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Ariana Grande’s Engagement Ring Shows How Traditional And Non-Traditional Work Together | December 23, 2020 (0 comments)
Hollywood, CA—Singer and actress Ariana Grande, whose engagement to Dalton Gomez was sealed with a pearl-and-diamond engagement ring, has proven yet again that while Millennials will make their own rules, they’re not entirely thumbing their noses at tradition. They fall in love, get engaged, and get married (perhaps even more so since the pandemic has driven home the importance of loved ones), but with a bigger appetite for nontraditional engagement rings as well as nontraditional weddings.
Some of it is about economics, and some of it is just because Millennials like to do their own thing.
Recently, pearl engagement rings have been making big news among the celebrity set. First there was Emma Stone’s late 2019 engagement to Saturday Night Livewriter Dave McCarry, celebrated with a pearl and diamond ring designed by Tokyo-based Yoshinobu Kataoka and purchased from New York-based jeweler Catbird. Refinery29 noted its perfect Millennialism: unique and unexpected, lower cost than a diamond [solitaire], and sustainable. The couple, who presumably don’t have the budget constraints of your average student debt-laden Millennials, spent less $4,780 on the ring, below:
Then there was Michelle Williams’s engagement ring from director Thomas Kail, which paparazzi first spotted in early January 2020. Scant details are available about Williams’s ring, but it looks like one white pearl on a slim, plain white band. Presumably the award-winning Hollywood power couple are not constrained by budget either, so clearly it’s a personal choice in keeping with their low-key personalities.
Michelle Williams and Thomas Kail on the cover of People magazine. Her pearl engagement ring is clearly visible.
Enter Ariana Grande’s ring, a perfect blend of tradition—in the form of an oval diamond—and nontraditional, in pairing it with a white pearl. Classic and modern all at once, because after all, what’s more classic than diamonds and pearls? After all, pearl engagement rings were featured in popular fiction of the early 20thcentury, such as Anne of Green Gables, and famed socialite Barbara Hutton received a Cartier pearl ring for her 1933 engagement to Prince Alexis Mdivani of Georgia.
While Grande hasn’t said much about the origins or size of her ring, experts estimate it’s anywhere from 2.5 carats to as much as 8.0 carats, and D-E-F color which, paired with a high-quality pearl, probably puts the ring in the $30,000 to $50,000 range. Kylie Bee, merchandising manager for Forevermark, observed, “Ariana’s ring looks to be a 5-8 carat elongated oval diamond paired next to a simple pearl on a thin platinum band. The diamond appears to be very well cut and looks to be a high color, as set next to the white pearl it doesn’t show any warm tones at all.”
The concept of a two-stone ring, of course, is not new either. The French call it Toi et Moi, or you and me, expressed by two gems sitting side by side or very close together, symbolizing two souls becoming one. Forevermark rebranded it “Ever Us” in 2016, using two diamonds, and proved that both chain stores and high-end independents can play together with the same concept.
Here are a few examples of pearl rings that could be used for engagement:
Yoko London: 13.7 mm Golden South Sea Pearl with 0.50 ctw of diamonds in 18k yellow gold, top, 4.9 - 7mm Akoya pearls with 0.867 ctw of diamonds set in 18k white gold, bottom.
Lika Behar’s 22k peach glow gold and oxidized sterling silver “Lydia” ring, with round freshwater pink pearl and cognac diamonds, was an Honorable Mention winner in the Cultured Pearl Association of America Awards 2019:
Below, four classic solitaire styles with pearl centers, all from Mastoloni:
9 - 9.5 mm white button freshwater pearl in 14k gold.
Hexagon halo ring has 8 - 8.5 mm white freshwater pearl with 34 diamonds, 0.25 ctw in 14k gold.
14k rose gold point ring has 6.5 – 7 mm white freshwater pearl with 25 diamonds, 0.10 ctw.
8 - 8.5 mm white freshwater pearl in a 14k yellow gold three-prong setting.