Kobe and Vanessa Bryant 8 carat Purple Diamond Ring

Kobe Bryant - One of the world's greatest athletes - May He Rest In Peace

Unlike white colorless diamonds, fancy colored diamonds also make a fashion statement and thus are favored by celebrities and athletes.

On that note, purple diamond rings have made the news on several occasions but the most well known is the story of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant. Actually, this story has made the news twice!

For those of you who don’t know, Kobe Bryant was one of the NBA’s leading basketball players and three times NBA championship winner. On November 1999 Kobe and Vanessa met and on April of 2001 the two have tied the knot.

On July 2003 Kobe was officially charged with rape and about two weeks later, he presented his wife Vanessa with a rare 8 carat purple diamond ring that was reported to be valued at approximately 4 Million Dollars!

It's in situations such as this one, that a celebrity or a famous athlete presents his (or her) loved one with a rare diamond that the search for the gem skyrockets. And if people didn't know about purple diamonds - now they know that natural purple diamonds are real and EVERYBODY wants one.

In a similar event Jennifer Lopez had been proposed by Ben Affleck with a pink diamond engagement ring and suddenly the demand for pink diamonds. It appears that the same happened with this purple diamond ring.

The years have passed, kids were born, rumors about separation have come and gone but on December 2011 it became official. Vanessa Bryant had petitioned for divorce in Orange County. Weirdly enough, even though this time the subject at hand was not a happy one, the discussions around Vanessa’s 8 carat purple diamond ring once more what the public’s attention was focused on. And so was the demand for purple diamonds.

As we know for now, it seems that Vanessa will get to keep her ring – some memories are worth preserving.

Interesting Fact
Since purple diamonds are not found in such sizes, there assessments that the diamond color is not in fact purple, but rather a pink diamond with a purplish tone. In other words, a purplish pink diamond.

In case you really like this ring, and want a similar one there are couple of options.

The first, obvious yet expensive, is to find a purple diamond and ask for a similar style setting. Such a ring, with a real natural purple diamond, even one that is under 1 carat would easily cost you anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000. Depending on the size and quality of the diamond.

The second option is to use other purple gems. Most popular and commonly known is February’s birthstone, the Amethyst. Using Amethyst you can craft a nice size ring anywhere from $500-$5,000.