The late Princess of Wales, Diana, would have been 60 years old this year. However, at the age of 36, on August 31, 1997, she died in the fatal car accident in Paris, France.Â
It's been 24 years since she passed away but her memory lives on. The light she brought to every room she entered during her lifetime continues to shine in the world so desperate with warmth and kindness.
Her iconic sapphire engagement ring
As years dragged on, she became the icon of compassion, glamour and humanity and most of the people who loved her continue to celebrate her legacy.
However, among the pieces of history associated to her, nothing as symbolic as her sapphire engagement ring, because it symbolizes both her happiness and sadness in her married life.
It has been said that Diana, who was known as Lady Diana Spencer then, personaly picked up the jewelry from Garrard, the royal jeweler, after Prince Charles proposed.
The Prince of Wales apologized on the night he proposed to Lady Diana for having no engagement ring in his pocket when he popped the question.
The next day, Garrard arrived at Buckingham palace with a box full of rings for Diana to choose. She reportedly picked the largest one, the stunning 12-carat oval-shaped Ceylon sapphire engagement ring sets in an 18-carat white gold band surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds. At the time of their engagement, this piece was reportedly valued at US$60,000.00, today, Diana's engagement ring is valued at US$400,000.00.
She redesigned the sapphire ring
However, the Princess of Wales redesigned the jewelry two years after the wedding.Â
It was unclear as to why she had to redesign her engagement ring, many speculated the purpose was to secure the position of the stone in the band.
The blue stone, initially, had only eight prongs, two in each corner. After the makeover, another six prongs were added. The ring looked daintier and more elegant after the make over.
The sapphire engagement ring had been one of Diana's favorite pieces of jewelry in her possession.Â
She wore it everyday in her life, even after her divorce from Prince Charles, perhaps because she was the one who chose the ring and not Prince Charles. So it was a bit personal.
It has been said that one reason why Diana chose the sapphire ring was because it reminded her of the engagement ring of her mother, The Honorable FrancesIt Burke-Roche, given by the Earl Spencer in 1954.
The sapphire engagement ring symbolizes Diana's storied adult life. From the excitement of a promising love to the sadness of her lonely marriage.
Queen Victoria's sapphire brooch
Princess Diana's precious engagement ring is a reminiscent to the huge oval sapphire brooch worn by Queen Victoria on her wedding day in February 1840.Â
It was given to her by her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, thus, the brooch has been known as Prince Albert's sapphire brooch.
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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were first cousins, wed in February 1840. The night before the wedding, Prince Albert presented his future wife with a large oval-shaped sapphire brooch set in gold and surrounded with 12 diamonds.
Queen Victoria wore it on their wedding day and regularly used it as her attire ornament since then.Â
Prince Albert was huge fan of sapphire and diamonds. After their wedding, he presented the Queen with another sapphire brooch, this time a smaller size. Queen Victoria left it to her daughter, Princess Helena.
Kate redesigned it further
The ring had another make over in 2010 when Prince William presented it to Kate Middleton when he proposed. It was resized to fit on her finger because it was too big for her.
They turned to jeweler, G. Collins and Sons to do the job.
To resize the ring, the jeweler added small platinum beads inside the band to reduce its diameter without breaking the band itself.
From its original price at £28,000.00 it is now valued at £300,000.00
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