Social media helped spread the word about the recent proposal by Kanye West to baby mama Kim Kardashian this week, and in typical Yeezy style—i.e., big, bold, loud, but also stylish—he popped the question with a massive sparkler designed by celebrity-jewelry queen (and Kardashian fave) Lorraine Schwartz.
Photo courtesy Kim Kardashian Instagram feed
Media reports say the center stone is a colorless, internally flawless cushion-cut 15 ct. diamond, valued anywhere from $3 million to $8 million. That’s much more than the value of—yet five carats smaller than—Kardashian’s ring from ex-husband Kris Humphries, which was just auctioned at Christie’s for $749,000. (Schwartz was unavailable for comment at press time.)
Photo courtesy Kim Kardashian Instagram feed
A rep for Schwartz told E! Online that “Kanye was involved in every single way,” and “had a vision from the beginning. He looked at a lot of stones and he wanted only the best.” Then after a number of nights emailing back and forth about the design, Schwartz created a ring with a center stone that looked “like it was floating on air,” the rep continued. “Everything was Kanye’s idea from beginning to end.”
Diamantaire Lita Asscher tells JCK that the stone looks upward of about 20 carats, and reminds her of the “Cullinan in the crown of England!”
Photo courtesy E! Online
“Her ring from Kris Humphries was an I color, so I think Kanye went for a higher color, for sure!” she adds.
As for the metal in the mounting, the experts say it’s got to be platinum. “If the ring is made by Lorraine Schwartz it is definitely a platinum ring,” jokes Asscher. Another theory: “Because it was reported that Kanye wanted the diamond to look like it was floating on air, the mounting must be very thin, and therefore needs the strength of the platinum,” explains Ashley Ingwer of Manhattan-based diamond house Leo Ingwer.
Photo courtesy Kris Jenner Instagram feed
“I am very happy for them!” says Asscher. “This shows that there is always hope for love—just keep looking! Elizabeth Taylor married eight times, so why not three for Kim?”
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