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EditorsJan 25, 2018
See Princess Eugenie’s Padparadscha Engagement Ring
The princess’s colored gemstone ring continued a long-standing royal bridal trend.
Princess Eugenie sported a unique engagement ring featuring a padparadscha sapphire to announce her engagement.
Princess Eugenie of York, cousin to Princes William and Harry, is engaged, and she has a stunning and unusual ring to prove it.
Announced Monday on the British Royal Family’s website and social media, the 27-year-old Eugenie is set to wed her boyfriend of seven years, 31-year-old Jack Brooksbank, this fall.
The Royal Family released official engagement photos of the couple, which showed the princess sporting a ring featuring an oval-cut padparadscha sapphire center stone surrounded by a halo of round-brilliant white diamonds and two trillion-cut white diamonds on a yellow gold band.
Announced Monday on the British Royal Family’s website and social media, the 27-year-old Eugenie is set to wed her boyfriend of seven years, 31-year-old Jack Brooksbank, this fall.
The Royal Family released official engagement photos of the couple, which showed the princess sporting a ring featuring an oval-cut padparadscha sapphire center stone surrounded by a halo of round-brilliant white diamonds and two trillion-cut white diamonds on a yellow gold band.
Eugenie follows an interesting trend seen in the British Royal Family—the use of a colored gemstone surrounded by a halo of white diamonds.
Princess Diana chose a 12-carat oval sapphire engagement ring, surrounded by white diamonds and with a yellow gold shank, which, several years after Diana’s death, Prince William gave to Kate Middleton as her engagement ring.
Embed from Getty Images
Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth II’s only daughter, received sapphire and diamond engagement rings for both of her engagements, while Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden—Queen Elizabeth II’s sister—had a ruby and diamond engagement ring
And Eugenie’s own mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, received a ruby engagement ring from the Duke of York when he proposed, also in a halo design and in yellow gold.
Embed from Getty Images
Indeed, only Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem to have bucked the royal colored gemstone trend in favor of white diamonds.
Where Eugenie’s ring stands out is in its selection of gem, with hers being much more unique than her familial predecessors.
“These special sapphires are rare in their optimal color and typically demand a hefty premium over fancy pink or orange sapphires,” explained Niveet Nagpal, president of Omi Gems & Omi Privé. “They are the rarest of all for their specific color range of pink and orange.”
Gem aficionados agree that the publicity garnered by Eugenie’s engagement will increase interest in the rare stone.
Nagpal said: “Most people don’t know about colored gemstones and especially what a padparadscha sapphire is, so Princess Eugenie’s engagement will be a great start to getting the information out there and driving people to specifically ask for it.”
And Oscar Heyman’s Tom Heyman noted that royal and celebrity engagement rings that feature colored gemstones have correlated with consumer demand in the past.
“When a high-profile engagement occurs, we generally see an uptick in interest in similar ring styles because of the couple’s visibility,” he said. “After Kate Middleton got engaged to Prince William, we had a significant increase in sapphire entourage rings being sold as engagement rings. Many people previously unfamiliar with padparadscha sapphires now know that it is a beautiful choice it is for a ring, engagement or otherwise.”
Princess Eugenie is right on trend ahead of the Tucson gem shows, as dealers have predicted that fancy color sapphires will continue to rise in popularity.
Princess Eugenie is right on trend ahead of the Tucson gem shows, as dealers have predicted that fancy color sapphires will continue to rise in popularity.
Omi Privé’s ring features a 4.17 carat oval padparadscha and 0.75 carats of brilliant round diamonds, set in platinum with 18-karat rose gold details.
Omi Privé’s three-stone ring features a 7.18 carat oval padparadscha sapphire and 1.40 carts of half-moon white diamonds, set in platinum and 18-karat rose gold.
This Omi Privé style has a 2.02-carat oval padparadscha center stone, accented with 0.18 carats of epaulette-cut diamonds and 0.22 carats of brilliant round diamonds, set in platinum with 18-karat rose gold accents.
Omi Privé’s platinum and 18-karat rose gold ring with 8.18-carat no-heat oval padparadscha sapphire surrounded by 0.74 carats of brilliant round diamonds
Oscar Heyman’s platinum ring with 5.01-carat no-heat padparadscha sapphire and eight oval diamonds totaling 1.34 carats, and a platinum eternity band with 28 round diamonds totaling 1.08 carats
Pictured here is Oscar Heyman’s 2.59-carat padparadscha sapphire ring with two oval diamonds totaling 0.78 carats, set in platinum
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