Cristiano Ronaldo has proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Georgina Rodriguez, with a magnificent ring that experts say could be worth millions.
Brisbane-based jewellery designer Nick Ireland told 9honey the impressive diamond appears to be around 30 carats in size.
“I think it’s somewhere around 30 carats in size, I would’ve thought by looking at the photo,” said Ireland, Australia’s leading diamond expert for three decades.
The jeweller said a diamond of that size could fetch upwards of $5 million, noting it is most likely a D colour grade flawless stone, the highest quality available on the market.
“[The stone] might be [worth] around $5 million, but there are some variables that could affect that price,” Ireland said.
“It’s a beautiful, big oval-cut diamond … and I think the diamonds underneath look like they might be oval cuts … it appears that there are some smaller side stones underneath.”
Ireland noted that oval cuts, like Rodriguez’s, are currently in high demand. “All the elongated shapes are very popular at the moment, so, you know, ovals, radiance or cushions,” he said.
According to his estimates, the diamond itself weighs about 6 grams. With the addition of the band and any extra diamonds, the total weight could reach between 10 and 15 grams.
Despite its size, Ireland said the ring would actually be easier to work with than smaller designs.
“It’s probably easier to clean it because there’s so much open space around a ring like that, because the diamond is so big, nothing can really get caught in it,” he explained.
“[Jewellers] much prefer making pieces with larger stones because everything then becomes larger.
“It’s on the smaller things, when you’re trying to sort of craft very intricate styles with small stone, where it gets a little bit harder.”
The cost of insuring such a piece would be staggering.
“You could probably assume that [insurers] are looking for a premium of 3 to 5 per cent … so honestly, you’re looking at paying anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 a year,” Ireland said.
“But realistically, the ring is probably self-insured because the premiums are just stupid when you get to that kind of value.”
Ireland said his own jewellery store often brings in customers with pictures of celebrity engagement rings, requesting replicas for themselves.
“We’ve had a few clients come in and they’ve been with a picture of Selena Gomez’s ring or some other celebrities, we’ve actually recreated some of these pretty special engagement rings,” he said.
He also revealed that such glamorous designs have become more affordable in recent years thanks to the falling cost of lab-grown diamonds.
“The prices for the lab-grown [diamonds] have fallen literally 90 per cent plus over the last couple of years … that’s just transformed the market,” Ireland explained.
Images: Instagram
