Movies bring us out of our humdrum existence and transport us to a fantasy world where women wear spectacular clothes and jewelry seemingly at all times. Even in a black and white film, diamonds sparkle like no other stone. Remember how beautiful Audrey Hepburn looked in a simple sparkling tiara? Or the loads of diamonds Mae West wore anywhere she could find space for them?
Those diamond necklaces, rings, and tiaras aren’t always fakes. Marilyn Monroe, famous for singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, wore a pear-shaped 26-carat diamond on screen to compliment her shocking pink outfit. Dorothy Hart played Tarzan’s Jane in the 1952 version Tarzan’s Savage Fury, and she sported a real 68-carat champagne stone.
Nobody can match the glitz and glamour of Elizabeth Taylor when it comes to jewelry, though. Onscreen and off, Liz always sparkled. Richard Burton is said to have paid $1 million for a single 70-carat diamond for Liz, and $305,000 for another 33-carat diamond as a 40th birthday gift. She was a very, very lucky woman.
Most diamonds in the movies aren’t real. Artificial diamonds are known as “paste”, and good quality artificial diamonds are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. One way to tell real from fake is to notice that the light reflecting off the facets isn’t quite as sharp from a fake. When the diamond flashes on camera, it’s very hard to determine.
The center stone from the famous necklace in the movie Titanic was a gorgeous replica reminiscent of the 45-carat Hope Diamond. James Cameron spent more than $200 million to make the movie, and commissioned the one-of-a-kind necklace out of semi-precious stones and white gold. It’s not a real diamond, but it makes an impact nonetheless.
The real Hope Diamond, housed in the Smithsonian Museum, was donated to the museum by Hollywood jeweler Harry Winston. In the early days of Hollywood, Harry Winston loaned diamonds to many Hollywood stars for special occasion wear. The House of Harry Winston continues to loan out diamonds to the stars to this day. Whoopi Goldberg borrowed a reported $40 million worth in 1999 for the Oscar ceremonies. However, it has been said that designers will charge the full retail price if the items are returned damaged.
Harry Winston’s associate, N.W. Ayers, could be responsible for the fact that large, beautiful diamonds are considered a must in engagement rings. He started an advertising campaign in early Hollywood using diamond-studded stars as his vehicle. He reasoned that if people wanted to imitate Hollywood stars in other ways, they would also consider diamonds to be affordable luxuries. Over the course of almost 30 years, Ayers, de Beers, and the House of Harry Winston changed the American public’s perception that poor quality diamonds were acceptable engagement gifts. People began to imitate their favorite screen stars with bigger, better, and flashier diamond rings.
Engagement rings in Hollywood movies are often large and flashy, in part because the camera loves the spark of a diamond, and in part because like everything Hollywood, bigger is better. Hollywood royalty popularized colored diamonds, diamond encrusted settings, large centerpiece diamonds, diamonds surrounding other precious stones, and the diamond engagement ring and wedding ring set. Hollywood royalty has been known to wear diamond rings of over ten carats, and BeyoncÍe is the proud owner of a $5 million, 18-carat diamond ring.
Diamond rings for ordinary women who receive them from ordinary men aren’t nearly so sensational. The average size of an average woman’s diamond has grown from one carat to three carats over the years, but that’s still far outside of the million-dollar ring set. Sometimes movie engagement rings reflect this more realistic aspect of our culture. A smaller, simpler ring might be offered in a movie like Armageddon (as when Ben Affleck asks Liv Tyler to marry him). This simple, round diamond solitaire reflects simplicity in the midst of chaos, and the reality of most engagement rings in the world outside of movies.
Leading men sometimes get in on the diamond action, too. Humphrey Bogart wore a gorgeous ruby and diamond gold ring in the movie “Beat the Devil”. Clark Gable celebrates striking oil by buying a diamond pinky ring in the movie “Boomtown”, and Brad Pitt appears in “Ocean’s Twelve” with a diamond ring from Tiffany’s.
Ordinary women know they can’t actually have those gorgeous jewels from the movies. Besides, it takes a special outfit to go with a diamond-encrusted tiara. Do you need diamond-encrusted shoes, too? Even the movie stars themselves don’t wear such things regularly. However, we’d all like to dress up that spectacularly once in a while, just to see what it feels like. Maybe the House of Harry Winston should loan jewels out to ordinary girls occasionally!