History and power of a ring: the one with a 10.47-carat diamond that belonged to Grace Kelly, the American actress who became Princess of Monaco, after her engagement with the Prince of Monaco, Rainier (whose full name in French is Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand). In 1956, to move the heart of the ethereal Hollywood star, who was at the top of her career at the time, the prince moved heaven and earth to find a precious stone that could impress her. The prince, in fact, had already given Grace a Cartier eternity-style ring with ruby diamonds. Nice, but maybe not great.
The result of the research was the diamond mounted on platinum, with an emerald cut, on the ring, which once accepted became the sign of the engagement. Next to the main stone it has two other smaller baguette-cut diamonds. It is a special stone, because only diamonds perfectly free of impurities can be cut into an emerald: a shape with only 49-50 facets allows any inclusions or impurities to be seen more easily. In comparison, the brilliant cut, which has 58 facets, hides any flaws better.
It was 1956 when Prince Rainier III proposed his third meeting with Grace and, with the help of Cartier, conquered the actress. In fact, Grace Kelly must have liked the ring a lot, so much so that she decided to wear it on the set of her last film, High Society, before becoming Princess of Monaco. You can see it in these images, where she acts together with Frank Sinatra.
