Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are once again engaged! The “Dear Ben” singer confirmed the happy news on April 8th as she gave fans a look at her stunning green 8.5 carat engagement ring via her OnTheJLo newsletter. The ring has been estimated be worth over $5 million USD, and is a cushion modified brilliant cut diamond, per Ilan Portugali of Beverly Hills Diamonds, who sourced the rare gem.
Ilan also shared some words for Ben and J.Lo via his Instagram. “Congratulations Ben & @jlo on your engagement. It was my honor to be part of this exciting journey, on a quest to source such an exceptional natural gem for your spectacular engagement ring,” he wrote.
A 8.5 carat Natural Green cushion modified Brilliant cut diamond.
Among fancy-color diamonds, natural-color green stones with
saturated hues are some of the rarest and most sought after.— bennifer tea (@jloaffleck) April 9, 2022
“Among fancy-color diamonds, natural-color green stones with saturated hues are some of the rarest and most sought after. Green color synchronizes Nature & tranquility and represent life, health and associates with luck & prosperity,” he wrote, sharing a drawing of the ring.
This isn’t the first time Jennifer, 52, has sported a colored engagement ring: Ben iconically presented her with a pink one in 2002, and Marc Anthony proposed with a blue one — but green is, in fact, the rarest of them all (and also Jennifer’s favorite color).
The main reason green diamonds are so rare is because the diamond has to be exposed to uranium in order to get that unique shade: “[The stone] has to be irradiated by beta or gamma waves for long enough to turn the stone green for long enough to turn the stone green — the color is from irradiation and it’s incredibly rare,” says geologist and luxury jewelers salesperson Amanda Smith. This is in addition to the diamond growing large in size, while also still hitting criteria of being a gem quality diamond without any visible flaws, she adds.
“First of all this diamond is incredibly rare and incredibly stunning,” says George Khalife of George the Jeweler to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “It is fancy light green, making it very valuable. The darker the green the more rare and expensive. I estimate the cost to be well over 5 million dollars,” he adds.
The color green is significant to Jennifer, who has worn the shade on many occasions — including back in 2000 at the GRAMMYs with that jungle print Versace dress. “I always say the color green is my lucky color. Maybe you remember a certain green dress,” she wrote a month ago in her OnTheJLo newsletter. “I’ve realized there are many moments in my life where amazing things happened when I was wearing green,” she explained. It seems like Ben was paying attention.
The ring was also estimated to be worth about $5 million by Platinum Guild International USA Jenny Luker. “Jennifer’s ring appears to feature a natural green diamond… set with side white diamonds on a platinum band,” she said in a release. “Since the setting is platinum, she can pass along her engagement ring to her children, as platinum maintains its color and shape!” she added, noting once again that green diamonds are “very rare.”