Milestone moments

Rapaport Magazine asks: At what age did you get your first diamond, and what did it commemorate?

Rebecca Foerster
President
Alrosa USA I was 12 years old when I first received a diamond. After many years of my asking for pierced ears, my dad finally agreed and took me for the “big event,” to get my ears pierced.

To commemorate this day, which was a triumph in my mind, he surprised me with a pair of diamond stud earrings. Although the diamonds are rather small and of average quality, I still wear them all the time. These diamonds allow me to remember my dad — who passed away over 25 years ago — every day, and that moment in time that made our special relationship even more special than it already was.

Tonia (Toni) Zehrer
Senior vice president and chief merchandising officer
Signet Jewelers Diamond jewelry has always been associated with special moments in my life. My first diamonds were a half-carat pair of studs for my high school graduation, given to me by my parents. I was thrilled beyond belief to have received such a special gift! My parents also gave me another present, my second diamond jewelry piece — a half-carat solitaire necklace — for my college graduation. They are both still so special to me today because each one reminds me of how proud they were of me and how loved I was. I feel so fortunate to have learned at an early age how a gift of fine jewelry makes special occasions and relationships even more memorable and lasting. It’s one of the reasons I’m proud to be part of this industry.

Feriel Zerouki
Senior vice president of international relations and ethical initiatives
De Beers My first piece of diamond jewelry was a gift from my mother when I was 13. It was a heart-shaped gold ring covered in small diamonds. I recently asked her what the occasion was, and her response was simply that she’d felt I was responsible enough to own it.

Jewelry is a large part of my Algerian culture and is gifted on many occasions, like for the birth of a child or marriage, or even just because. Wearing statement jewelry at a wedding — whether as bride or guest — is also part of our DNA, and I recall instances when my sisters and I would watch my mother getting ready, and that magic moment when she brought the jewelry out. My sisters and I would immediately lay claim to the different beautiful pieces for when “we grow up.” I guess when I was 13, she was testing whether I’d started to do that!

Caroline Morissey
Head of sales, US
Bonhams My first diamond symbolized the beginning of a total obsession. When I was 18, I was left a small inheritance, and a piece of jewelry seemed a fitting, if not slightly extravagant, purchase. I was living in Antwerp at the time, doing an internship at a diamond manufacturer, and it was an opportunity to select and buy a stone directly from diamond cutters. I looked at so many loose stones and remember how the painstaking decision over which shape, color and clarity I wanted was, at the time, such a thrill to me. In the end, I selected a princess-cut, G VS2, and a jeweler friend helped me custom-design a necklace pendant. That diamond pendant represented both a self-purchase and a commemorative purchase, and as a young woman, I found it very empowering.

Image: Shutterstock

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - May 2019. To subscribe click here.

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