PA News
Mark
Zuckerberg is a man of principles, he married a woman of values. A man
designing his wife's wedding ring by himself demonstrates ultimate
devotion. Let the ones that believe in $15,000,000,000 rings go do that
for their future wives. Mark did the most important thing, he gave his
entire self - labor of love.
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Zuckerberg Wife Priscilla Chan's Ruby Ring May Be Valuable After AllBy Joanna Douglas, Senior Fashion and Beauty Editor | Fashion
Priscilla Chan showed off her new ruby ring at lunch with a friend.
Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 28, is getting a lot of
flack for being cheap with his new bride. He married Priscilla Chan, 27,
in a surprise ceremony in their backyard last Saturday and Chan wore an
off-the-rack dress by Claire Pettibon. No fancy venue or Vera Wang gown
for this bride! Experts consulted by the UK paper The Daily Mail are
claiming Zuckerberg was too frugal and thoughtless because of the "very
simple" ruby ring he gave Chan (the AP reported that he designed it
himself). However, an expert consulted by Yahoo! Shine points out that
rubies are extremely significant and popular in Asian culture, and can
potentially be more expensive than diamonds.
Celebrity rings and their knock-offs
Thanks to Facebook going public, Zuckerberg is now worth over $20
billion (at least, he was before stock price started to fall), and
though he's partial to wearing casual hoodies, he may still have bought
his long-term girlfriend a nice ring. Chan was spotted showing off her
new bling at lunch with a friend in Palo Alto, California on Wednesday,
and while the jewelry designer and price of the ring remain undisclosed,
a ruby expert told Yahoo! Shine exclusively that the ring could have
cost over $100,000.
Facebook's Zuckerberg caps IPO week with wedding
"It's a small stone, but rubies can be extremely expensive," says
Michael Arnstein, CEO of the Natural Sapphire Company. He estimates the
size of Chan's ruby to be 2.75 to 3 carats. Rubies of that size cost
from $20,000 for a low quality stone, to up to $100,000 for a higher
quality one. "The value depends on the quality of the ruby, and it's
hard to tell for sure from the photo," Arnstein says. "A Burmese ruby,
which this definitely looks like, can cost upwards of $100,000." The two
diamonds flanking the ruby look to be around 1 carat combined, and
could tack an extra $5,000 on to the price tag.
As for
Zuckerberg's choice of a ruby, Arnstein is not surprised. "Red has more
meaning and emotion in Asia," he says, and Zuckerberg's Chinese-American
bride may have requested a ruby ring because it "identifies where she
comes from culturally." Rubies are a symbol of wisdom--what better for
the new medical school graduate? And, the jewelry expert points out that
Zuckerberg and Chan are conservative, and the engagement ring isn't too
flashy but rather something she'd feel comfortable wearing every day.
Arnstein also says the setting appears to be yellow gold, which is also
more traditional in Asian culture. "Zuckerberg loves her and would have
bought her anything she wanted, but this is probably what her
grandmother had."
Arnstein says untreated rubies can be the
most expensive stones of all. On May 15, a 32-carat ruby and diamond
ring sold for a record $6.6 million at Christie's.
Rubies,
however, come with many tricky issues. Zaven "Zee" Ghanimian G.G.,
designer for Simon G Jewelry, tells Yahoo! Shine that there are many
fakes on the market. "Synthetic rubies have been produced from a very
long time and can be difficult to spot. It usually takes a trained
professional, gemologist or a gem lab." Ghanimian says currently the
good rubies in this country come from Africa, "but the quality is not
like a Burmese Ruby."
An estimated 90 percent of the world's
rubies originate in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and are known in the trade
as "blood rubies." They've been embargoed in the U.S. since 2008.
Arnstein points out that if Chan's ring is a Burmese ruby, the stone
would have to have been in the country before the embargo. "I'm willing
to bet dollars to donuts that this is a Burmese ruby and it's from a
small jeweler and [the jeweler] broke the law," says Arnstein.
"[Zuckerberg] potentially didn't know, but this is probably a smuggled
stone. He'd need proper documentation which I'm pretty darn sure he's
not going to have." Arnstein says Zuckerberg would have to obtain the
ruby though an auction house, vintage store, or jeweler carrying gems
from before the embargo.
We've reached out to Zuckerberg for more info on the ruby ring, but have received no comment at press time.
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