True size of the Kate/Diana sapphire

[Jambalaya]

Here's some fascinating info. on Diana's Saudi sapphires. It seems her various pairs of sapphire drop earrings weren't made from the Saudi set.

She had more sapphires than I realized!

https://tiaramania.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F187122205208

 

[Jambalaya]

Meely, your sapphire is gorgeous!

 

[Arcadian]

While I'm much more a medium sapphire lover.....this right here *chefs kiss*

 

[Jambalaya]

Whoa!!! Arcadian, thanks for posting!!! That's amazing!

It would be way too big for my hand, but I would wear it east-west as a short necklace, so that the sapphire and diamonds sat at the base of my neck.

 

[Jambalaya]

This fake from Ross Simons looks to be very similar proportions to Diana's ring indeed, and the stone is 14x10. According to the size/weight charts above, the sapphire would be approx. 7.5 carats. I know i's all approximate, but generally speaking, the charts say that an oval sapphire of 14 x 10 mm weighs 7-8 carats.

5.30 Carat Simulated Sapphire and 1.80 ct. t.w. CZ Ring in Sterling Silver. Size 6 | Ross-Simons

An RS exclusive. Exclusively ours! In memory of the world's most beloved princess, Diana, this iconic engagement ring features a 5.30 carat oval simulated sapphire framed with 1.80 ct. t.w. CZs. Set in polished sterling silver for extra shine. 7/8" wide. CZ and simulated sapphire ring. Carat...

www.ross-simons.com

 

[Jambalaya]

Here's my own Diana-equivalent ring! It's a London blue topaz set in 14k white gold with an edging of tiny diamonds. I got it from Macy's. I don't usually buy jewelry from Macy's but I fell in love with this one, and it's much more gorgeous IRL. It was a popular ring for Macys', they carried it for a long time and it had great reviews. I couldn't resist it when I saw it in store. It looks so so much nicer in reality than in these photos. Both the stone and the halo have these soft sparkles.

I like the way it Looks quite big on me because my fingers are so short from base to first knuckle. IRL it looks very classy, IMHO.

 

[Polished]

I love your ring Jambalaya. It has a presence with the size and bold colour. I know it's easy to nitpick the Diana/Kate ring but it also has this presence and boldness that seeing the way Diana used sapphires, in this thread, perhaps explains why she was so drawn to that ring. Contrasting Kate's ring with Meghan's:

 

[Jambalaya]

Thank you, Polished!

I agree with what you say about Diana's ring having presence. Maybe it just doesn't photograph that well. It's probably gorgeous IRL. There was an all-too-quick close-up during William and Kate's engagement interview, and it looked very nice. The diamonds were super-sparkly.

Also, I think the ring stands out well for someone who is going to be photographed a lot.

It's a pity that Diana didn't wear her e-ring after her divorce. I don't see why she couldn't have done. I don't think the Duchess of York does, either, which is a pity. Her ruby suited her.

 

[Jambalaya]

Video close-up of Diana's ring at 1.55:

 

[Arcadian]

Whoa!!! Arcadian, thanks for posting!!! That's amazing!

It would be way too big for my hand, but I would wear it east-west as a short necklace, so that the sapphire and diamonds sat at the base of my neck.

this was the biggest sapphire I'd ever seen IRL. Because I was outside, it was the only way to get a picture of it. (some of these stores on the island don't let you take inside pictures. This store is next door to Graff so, they had to pull out the stops.

 

[Polished]

I loved looking at the ring in the engagement interview. There's also a good view of it around the 8.10 mark. I'd love to see how "crisp" the colour is in real life. Note the small sapphire? necklace Kate is wearing. I don't think she is half as bold as the refined, English rose Diana was. So I wonder whether those other sapphire pieces will be worn by Kate in the future. Given the right events quite possibly.

Perhaps in that tray of rings Diana was presented to choose her engagement ring from, they had already selected the best sapphire ring they had. But really once she had decided she wanted a halo oval sapphire they might have gone away and selected a few of that style for her to choose from. I think the tray of rings was presented to give the impression of exclusivity. Diana should have busted that open with "this ring is superb now go and find me a sapphire the colour of Penelope Cruz's engagement ring to be".

 

[Jambalaya]

Ha ha, yes!

Also, Diana was only 19 when she picked that ring, so I guess she didn't know much about jewelry.

Apparently, it was the biggest ring in the selection, which I can believe, given its size. She had some balls to pick that one! I don't think I'd have had the nerve to do that. OTOH, if you're an aristocrat and future Queen, maybe you feel that big is the right way to go!

 

[Austina]

I heard that she chose it not because of the size, but because it reminded her of her mother’s ER which was also sapphire and diamonds. I personally have never particularly liked it, and I do wonder if it just doesn’t photograph well and appears to be very dark.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

Here's a 10.66 ct sapphire for size comparison. I know this sapphire doesn't look the same because its a Ceylon and also the halo is different. But to me, it looks larger than Diana's.

 

[donnabrsd]

I've always had a fascination with Diana/Kate's ring even being a darker blue than I prefer. Not my style, but I would wear it proudly if given to me as a gift.

I think it's impossible to tell carat weight by dimensions. This one is 23.66ct. If you go by the dimensions, the conversions chart shows this would be about 13ct.

 

[Jambalaya]

The above two posts are interesting. To me, the first one at 10.66 carats looks bigger than the one that's meant to be 23.66. That one is far outside what the charts say. I know they're approximate, but still. I wonder if 23.66 is an error.

ETA: The measurements in the first one must be off, because if the face-up area of the ring was 22x22mm, it would be square!

 

[Jambalaya]

I wish they would put this ring on display in a London museum for a time. I would go, just to see it! Not going to happen, I know - it's Kate's e-ring - but I dare to dream!

 

[Jambalaya]

I don't know how to feel about Kate's e-ring. On the one hand, I think it's a horrible symbol of heartache, betrayal, a volcano of a divorce, and a violent and tragic death. A big part of me thinks it should just have been put into the Crown Jewels display at the Tower of London and have done with it. It's a famous enough piece of jewelry for there to be an interest from people in seeing it, I think. I also think it's too big and a bit of a monstrosity, and that it doesn't really suit Kate's coloring.

On the other hand, it's an amazing gesture of William's to give Kate such a famous and historic piece of jewelry, and it demonstrates how much he thinks of her. I think it's also super-sweet that he wanted his mother remembered, and since his wife and mother can't meet, maybe it's his way of connecting them. Put that way, it's immensely touching. And it's just a ring, after all - I don't really believe in bad luck associated with jewelry.

I wonder if, eventually, after William and Kate's lifetime, maybe even after Charlotte's lifetime, the ring will eventually end up in the Crown Jewels display. Once Diana has passed out of living memory, future generations won't feel they need to wear it, and it's so big and old-fashioned. Or, since Kate will be queen, maybe it'll be such a famous piece one day - even more so than now - that it will go to the Crown Jewels display after she dies. At that point, she will probably have worn it for decades all over the world on state visits etc., and it will have been photographed another million times!

 

[Jambalaya]

This is a 12-carat sapphire oval, from Lang Antiques, and I think it looks bigger than Kate's. Imagine it on the engagement finger! But perhaps the double halo is making it look bigger.

Estate 12.18 Carat Ceylon Sapphire Diamond Ring - GIA

A stunning and impressively proportioned gemstone, a 12.18 carat faceted oval sapphire of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) origin, radiates a gorgeous rich royal blue hue from within a double halo composed of sparkling bright white round brilliant-cut diamonds in this resplendent showstopper presented in...

www.langantiques.com

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

Mine is 8.6cts - but it is deep and doesn’t face up like over 8cts. I didn’t actually even know it was that big until it came out of its setting. It’s 12x10x9. Its too deep to be worn in a ring (unless a rarely worn cocktail ring). Pale in comparison but good bright blue in the sun. Diana’s ring is famously beautiful. I would prefer to have the face value but with coloured stones often the depth is very necessary for colour value.

 

[Jambalaya]

Hi! Do you have any photos of it in its setting?

ETA: Not to worry; I found it. It's beautiful! Any chance you might take a shot with it balanced on your fingers so we can see its size next to Kate's?

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

Hi! Do you have any photos of it in its setting?

ETA: Not to worry; I found it. It's beautiful! Any chance you might take a shot with it balanced on your fingers so we can see its size next to Kate's?

Hi - assuming you mean me? Sure. My diamond ER is a 0.6ct in comparison.

 

[Jambalaya]

Oh wow, thank you BD! Thank you very much! Whoa, that sapphire is gorgeous! Lucky you! Do you have any plans for it? What about setting it east-west in a necklace? That shade of blue would look lovely in yellow gold.

 

[lambskin]

Diana did choose it
It seems to have excellent finger coverage

I am not a fan of all those ugly visible prongs.

 

[Jambalaya]

But maybe they're necessary to keep such a big stone secure. Originally, it only had four prongs. Maybe it even popped out! That would explain the explosion of prongage!

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

Oh wow, thank you BD! Thank you very much! Whoa, that sapphire is gorgeous! Lucky you! Do you have any plans for it? What about setting it east-west in a necklace? That shade of blue would look lovely in yellow gold.

My pleasure and Thankyou for your lovely comments. I am very lucky I inherited it. Originally I was going have the setting fixed and have it put back in there to keep it as the original antique piece but have been advised against it for a number of reasons (setting is unmarked silver I think from around the 1920’s/40’s). I took the stone to a gem cutter first (best in the city for sapphires but he advised totally against a recut and said to clean up just the table alone would cost over $300 - and he didn’t want to do it). So I took it to the gemologist for its paperwork. Now I still need to get it valued but couldn’t decide if I should wait and have it valued as a finished piece of jewellery or just the stone on its own.
Now COVID has gone on so long all our savings have been drained so everything is put on hold. Although I have a lot of gold and unworn jewellery that I would be happy to put into having this piece finished.
It’s massively sentimental and I miss wearing it.
I’m so happy there are others who love it as much as I do - as she is far from the perfect ideal of what a perfect sapphire is considered to be- but she is perfect for me

 

[Austina]

Wow the Lang one is really lovely, beautiful colour and great proportions.

 

[SandyK]

Hi - assuming you mean me? Sure. My diamond ER is a 0.6ct in comparison.

I love your sapphire!! It is so beautiful and reminds me of this one I saw on a blogger - just gorgeous!

 

[Beautiful-disaster]

I love your sapphire!! It is so beautiful and reminds me of this one I saw on a blogger - just gorgeous!

Thankyou so much! That is a really lovely ring. The shade reminds me of a beautiful blue pool of water.
I would love to have mine as a ring so I could admire it (rather then others admiring it in a pendant) - but I know I would only ever get to wear it on special fancy occasions which are rare as hens teeth around here. As a pendant I wore it all the time (even when I worked as a waitress! Because I didn’t think it was worth anything other then sentimental value at the time). I’m lucky I still have it. If I hadn’t stepped on it when it broke it would be gone forever.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I’m not knowledgeable about sapphire density and weight, but was wondering if some of these carat weights in the rings pictured are combining the weight of the center stone with the diamond halo weight? Just a thought....