A few weeks ago, I started this Disney Princess engagement ring series with my picks for engagement rings worthy of fictional Disney Princesses Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Mulan, and Aurora. It was too fun to stop with just five, so I kept right on going.
Here is Part II, with my picks for Belle, Snow White, Esmerelda, Tiana, and Rapunzel.
(Image via Belle’s Bookshelf.)
Belle is my favorite Disney Princess; no other lady holds a candle to her. Not only is she a sassy and fabulous representative of Team Brunette, she loves books! And she’s a documented re-reader, much like yours truly. (“I’ll borrow…that one!” “But you’ve read it twice!”) Belle doesn’t really need a ring, since her Prince already gave her the best gift that anyone could hope for, but I wanted to find her one anyway.(Image via Belle’s Bookshelf.)
My pick for Belle is this 4.33 carat yellow diamond ring by Cartier. Classic and elegant, just like Belle herself. The center stone is a rectangular brilliant cut natural fancy intense yellow diamond, flanked on either side by white diamonds. Yellow diamonds aren’t usually my first choice, but this one is glorious and no one can deny that yellow is Belle’s color.
Once she’s married, I imagine Belle will wear just her wedding band most of the time and save her engagement ring for special occasions. She strikes me as sort of a hands-on Princess, and who can re-organize her library with a huge rock on her finger?
The De Beers Adonis rose band in platinum gives me the rose tie-in I wanted for Belle without making library maintenance impossible. It’ll look wonderful with her engagement ring or on its own, and it’s a reference to the rose as an important symbol of her story without being overly on-the-nose. The plentiful tiny diamonds will give this band sparkle worthy of a Princess.
(Image via Fanpop.)Sure, Esmerelda’s not technically a Princess – but she’s a fabulous, feisty heroine and she deserves a ring too. I don’t actually remember her movie very well, but I know she dances like a diva and stands up for herself and her friends. She also definitely loves gold – even her goat has a gold earring.
My pick for Esemerelda is the Erica Courtney “Ellen” ring. It’s bold and feminine, just like Esmerelda. Bonus: the design on the side actually forms a cursive “E.” The one pictured here is in rose gold, but I think Esmerelda would probably prefer high-karat yellow gold to match the rest of her jewelry.
(Image via Kniggit.)Good old Snow White. I don’t have strong feelings about Snow White, although I do enjoy her affinity for woodland creatures and I think she played herself better than Kristen Stewart did.
My pick for Snow White is Art Deco Cartier, so it’s very Princess-worthy. Aren’t the colors amazing? It features a 5.50 carat a European-cut fancy intense yellow diamond flanked on either side by shield-cut sapphires weighing a total of 1.20 carats.
I think the connection here is pretty obvious: the yellow diamond with blue sapphires is a perfect match for Snow White’s favorite (or only) outfit. A Disney Princess engagement ring must be an appropriate color!
Tiana came too late for me to admire her in my personal golden age of Princesses (before age 20) but I’m still fond of her. Her movie has fabulous music and her domain includes beignets; what’s not to love?
I chose Van Cleef & Arpels’ Arbre aux Songes ring for Tiana. It features a glorious, majestically-hued tourmaline in a setting embellished diamond-studded leaves. I think the bayou-esque color scheme and foliate setting would be a lovely reference to how she and her prince met and fell in love.
(Image via Disney.)
If you missed Part I of my Disney Princess engagement ring series, you can click here to catch up. What do you think of this round of picks? Did I miss anyone you were hoping to see?
All images and info in this post are thanks to the original source for each item – please see individual Disney Princess engagement ring descriptions for source links.
Belle Epoque diamond and ruby plaque-de-cou.
I’ve got some May flowers for you right here!
This is a ruby and diamond plaque-de-cou from 1905. A plaque-de-cou was a variation of the “collier de chien” that was popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. If you took as much high school French as I did, you might be sitting there scratching your head and thinking, “seriously? They put these on DOGS?”
Sadly for the dogs, they didn’t. Collier de chien (or “dog collar”) was just what choker-style necklaces were called. A plaque-de-cou is a collier de chien featuring a large rectangular or square plaque suspended on a ribbon or strands of pearls. (Source.)
This one is particularly ornate. The center of the design is an elaborate openwork basket full of flowers, suspended from the diamond-studded bow at the top of the plaque. The basket is also set with rose diamonds and accented with calibré-cut rubies.
The basket full of flowers is within a frame of ribbon, bow and floral swag design similarly set with rose-cut diamonds. A pear-shaped diamond drop dangles from the bottom of the plaque. The plaque is suspended on a wide moiré silk ribbon.
This lovely piece was listed in Sotheby’s December 2012 Fine Jewels auction. All images and info are thanks to Sotheby’s.
A celebration of tiaras.
Today is my little sister’s birthday. Happy birthday, sister!
I asked her what jewelry she wanted to oogle on her day and she requested tiaras. Tiaras she shall have!
This is also my 300th post (!!!), which makes it extra special.
This classic diamond and pearl tiara screams fairy tale princess – or, rather, it calmly but firmly announces fairy tale princess. This tiara would never scream. Made in 1900, it’s designed as a series of graduated open work garlands of floral and foliate motifs, featuring seven natural saltwater pearls. The floral and foliate elements are millegrain-set with rose, cushion-shaped and circular-cut diamonds. The tiara is accompanied by three screwdrivers, a uniform line of collet-set circular-cut diamonds with screw fittings length, and a pendant fitting. These may be used to transform it into a diadem, a smaller tiara or a pendant on a fine chain.
This emerald and diamond tiara would look incredible tucked into a crown of dark hair – can you imagine how the emeralds would pop? This beautiful piece is designed in graduated scrolls highlighted with three sprays set with cabochon emerald drops and with rose, French-, single- and circular-cut diamonds. The emeralds detach and can be worn as earrings and a brooch, so really it’s a 4-in-1.
This delicate gold beauty is the oldest of the tiaras in this post; it dates back to the early 19th century. It’s comprised of a chased gold frame supporting a row of pinched collet-set table-cut and rose diamonds, to a surmount with floral and foliate gold work, capped with similarly cut stones. I think it’s perfectly lovely.
This delicate tiara is ideal for when you don’t want your head wear to steal all the focus – although it’s so pretty that it might steal thunder anyway. It’s designed as a series of scroll and stylized foliate motifs, set at intervals with pearls of various sizes, circular-cut and rose diamonds. It may also be worn as a necklace.
This tiara is almost too detailed to photograph well. It dates to the early 1900s is designed as a series of thirteen graduated stylized ribbon and scroll elements. The ribbons and scrolls are set with circular-, single-cut, cushion-shaped and oval diamonds and each highlighted in the center with an oval sapphire.
This Edwardian beauty was made in 1910 and features a gently scrolling design with foliate elements. It features 6.50 carats of old European-cut, single-cut and rose-cut diamonds, accentuated by 3.25 carats of colored old European-cut and old mine colored diamonds, mounted in gold and platinum.
What do you think of these tiaras? Which would you pick?
All images and info in this post are thanks to Sotheby’s. Please see the links in the individual descriptions above for original listings of the tiaras.
