This Reality Star’s Massive Diamond Engagement Ring Just Solidified a Current Jewelry Trend

New York—One of television’s most famous “Real Housewives” alumna is set to become a wife for real, and has a dazzling engagement ring to show for it.

Last week, media outlets reported that Bethenny Frankel, a businesswoman and founder and CEO of lifestyle brand Skinnygirl, who starred on “The Real Housewives of New York City” as recently as 2019, was engaged to film producer and real estate developer boyfriend Paul Bernon.

In the same breath, reports confirmed Frankel was divorced from ex-husband Jason Hoppy, whom she had been battling in court over custody of their daughter and finances since 2012, despite only being married for two years.

The engagement news came after photographs emerged of the businesswoman on the beach in Florida sporting a diamond that seemed to be proportionate in size to her divorce drama.

The massive emerald-cut diamond solidified two current bridal jewelry trends: a fervor for elongated cuts and emerald-cuts in particular, and a surge in interest in three-stone styles.

A classic three-stone style has risen in popularity in recent years as some noteworthy celebrities have adopted the style.

Most famously is Meghan Markle. Prince Harry proposed to the now Duchess of Sussex with a ring he said he designed himself, featuring a center stone sourced from Botswana and two side stones from his mother Princess Diana’s collection.

In 2020, Demi Lovato marked her short-lived engagement with an emerald-cut, three-stone diamond engagement ring, similar to Frankel’s.

Emerald-cut diamonds in particular are having a moment, with bridal experts like Stephanie Gottlieb and Greenwich St. Jewelers’ Christina Gandia Gambale saying that today’s bride wants an elongated diamond cut, and emerald-cuts are top among their choices. 

Frankel’s emerald-cut diamond is estimated to weigh between 8 and 10 carats and cost upwards of $750,000, according to Brilliant Earth, or even weigh as much as 20 to 25 carats, priced in the range of $2.7 million to $3.4 million, according to brand Taylor & Hart.

Hopefully, they signal the entrepreneur’s happy ending.