Vanessa Bryant''s Purple Diamond?

[mike04456]

I''m not sure if this is the one, but there can''t be too many stones like this, if there is even more than one. This 7.34 ct diamond is/was known as the Royal Purple Heart. It was graded by GIA as Fancy Vivid purple and I1 clarity. The grading report was published here:

http://www.gagtl.ac.uk/gagtl/j28-1.html

 

[Mara]

Very pretty. Was it set in a ring for the purchase? That's a big stone!

Guilt buys the best baubles.

 

[shaygirl]

I don't even think that stone is very attractive. Sort of looks like a crappy tanzanite.

 

[mike04456]

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On 7/31/2003 12:56:38 PM shaygirl wrote:

I don't even think that stone is very attractive. Sort of looks like a crappy tanzanite.

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It looks like a bad picture to me. If photographing colorless diamonds is tricky, shooting fancy-colored ones is doubly so. If it was correctly graded as Fancy Vivid purple (the most saturated grade) it has to be a lot more attractive in person.

Mara, I have no idea what happened to this one. I just remembered reading that grading report a while back and suddenly wondered if it was the same diamond.

 

[Mara]

I've never really seen a fancy colored diamond in person. Do they sparkle like the colorless stones? What would that purple diamond look like in person?

 

[mike04456]

It would never be mistaken for an amethyst, if that's what you're wondering. Fancy-colored diamonds have brilliance and fire like colorless diamonds but they have their own unique appeal, in part because they are almost always cut to intensify color. But indeed they do sparkle and reflect light like no colored gemstone does. Next time you're up in SF, hit one of the stores around Union Square. I'm sure somebody has some fancy yellows on display.

 

[kiwifuz]

So I saw this on DT. Interesting. But from what it says purple diamonds aren't "Lakers" purple and don't come in large sizes, so perhaps hers is more pink?:

Rare purple diamond was ordered after the Laker star was charged with sexual assault.

By Booth Moore, Times Staff Writer
Can diamonds be a guy's best friend? Just days after being charged with sexually assaulting a hotel employee in Colorado, Kobe Bryant gave a purple diamond ring worth a reported $4 million to his wife, Vanessa.

The Laker star commissioned the 8-carat ring from Rafinity, a Santa Monica jeweler on the Third Street Promenade that caters to a celebrity clientele.

The couple picked up the ring earlier this week.

The bauble, which one jeweler said could be as large as a Lifesaver candy, might be a marital peace offering. Although Bryant, 24, denies assaulting his 19-year-old accuser, he has said he had consensual sex with her at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera on June 30.

"I've sold stones for $4 million, but I don't sell a lot of them," marveled one Los Angeles jeweler. "But he's got a lot of money and he's in a lot of trouble."

Rafi, the jeweler who co-owns Rafinity with partner Ann Whatu, confirmed through a spokesperson that he sold the piece but would not comment further. The carat weight and price tag were reported by People magazine in its Aug. 4 issue. The shop also made the 7-carat diamond engagement ring Bryant gave to Vanessa Laine in happier times, in May 2000, when she was still a student at Huntington Beach's Marina High School. Gwen Stefani, Halle Berry and Celine Dion have also ordered custom pieces from the store.

Purple diamonds are among the rarest colored stones in the world. "If you were to call me and say you were looking for one in that size and color, I would say I don't know if it exists," said Simon Teackle, who heads the fine jewelry department at Christie's in New York.

Alan Bronstein, the gem collector who assembled the famous "Aurora Collection'' of colored stones that has been on exhibit for 14 years at New York's Museum of Natural History, said it was difficult to comment on the stone without examining it. "But I'm assuming it's a spectacular purple-pink diamond, because in nature, purple does not exist in an 8-carat stone. Purple is a lavender, thistle color, and diamonds only come in that color in small stones. But a very strong pink color with a purple tint, nature does make those stones."

Thanks to Ben Affleck, who gave Jennifer Lopez a 6.1-carat Harry Winston pink diamond engagement ring, colored stones are hot. (Harry Winston has a waiting list for pink diamonds.)

Colored diamonds have been popular for some time in Asia, according to Amber Michelle, the editor-in-chief of Jewelry Connoisseur, a consumer magazine published twice a year. "But in the U.S., people are just now discovering them. People who have money have often developed collections of white diamonds, so they are looking for something different, unusual and unique." To put some perspective on the rarity of colored stones, Michelle said that most of the pink diamonds in the world come from one mine, the Argyle mine in Australia. Most of these stones weigh less than 2 carats, and each year, the number mined is only enough to fill an ashtray. Blue diamonds are rarer than pink diamonds. And green and red diamonds rarer still. Purple diamonds, she said, are almost unheard of. "I know someone who has been looking for one for a few years."

There is one colored diamond for every 10,000 near-colorless ones. The color comes from a subtle distortion in the atomic structure of the stone, called graining, according to Bronstein, which changes light absorption. "It's all based on light."

 

[mike04456]

"Never" is a dangerous word when you're talking about the gem world. A lot of supposedly "unique" stones have surfaced in recent years.

There is at least one 7+ carat purple diamond in existence, so there may be others.

 

[kiwifuz]

True, I just find it interesting that its that light of a color. I'd just love to see a picture of the real ring though... Even the diamond you posted mounted in a setting Lawgem.

Too bad it came to her under the circumstances that it did...

 

[NewlyEngaged]

Aside from not even being able to fathom spending $4 million dollars on something that one wears on their finger, imagining just how it really looks is hard to do. I can't imagine though, that it is anything short of breath taking. One of my Aunt's has a 6 carat radiant cut, which is amazing. Another Aunt has a 10 carat Pear shape, also amazing (I am living on the other side of those tracks). Add some natural purple-ish tones or other natural color tones to a pristine stone and how could it not look amazing? To everyday people, it would look obnoxious and most would likely assume it is fake or something other than a diamond. In the Bryant's circle, those they hang around, will know it is real both from the press as well as their constant contact with others that have ultra expensive jewels themselves.

 

[rbjd]

But I1? Ouch. If that is the one Kobe bought, it's just like his love for his wife (or perhaps his whole relationship with her). Totally flawed.

 

[mike04456]

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On 7/31/2003 2:38:55 PM rbjd wrote:

But I1? Ouch. If that is the one Kobe bought, it's just like his love for his wife (or perhaps his whole relationship with her). Totally flawed.

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Lower clarity grades are common with fancy colors, especially the intensely colored ones. From the pictures in that Journal of Gemmology article, the inclusions don't look to be that obvious or unattractive. And with a color that rare, frankly, I don't think it matters much.

 

[NewlyEngaged]

Looking again at the picture you attached. Is that actual size? LOL.

 

[rbjd]

You know I was thinking more about this. The "Royal Purple Heart". Sounds like a badge of honor. Wounded in love, or something. It's the award you get when you get screwed over.

What a provenance Kobe has left for Vanessa's diamond. What a history that diamond will have. Vanessa can be reminded daily of her husband's extravagant infidelity and then pass it on to her heirs or some buyer.

Centuries from now, people will be afraid to own it.

 

[Lanee]

rbjd,

Good point. It will indeed be haunted by its new legacy.

 

[fire&ice]

You all know I'm a diamond freak; but, I simply could not accept this under the circumstances. How shallow. Commit adultery (or worse) and make it all better by spending 4 mil on a purple rock. Shallow life indeed. I suppose I could chalk it up to her youth. Does she really think that ring denotes love, sacrifice & I'll promise never to do it again? Silly girl.

 

[redsquirrel]

I don't mean to pry, but my office has a bet on the cost of this. Could you imbellish our curiosity?

Terri