wearing it. I like her a lot so I'll stop there. Personally, my engagement and wedding bands total to just under 4 carats and I love them. They're perfect to me! I have friends who have a total of 1.5 carats and their rings are just as beautiful. Size doesn't matter, but it does... :)

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  12. I've seen alot about KK's ring as well! WOWZA!! I've always known Liz Taylor had a massive rock!! Now I want to watch that episode with Lucy and the Burtons!! how funny!!

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  13. That was so interesting! Thanks for sharing!!

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  14. I actually think that Kim's ring is TOO big. It looks fake, and who wants people to think that your engagement ring isn't real?

    I'm not saying that I don't care about size (because if I'm being completely honest here, I would like something semi-substantial. And I think my poor boyfriend knows this. Haha) but I don't need a gigantic boulder on my finger. Besides the fact that diamonds that are too big are gaudy, I would be afraid to wear something like that out of the house!

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  15. Call me crazy, but there definitely is "too big" when it comes to rings. For me, the Kardashian ring is too big, and I don't even think it's nice looking, even. The Taylor-Burton ring- yuck. Anything too big looks fake and gaudy to me. Even with my ring, which is "only" a carat, I sometimes feel unsafe wearing it in certain places. I'm more interested in the beauty of the stone/setting, not just the size.

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  16. I think her ring is so ugly..and im not saying it because im jealous..but it really really is ugly!!!!!

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  17. Haha, I never knew about ETaylor's ring! Crazy huge. I seriously don't think anything to too big. However, I love my "small" ring picked out by my husband!

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