A few weeks ago, E!’s Answer Bitch had a very enlightening column about the way that the K-Fed fiancés of the world “afforded” massive diamond engagement rings for their much more successful famous female partners. Think Eddie Cibrian, that ex football player that Jessica Simpson drags around, and of course Natalie Portman’s ballerina that is helping her “continue this creation of creating more life.” Natalie’s ballerina K-Fed also created her honking engagement ring and People has the details. I’ll start by prefacing this story with The Answer Bitch’s explanation for how enormous celebrity engagement rings happen, and how it often involves a very public plug for the jewelry designer. An engagement ring designer named Johnny Brookheart explains:
“When boyfriends are paying we often arrange creative financing,” I am told.
“For celebrity clients I typically ask for half the value down and generously finance the rest for a long term….We keep a team of experts on retainer who can help us value and collateralize almost everything under the sun. Houses, horses, art, watches, etc. We’ll either help them secure a loan with their assets, or we may just make a trade.”
If the guy really needs help, the couple may shill for the jewelry company in exchange for a break. After all, the Brookheart people tell me, most celebrities wouldn’t be caught dead in a ring worth less than $50,000. (A more typical value for a star’s engagement ring these days: At least $100,000 to $250,000.)
“There are discounts for celebrities, and oftentimes those discounts depend on how willing the star is to assist in crediting the jeweler after the proposal,” the Brookheart people say. “It’s always a negotiation, but this is where being A-list really pays off.”
That isn’t to say the groom is powerless in all this.
“In almost every instance, the man is a significant part of making the engagement ring happen,” says fellow celebrity jeweler David Alan Wegweiser of David Alan Jewelry
[From E! Online]
With those last few sentences in mind, about “discounts for celebrities” and “crediting the jeweler,” here’s In Style’s article about the designer that Natalie’s fiance, Benjamin Millepie, employed to put together the ring. The jeweler was a fellow ballerina, so maybe she gave Ben a discount for that reason, but it seems like she struck the same deal with him that this other jeweler so clearly explained to E!
What makes Natalie Portman’s engagement ring so special isn’t just who gave it to her, but also who designed it and how it was made. Jeweler designer Jamie Wolf (inset), whose creations have also adorned Jessica Biel, Julia Roberts and Anne Hathaway, created the custom handmade ring with choreographer Benjamin Millepied, Portman’s now-fiancé. “Ben was exceptionally thoughtful and dedicated and patient to make sure we had everything right,” Wolf told InStyle, who as a former dancer for the New York City Ballet, has been friends with Millepied for over 15 years. (He even encouraged Wolf to audition as a company dancer for Black Swan, and she was cast film!) “We wanted everything about the ring to speak to things that are important to Natalie.” Therefore, in alignment with Portman’s ecofriendly and vegan ideals, the stone is an antique (round old mine cut diamond), the pave diamonds are certified as conflict-free, meaning no one was hurt or treated unfairly in the mining of the diamonds, and the platinum is recycled metal. “It was a lot of fun to work with him, he’s such a great guy and it’s such a great piece of jewelry,” Wolf said. “It speaks to my work and my taste on a personal level. I was really proud of how it turned out. It’s gorgeous.”
So this jeweler was friends with Millepied for 15 years, but she’s also done engagement rings for other celebrities and seems to regularly lend and/or gift them jewelry. This is common practice, and celebrities get so many luxurious things for free that the rest of us have to pay for. They love to make us aspire to a lifestyle that is largely comped. I like nice things, and I’m a superficial bitch in many ways, but I think it’s outrageous to pay thousands for jewelery (even if you can afford it). Check out this designer’s jewelery at Barneys. The cheapest pair of earrings is $1,950.00.
Either celebitchy is having fun picking the ugliest pictures of Natalie Portman she can find, or pregnancy is NOT agreeing with Miss All-That. I really didn’t have an opinion of her prior to all the Black Swan/Oscar publicity, but now I find myself genuinely disliking her. I hope Annette Benning wins.
The ring is gorgeous-but she’s unbearably smug.
It’s a beautiful ring that after the wedding will never again see the light of day. $150 k for 3 months of show and tell. After the divorce she’ll be able to get less than half the price. No wonder so many of these celebs end up broke.
He’s kind of gross looking but I’ll reserve my K-Fed judgement of him until I see him come out with a ballet-rap video.
I don’t think we should shame him just because he might not be as financially successful as Natalie. 🙁
I will again say, she wasn’t that great in Black Swan. She was good, not great, so I don’t get all the Portman hype. So what if she is pregnant? Is that supposed to be interesting or novel in baby booming Hollywood? Oh gee, and another flashy ring for a marriage that will last a total of 2 seconds!
I was wondering if she would have had a conflict-free diamond ring. But what I don’t understand is why it seems that all of a sudden, well since her engagement anyway, her style has become so ASSY!!!!!! I never was a fan of everything that she wore but she used to look well put together before. Now her designer duds looked like she picked them up at the Family Dollar.
i got to agree with you devilgirl. Black swan was overrated, she was good in it but I don’t know if she was amazing. she comes off as a little pretentious and annoying, her speech..meh.
it looks like some animal is taking a nap on millipieds head.
We would expect nothing less from Mr. & (the future)Mrs. Thousand Feet.
the ring is okay… a bit big i imagine it would be irritating to wear all the time!
fuck celebrities getting even more free things UGH
The ring is beautiful but it’s natural luster and beauty is dulled by Natalie’s yellow teeth. Crest white strips, honey.
Her “creating this creation for creation” babble was so inappropriate considering that he left his live-in girlfriend and infant for what he no doubt believes are greener bank accounts.
God, I just LOVE how all of this criticism is being flung at Natalie for being enlightened and educated about subjects that most people (I’m giving the sideeye to YOU, Jennifer Love Hewitt) couldn’t give two craps about.
You can debate her veganism, I guess, but I think it’s nothing but awesome that the rings in her diamond are conflict-free. It’s revolting what most people will pay — and what they’re willing to ignore — in order to wear some stupid piece of jewelry that typically has violent origins.
@Maud – he didn’t leave a baby! I incorrectly reported that earlier and updated that with the change. He did cheat on his live-in girlfriend with Natalie though for sure.
Red lipstick really looks bad on Nat.
Oh, and I will LOL forever at the people on this thread who are criticizing Natalie’s appearance. As. If.
devilgirl & latam – you guys seem jaded 😉 I thought Natalie was great and I found Black Swann to be a gripping movie.
Which movies did you think were great last year? I’d like to see it, so it’ll improve my sense of good acting / movies 🙂
I just don’t get why she is so popular. She has this “holier than thou” attitude and it doesn’t make her very appealing….I sooo hope she doesn’t win an Oscar, she’ll be completely unbearable then….
hangnail city!
@latam2012…thanks for the laugh! That hair is AWFUL.
I never felt strongly about Natalie one way or the other but that GG speech was CRINGE INDUCING. Rambling, incoherent and inappropriate, considering the origins of their relationship. Even looking at the pictures of her from that speech…it’s like PTSD. I cringe all over again. And that pic of him looks skeezy.
I do love that ring though. I’m jealous. Sure would have been nice to get that ring for free instead of the (much) smaller one that my hubby had to PAY for 😉
@Devilgirl & latam ITA I was crucified yesterday for saying Black Swan was overrated. Has anyone seen Winter’s Bone? It was amazing.
“It’s revolting what most people will pay — and what they’re willing to ignore — in order to wear some stupid piece of jewelry that typically has violent origins.”
yeah…I find it revolting when people ignore the drugging and raping of a 13 year old girl to support some guy (the rapist) because he’s a good director.
we get it Portman…eating meat is akin to rape, famous men who rape teenagers and flee justice are OK in your book, and diamonds should only be conflict-free. yeah, she’s so “enlightened”.
Love the marketing trap all those chicks walk in. The cult of the engagement ring is one of the most ridiculous inventions of the 20th century.
more importantly, what the hell is she wearing?
@amoteafloat: Who here has criticized her for having a conflict-free diamond ring? People have said 1) her smugness is off-putting 2) she is overrated as an actress and 3) that she is looking worse for the wear – not because she is pregnant but because she has been making ugly choices for her maternity wear. She seems to have the opposite condition to Angelina Jolie – when AJ was pregnant she wore the loveliest gowns and then after giving birth returned to assy style. And why would her veganism be debatable but not her clothing choices? I think that her veganism and charitable involvement are some of her most interesting and commendable qualities…her maternity wear, not so much.
She is a bit much, but I’m glad the story of her conflict free ring is out there. It is an important issue that doesn’t get much press (probably thanks to the diamond industry). It makes me laugh when people flip out about a fox dying for a coat, but are sporting a diamond from the jewerly store at the mall at the same time. Humans are more important and the diamond industry is the worst in terms of safety, human rights, pay, etc. The miners can’t even afford food!
Anyway, since people tend to pay attention to issues when celebrities talk about them (why I have no idea) maybe more people will educate themselves about this issue, even if they don’t like Natalie.
Eddie Cibrian is Leanne Rhime’s tool, not JS’. I love the video re-dos with NP’s juvenile yet psychotic laughter at the GGs. Can you imagine living with that laugh?
Uh, isn’t it plain folk and blue collar workers who need the discount? These people have millions- they do not need a discount.
@CB Ah! Thanks for the update. 🙂
@Amoteafloat “LOL forever” all you want and RELAX! It’s a celeb gossip site. We’re just living the dream!
She reminds me of a fembot. She hardly ever shows emotion, contrarary to the pics posted here. Her acting is the same, very dry. The ring is gorgeous though.
I dont know if its the pregnancy of what be she is looking like Giada DiLaurentis’s sister these days.
I don’t get celebs.
For me an engagement ring is something very personal. I wouldn’t want to go out shilling for it, and I hate that ‘bigger is better attitude’ when it comes to the diamonds in those rings.
BTW, what makes a diamond an ‘antique’? How were diamonds mined a hundred years ago or even further back?
Most certainly not environmentally acceptable, and how miners were treated back then is open to interpretation, but I’d tend to say as dispensable human material.
she was cute in beautiful girls…
It just frustrates me how, on this site, pretty women are typically two things: smug, like Natalie, or dumb, like January Jones, supposedly. Although I would argue that January is an underrated, nuanced performer who does a flawless job as Betty Draper, and it would be hard for a truly ~dumb~ person to inhabit a character so deeply.
Anyway. I’m digressing.
*shrugs* I don’t care. It’s kinda visceral — you either like these people, or you don’t. But at least Natalie can ACT, and she seems to have SOME concerns in her life that aren’t material — unlike, say, Jennifer Aniston, whose sole reason for fame revolves around her clothes, sex partners, and workout routine. God, she sucks.
And, yes, I wish Natalie hadn’t signed that Polanski petition. There are a LOT of signatures on that list that I wish weren’t there.
Wait! Since when is he broke? Also he asked a fellow ballet dancer and friend who happens to design jewelry (not just any jewelry but high quality diamonds that have graced known stars) to design the ring for Nat which is very sweet…how is that at all connected to the first story about men who can’t afford to buy the ring for their rich future spouse? The ring is beautiful. Diamonds are never a bad choice, even though its not emerald cut its beyond fabulous. Even if the friend gave him a discount who hasn’t gone to a friend who can get them something for lesser price? All my friends work in retail and I always try to get a discount from them if they are selling something I want. Why do we have to compare the guy to K-fed? I seriously don’t understand.
Black Swan may not have been to everyones taste. I seriously saw that movie like 6 times and not once was I not impressed with that performance. I mean I was emotionally moved and I could feel her struggles. Acting like that takes talent. Plus Nat had to not only act but be a ballet dancer, not the easiest dancing to do, on top of that. Nat was powerful in every scene she was in, including the dance numbers. I mean maybe some of you don’t get hype for the performance but the bitch worked it…she deserves all the accolades and praise she is receiving.
@DD- Frankly, I thought 2010 was a dismal year for movie making. Since you asked, I thought True Grit, Winter’s Bone, The Town and Rabbit Hole were good movies. I didn’t say Black Swan wasn’t, I simply stated my opinion, that Portman was good, not great. I am an Aronofsky fan, but this movie, IMO, was his weakest, and Portman was my least favorite part of the film. I was disappointed after all the hype. I expected more, since Aronofsky, for me, always delivers a hit. This time it wasn’t such a hit, but maybe because I was and always will be partial to The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream and Pi.
DD, I am not sure if your last sentence was sincere, but I kind of took it to be snarky, and I am not saying I have the best taste in what is good acting vs ok acting vs bad. I was giving MY opinion, I wasn’t saying it was THE opinion.
LOL@how even in a post about Natalie Portman, someone brings up Jennifer Aniston! My that woman gets under people’s skin! That is why she still gets work, because people won’t shut up about her, good or bad.
@ Nanea
Well, the crown jewels of France and England are very very old, and they have lots of jewels in them, including diamonds. Those are the only examples I can think of of jewelry that can be truly confirmed as antique.
@Whatever
Seldom do I respond to politcal comments because its usually just a hamster cage for mudslinging but I respectfully must reply to your comment.
Less than 1% of the world’s diamonds are “blood” diamonds. Most of the world’s diamonds are used in industrial manufacturing that supplies us with the needs of a modern society. 99% of diamonds are produced in countries such as Canada, Russia, South Africa, and Australia which closely regulate the industry. Diamond mining is one of the least environmentally intrusive industries in developing wealth from dirt and provides the working man with a way out of poverty. It is important to spend as much time studying the facts as it is going to see movies that dramatise isolated and terrible events.
I know of what I speak.
I have to say Im not really enjoying the new press loving natalie and her fiance. i respected her a lot more when she kind of did her thing quietly and now they are just taking turns gushing to the press constantly and it seems inauthentic, forced, and cynical just to grab an oscar. you should let your work speak for itself.
great bit of celebrity world triangulating Celebitchy!
Normally an antique diamond has to do with how it was cut. Old Mine cut is an older cut that hasn’t been used since the beginning of the 20th century.
It is eco-friendly if it’s a stone that has been re-used. Imagine antique shops having several cut diamonds that are bought by jewelers to make new rings.
Wow…well celebrity gossip sites you have done it. I have always like Natalie Portman, thought she was sweet, pretty and now after reading this “blog” site for almost a year I finally don’t like her for the first time. Yep…just takes time but you can be brainwashed into not liking/hating anyone famous when it keeps being shoveled down your throat. I feel the same about goopy too, I always thought she was ok but after reading these sites I am not so sure anymore.
Oh, and for being so “enlightened”, she sure seems to support child rapists, which to me, doesn’t seem so “enlightened”.
Less than 1% of the world’s diamonds are “blood” diamonds. Most of the world’s diamonds are used in industrial manufacturing that supplies us with the needs of a modern society. 99% of diamonds are produced in countries such as Canada, Russia, South Africa, and Australia which closely regulate the industry. Diamond mining is one of the least environmentally intrusive industries in developing wealth from dirt and provides the working man with a way out of poverty. It is important to spend as much time studying the facts as it is going to see movies that dramatise isolated and terrible events.
—————–
This is misinformation. Blood diamonds may be a small percentage, that is true. But the whole blood diamond thing obscures the larger issue of low pay, lack of safety and poverty among diamond miners, particularly in Africa. Most diamonds are NOT fair trade, even if they aren’t conflict diamonds.
Canada produces only 8% of the world’s diamonds, but they are definitely fair trade, Russia makes 22%, South Africa has 9% , and Australia 13%. That is only about HALF of the industry, not 90%. Also, 80% of those diamonds are cut and polished in India by child labor, most at little and some at no pay. As I stated before, the industry is NOT fair trade. People need to be VERY careful to purchase only fair trade and force the rest of the industry to stop these horrible practices.
I suspect you work in the industry. I know of what I speak too.
The ring is tacky, it could be sold in a very trashy jewelry store. But the fact that is conflict free should definitely NOT go underappreciated.
As someone of South African descent I have to disagree with you Rita. I’m not going to get into it but let’s just say the diamond industry has a terrible history of atrocities and just because currently things may be better it doesn’t mean it’s actually a bloodless industry.
@Whatever
Bravo! I totally agree with you about “fair trade” diamonds and my comment did not say that these countries produced 90% of the diamonds. I said countries “like” them which is to say the industry is well regulated. My point is that the reader should not be left with the impression that the diamond industry is evil. Men are evil. The industry produces wealth and some of that wealth should be directed to stopping the abuses of which you speak.
My huband is in international Management and Engineering.
@mln76- I totally agree and we must not confuse history with modern day practices even though some abuses continue.
Her bottom lip in the last picture doesn’t look natural, did she have something done or has it always been like that? Just curious because I never noticed it before.
I personally think that the “baby daddy” is creepy. That picture of him above with the crazy eyes. And I hope she does not regret in years to come that stupid acceptance speech, I got second hand embarrassment for her.
For a beautiful girl, she certainly does have an unattractive grin.
@Roxanne75: totally agree with your comment! It’s almost scary to see how well it works…
Rita I’m puzzled. Why won’t that ring see the light of day? Do you mean it will just sit in a drawer and never be worn? Or are you referring to the maybe wedding?
“There are a LOT of signatures on that
list that I wish weren’t there” Cosign.
Regarding the GG speech, the only thing more ridiculous than the ‘creating more creation’ babble was her freaking LAUGH.
I’m haunted by it!!!!
@Lady D
My comment is based on my assumption that she’ll wear her wedding ring which probably won’t be a good fit with the shape of the engagement ring. You can bet your last dollar that if I had a ring that beautiful, I’d find a way to wear it.
I just watched Black Swan and I thought it was amazing, one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. And even though I don’t exactly like her, I thought Natalie was amazing too. I bet she worked very hard to perform like that. Bravo!
And off subject, watched The Tourist last night and can not believe how a horrible, stupid, boring and cheesy movie like that was ever made. And can not believe how two actors like AJ and JD could agree to do such a flop. They should be embarassed.
God she annoys me to no end and that fiancee of hers looks goofy.
Currently, there aren’t any countries that are in breach of the Kimberley Process, although Zimbabwe seems to be more than a bit iffy these days. So pretty much any diamond that has been mined and polished since about 2003 – 2004 is going to be a conflict free diamond and it’s pretentious to make a point of mentioning it, IMO.
That said, there is no way of knowing if the antique old mine cut stone (I would assume it came out of a piece of estate or antique jewellery) is a conflict free stone or not.
As to fair trade… I can’t speak about child labour in India, but it seems to me that diamond manufacturing is not something that is handed over to beginners. I could be wrong, but I would hazard a guess that the child labour is more likely to be cutting the lesser stones such as tourmaline, peridot etc that are abundant in the region, while the more experienced cutters would be doing the diamonds.
am i the only one who doesn’t like the ring? seems a bit gaudy, but i just don’t like diamonds that much. i think it’s great that she is wearing CF diamonds, though.
That is a beautiful ring, but once again I will quote Meryl Streep’s character in Heartburn (scripted by Nora Ephron):
You shouldn’t have a ring you can’t wear on the subway.
Hmm..I would have thought that the best example of conflict free would be NO engagement ring. Or maybe taking a nice chunk of change and giving to to PETA (for Natalie, of course),
I’m disappointed. Looks like she/they are buying into the wedding culture thing, which is a spooky phenomenon unto itself. Is the wretched excess wedding going to be before or after the baby arrives?
Give me Javi and Penelope any day of the week…
You know I kind of feel sorry for those celebrities who are dating ordinary, not rich people. When it’s a guy then it’s no problem for him. He is like Prince Charming 🙂 Like Matt Damon for example.
But when it’s poor female celebrity then she has to suffer with all that embarrassment when she can’t even get engaged because press will start to humiliate her and look at the price of her ring. Because it’s like she can’t have normal ring. It has to be super expensive. Because if her fiance will give her not expensive ring then it’s embarrassment. If she will have expensive then it’s even more embarrassment because it’s meaning that she paid for it.
You know what they should do? Just go and quietly marry. Without all those engagements. I don’t understand all those fuzz with engagements. Why do people have to engage and then go for 2 years being engaged and then break up. In many countries there are no such thing as engagements. When people want (really want) to get marry they go and set a date (like in 3 months) and then get marry.
I’m going to get hammered but since the Polanski signatories were mentioned….I feel that the guy did his time, albiet not much, and that there was a lot more to the story than most people know about. He had an agreement to do timed served, unless I’m very mistaken (which I usually am) and the judged backed out or died and another judge refused to honour that deal…something happened. But Polanski went to jail, served time for the crime and so on.
I don’t condone in any way what he did, but I don’t dislike him either. I guess
I have mixed feelings.
I don’t mean to offend anyone as I know this is a sensitive issue.
It’s simply showing off.
I would lose it in a gallon of paint anyway……..
I live in Europe and I will just say that this craziness with engagement rings in the US is just SCARY. I’ve never met anyone whose engagement ring would be over 0.3 carat(and I’m not a poor person,really).In here people just give pretty rings as a ‘sign’ of love and try to focus on the relationship and a wedding.It’s not about showing off who can afford the most expensive ring. I didn’t realize that people go so crazy over some bling and I’m not suprised about the divorce rates.
i really liked BLACK SWAN( a beautiful SHUTTER ISLAND with ballerinas but sometimes a few grotesque) and i think she’s really great and she nailed her character
on the ring,i don’t care but i start to be over on Portman(it’s almost worse than Robsten in E!online)
@Paulina: I think it might depend on which country you are in in Europe. In France, it’s the husband’s family who pays for the ring (or perhaps gives an heirloom ring) and big stones are not at all uncommon. That may be where the old mine cut stone came from, come to think of it. It seems in the UK, size is an issue (status), although I suspect that there are a lot of people walking around with CZ engagement rings, judging from the pawn shop windows when the financial crisis hit. Can’t really comment on anywhere else in Europe though, except my Nordic friends tend to have modest discreet rings.
@Rita: Depending on how a halo ring is set the secondary wedding band can scooch comfortably below and rest nicely against the engagement band. That’s why with halo’s it’s important to design both rings at the same time.
@Roxanne75: I feel the same way too – certain celebs I used to like I now look at sideways. Also, I seem to say “dong” a lot in passing conversation.
I hate to say it, but a “recycled” stone is NOT conflict free, nor is there any guarantee that people, animals, rain forests and eco systems weren’t harmed in the mining of said Diamond. In fact, I’ll bet the impact on the earth was worse for the older stone.
As far as I know, the only truly conflict free diamonds come from Canada. There could be more, but I researched this last year when my boyfriend asked me what I wanted, and this is what I found.
READ: There is something wrong with Portman. I can see it in her eyes, a sort of over-achiever desperation, a manic undertone. This bitch is cracked, Harvard or not.
….I feel that the guy did his time, albiet not much, and that there was a lot more to the story than most people know about.
_____________
There is no other side to a story where a grown man drugs and rapes a 13 year old girl, sorry. He’s a pedophile and should be, at minimum, a registered sex offender. I don’t care if he’s the best film maker in the history of the world, if that were my daughter, he’d be dead.
Antique rings are not conflict free, nor were they necessarily mined in environmentally responsible ways, but they are better because when a diamond is reused, it is not causing further pain and suffering to the current miners, as with newly mined diamonds.
@devilgirl — agreed !! Portman was OK in the role. actually i felt Portman slightly “overacted” because in watching the movie i could sense she WAS acting versus believing she was the character. in contrast, Kunis and Cassel came across AS their characters.
@Canuck
I guess I should sue my husband’s family about this big engagement ring they shoud have bought me, then. And, I guess I should also tell my girlfriends to sue their in-laws…
@lio: I didn’t say they all got big stones, I said they weren’t uncommon. Maybe you and your girlfriends were unlucky. My French husband’s family certainly paid for mine, or rather I was offered a choice of existing rings and his family paid to have a new ring made from the stone I liked. Same situation for my girlfriends. Did you get a sapphire ring from your husband after having your first child? Also seems to be a French tradition.
“Currently, there aren’t any countries that are in breach of the Kimberley Process, although Zimbabwe seems to be more than a bit iffy these days. So pretty much any diamond that has been mined and polished since about 2003 – 2004 is going to be a conflict free diamond and it’s pretentious to make a point of mentioning it, IMO.”
That’s not true at all, the Kimberly Process is very easy to circumvent and you obviously no nothing about the current state of conflict diamonds. The only one being arrogant or pretentious is you. If you want to know the details of how many countries are pretending to follow the Kimberly Process, read Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff. It also has a lot of info about other extractive techniques, like gold ore.
“I hate to say it, but a “recycled” stone is NOT conflict free, nor is there any guarantee that people, animals, rain forests and eco systems weren’t harmed in the mining of said Diamond. In fact, I’ll bet the impact on the earth was worse for the older stone.”
I don’t think you get the point of recycled diamonds. No one is claiming they were mined using environmentally friendly processes. But every time that diamond is recycled, the damage is halved since a new diamond isn’t being mined to replace it.
@Shannon: Please feel free to enlighten us as to which countries are in breach. The website for the Kimberley Process seems to be lacking your knowledge, as do the GIA and Gem-A trade publications, both of which I subscribe to.
Agree with Whatever’s comment #43. Word!
a jamie wolf rock the size of a golf ball. it is quite a statement ring, and not bc it is a conflict free diamond.
I like Natalie so this has nothing to do with her but I think it’s a fussy, tacky ring. Why would you want to do that to a really good stone? A good stone should be cut well – preferably a brilliant cut – and set simply and elegantly. There should be no cheap industrial-grade size stones surrounding it detracting from what should be a very beautiful jewel.
Of course the Kimberley Process website touts it’s alleged success as would any trade publications. That is not where an objective analysis of the KP would be found.
@devilgirl – I was being sincere. I don’t take people’s subjective tastes to heart. I watched Winter’s Bone and loved it, but I haven’t seen True Grit, The Town and Rabbit Hole. Actually I think someone posted about Winter’s Bone in another celebitchy thread a while back, maybe it was you… otherwise I wouldn’t have heard or watched it, that’s why I like asking 🙂
Ugh.
Also can you imagine what she will be like once the baby is born? I am picturing her being Gisele 2.0. *shudder*
Although I sincerely hope that being a mother changes her for the better (although I doubt that will happen).
Am I the only one who finds that NP has a really strange smile? She is one of the few people who actually looks worse when she smiles.
i can’t believe she fell for a ballarina
It makes me sick too that celebs get comped all the time and they’re already rich off their own asses to begin with…but see that’s why I go to freebie websites to score random junk…because hey it’s free (however worthless) so in my own little world of the “lifestyles of the poor and unknown”, I feel just like any legit celeb at an awards show gifting suite 🙂
He looks like he is wearing a really bad toupe’.
@Katherine Mac: Believe it or not, not everyone in the gem business is “in” on some great big conspiracy. Amongst other purposes, trade publications are there to alert those who read them to issues that could affect them and their businesses, not to sweep things under the rug.
@DD- Well, I most certainly apologize for thinking otherwise! : )
@mln76 (45) – “As someone of South African descent I have to disagree with you Rita. I’m not going to get into it but let’s just say the diamond industry has a terrible history of atrocities and just because currently things may be better it doesn’t mean it’s actually a bloodless industry.”
I saw a documentary on the blood diamonds thing. It was truly horrific…It made me wonder how so many people can continue to purchase ANY diamonds without checking to make sure they weren’t acquired at the expense of innocent people’s lives. I believe the documentary said the people who slave away mining only get $20 a piece for (medium to larger) stones… which is then ‘cut’ & sold for 10-20k to jewelers.
They’re barely getting by, while terrorist organizations (& warring group’s armies) take advantage by threatening violence & kidnapping.
It’s unfortunate that in most cases, the ‘conflict free’ diamonds are more expensive… Making sure they are, watching where they’ve come from & changed hands through documentation… takes more time & money. Many ‘average’ jewelry stores can’t afford to go that route… so I’ve noticed that it’s mostly high-end designer jewelry stores that make that a priority.
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