Hot stone: Actress-singer Selena Gomez’s marquise diamond engagement ring has people talking

NEW YORK – Some brides-to-be openly discuss their dream engagement rings, creating mood boards, getting fittings and going shopping before the proposal.

In Selena Gomez’s case, some say she may have dropped the ultimate ring hint as a lyrical Easter egg in her 2015 pop song, Good For You.

“I’m on my marquise diamonds, I’m a marquise diamond,” the 32-year-old sings in the steamy track. “Could even make that Tiffany jealous.”

When the American actress-singer

announced her engagement to American record producer-songwriter Benny Blanco on Dec 11,

she posted photos of herself wearing a marquise diamond engagement ring.

In a video clip posted to her Instagram Stories, Gomez showed off the ring on a video call, prompting screams of joy from the caller on her phone.

“I said yes to this,” she exclaims in the clip. “It’s so pretty.”

On Instagram, she posted a slideshow of photos from the proposal, showing her beaming at her ring as she sat on a picnic blanket with Taco Bell takeout. She wrote “forever begins now” in the caption.

In comments on the post, a flood of fellow celebrities congratulated the couple, with American pop star Taylor Swift offering to be the “flower girl” at the wedding and Blanco writing, “hey wait… that’s my wife”.

Gomez and Blanco have been open about their year-long relationship, speaking warmly of each other in interviews and posting photos on social media. Gomez has previously worn another piece of jewellery celebrating their love: a sparkling Jacquie Aiche ring emblazoned with a “B” initial, for Blanco.

The marquise style of diamond is said to date to 18th-century France, when King Louis XV ordered a jewel cut to resemble his lover’s lips. Its unique shape, resembling an oval, evokes romantic folklore.

It is a style that befits “the artistic, wanderlust-y person who beats to the tune of their own drum and wants to do something different and wants to stand out, but also regards the history of the classics”, said Ms Jade Trau, a fine jewellery designer whose namesake brand features marquise-cut pieces.

She described Gomez’s ring as “a very contemporary, modern-looking marquise cut” with a yellow-gold setting and a chunkier pave band with little diamonds on the band.

Ms Trau, who comes from a family of New York diamond manufacturers and has been working with the stone since the late 1990s, has been wearing her grandmother’s marquise ring for years.

When she began wearing it, the style was not as popular, she said. But lately, she has noticed that the look has become more of a trend.

“Now, it’s like the hot stone of the moment,” Ms Trau said. “On the one hand, it has this really contemporary feel to it. On the other hand, it looks like a leaf – it has this very organic, natural feel to it.”

Reported estimates of the potential cost of Gomez’s engagement ring have ranged from about US$200,000 (S$270,000) to US$1 million. Based on the apparent size of the marquise diamond and the diamonds on the band, Ms Trau estimated the total weight to be a little over four carats, which she said would cost US$150,000 to US$200,000.

While the speculated price tag has become a point of interest, the larger story lies in the meaning and details of the ring. Whether Blanco, 36, selected it based on Gomez’s song, this ring stands apart as something distinctly personal and intentional.

“This is not a cookie-cutter ring,” said Ms Cathy Waterman, the California-based jeweller known for crafting pieces for celebrities, including Swift. “This is a ring that somebody thought about. The ring reflects how he feels about her.” NYTIMES