The engagement was authentic — shucks, he got down on one
knee while the couple prepared a roast chicken dinner in their cozy cottage.
And it was about as liberal and progressive as English royal proposals get,
given his wife-to-be was neither from royal stock nor white Anglo-Saxon.
As we wish the happy couple a wonderful future, one thing is
for sure: The custom-designed diamond ring that the poster boy for the “I Don’t
Care Generation” presented to the divorced, biracial Hollywood actress will
have more of an impact on millennials’ relationship to diamonds than would any
sleek advertising campaign.
That is because the ring, featuring a 2.50-carat center
diamond, may have been traditional in gesture, but is millennial by design.
The diamonds were mounted by the London-based Cleave &
Company — the official jewelers to the queen — in 18-karat yellow gold, because
that’s Markle’s favorite. The main diamond was sourced from Botswana, because
Prince Harry had visited it many times as a child and the couple had camped out
with each other under the stars on their first trip together. The small
diamonds on either side of the main setting, meanwhile, are from Prince Harry’s
late mother’s jewelry collection, “to make sure she’s with us on this crazy
journey together,” according to the prince.
This story is the essence of romance. It is the essence of
what a diamond engagement ring can represent. And it is a mere shadow of itself
if you switch out the beautiful diamonds — and what they represent for the
young couple — and replace them with synthetics.
This is the story that will do more than anything to help
wed millennials to the wonder and beauty of diamonds. And it is a story we
should, as those who work with and sell the dreams of diamonds, be telling over
and over again.
John Costello is the Publisher of the Rapaport Group.
john.costello@diamonds.net
This article was first published as “Note from the Publisher” in the December issue of Rapaport Magazine.