Did you know that Neil Lane engagement rings are high couture? Nowadays, Neil Lane engagement rings are one of the most popular and expensive type of ring, let’s find out why…
Neil Lane started his jewelry design career in the 70s in Paris. While spending 2 years in Paris and studing painting at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, he hunted for vintage jewelry in Parisian flea markets. When he returned back in America, it didn’t take him a lond time to make his jewelry popular. His engagement rings were shown off by the stars such as Renee Zellweger,Barbara Streisand,Brook Shields,Madonna. This was the top of Neil Lane’s success.
His jewelry became popular and Madonna even called him the most innovative jewelry designers in the world.
As you might imagine, Neil Lane jewelry does not cost cheap. At his Saks Fifth Avenue Location, prices range from $8,500 for a set of platinum and five-carat diamond hoops to $200,000 for a 25-carat diamond ring.
Today, Neil Lane is thought to be the most favorite jeweler by the Hollywood brides. Neil Lane Engagement Rings are very prominent and are rather popular among the celebrities. Neil supplied rings to several Hollywood beauties including Reese Witherspoon , Sandra Bullock,Kate Hudson, Brooke Shields and Jennifer Hudson.
Neil Lane Engagement Rings
Blake Julian of the Bachelor Pad surprised Holly Durst with a Neil Lane engagement ring; Nicole Richie wore a round, 4-carat diamond Neil Lane engagement rings. Chris Robinson gave Kate Hudson a 5-carat, art deco styled Neil Lane engagement rings. Sandra Bullock’s Neil Lane engagement rings came from the jeweler’s 1910 private Tiffany collection and he designed her wedding band as well. Kate Hudson showed off a 4-carat, Assher cut Neil Lane engagement rings. Ellen DeGeneres chose a Neil Lane engagement rings when she proposed to Portia de Rossi. Madonna sported a 5-carat, Edwardian style Neil Lane engagement rings (she has even cited Neil Lane as the most innovative jewelry stylist in the world)/ Tori Spelling, Brooke Shields, Jennifer Hudson, the list of celebrities who have worn Neil Lane engagement rings just goes on and on. Even Sir Paul McCartney chose this jewelry designer to design the engagement and wedding rings for his marriage to Nancy Shevell just this month.
Neil Lane designs and creates not only engagement rings but bangles, bracelets, earrings, and other rings as well. As a matter of fact, all his other creations share the same popularity as his engagement rings. Celebrities like Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher, Renee Zellweger, Rihanna, Drew Barrymore, Kate Winslett, and Sandra Bullock are just some of the stars who have worn the Neil Lane collection to the Oscar’s, the Emmy’s, the Music Awards, and other red-carpet events. De Beers has even commissioned this man to create the Neil Lane signature collection for its Beverly Hills store opening later this year.
This is surely enough to pick anyone’s curiosity why Neil Lane has become the most “worn” jeweler, so to speak. Who is this man and why are his rings just so in-demand? In fact, Neil Lane has now earned the title of the “King of Bling” for being the top jewelry designer of Hollywood.
Neil Lane is the son of Russian immigrants and was born in Brooklyn. Perhaps it is his Russian background that explains his partiality to Old World craftsmanship. But perhaps it is also his childhood in Brooklyn, and his further education in Paris during the 1970s (he took up painting at Le Ecole des Beaux Arts, the same school where great artists like Delacroix and Renoir also studied painting) which resulted in an eclectic style that can successfully fuse Renaissance and Modernism. He was primarily an artist and he had thought he would be painting his whole life, but his enchantment with colors accidentally led him to the world of designing jewelry.
Neil Lane himself explains that the reason his creations are successful is not because his jewelry defines the wearer but because it is the wearer’s personality and self-confidence that gives life to his pieces. He personally and meticulously handcrafts each piece of jewelry, expertly combining the wearer’s personality, body type, and age with the kind of jewelry piece that would naturally all work together to bring out the best in the wearer. Yet he also collects antique and estate jewels from flea markets and auctions around the world, as well as historical and period pieces from famous jewelry houses like Tiffany & Co., Cartier, and Van Cleef. And he has been successfully doing all these professionally since 1989, when he established the Neil Lane Jewelry.
For the Neil Lane engagement rings and bridal collection, the diamond pieces are typically set in platinum. This is so because platinum, the rarest precious metal, is pliable but durable, naturally white, and provides the most secure setting for diamonds. The Neil Lane sets of earrings, bangles, initials, beads, brooches, necklace, and chains are set either in platinum and 18-carat white and yellow gold, or in 14-carat white gold. He makes use of white diamond, natural pink diamond, black diamond, aquamarine diamond, pink gold, onyx, coral, and multi-colored diamond. Diamonds offered in his collection range in weight from 4 carats to a whopping 25 carats.
As an ode to this man’s creativity and style, Neil Lane recently received the GEM Award for Jewelry Style early this year. GEM Award is the most prestigious award for excellence in raising the status and visibility of fine jewelry, and is given annually by the Jewelry Information Center (JIC). The JIC is an unbiased education arm of the Jewelers of America that aims to impart to the consumers information on fine jewelry.
For those who think that Neil Lane pieces are just for the stars, they will be very happy to know that they can now own their very own Neil Lane engagement and wedding ring from the affordable Neil Lane Bridal line. This line was launched in the middle of last year and is sold in Kay Jewelers stores nationwide. There is a total of 36 rings and are grouped into four collections. Energy collection represents the love and eternal energy found in the ring and in the marriage. The Timeless collection to represent the Old World craftsmanship fused with Neil Lane’s original design, the Essence collection to represent the intricacies of the designs that have been imbued with passion and beauty, and the Harmony collection to represent the perfect setting for the diamond, as well as the perfect house for the couple.
The Bridal line is inspired by period influences and each of the 36 rings were designed by Neil Lane with diamonds he had personally selected, and were assembled and finished by skilled craftsmen. Each ring is a reflection of the same Hollywood romance and glamour but for so much less the price. The engagement rings are usually framed on a 14-carat, white gold band, a total diamond weight ranging from ¾ carat to 2 1/3 carats, cuts ranging from round, pear-shaped, cushion cut, princess cut, and oval cut, with additional bead setting and prong setting at the side. The 8 styles of wedding and anniversary bands are also framed on 14-carat, white gold band with round diamond lining the band ranging in weight from ½ carat to 2 carats. They have diamond side stone cuts ranging from 11 rounds to 124 rounds.
It is believed that engagement and wedding rings signify a promise of true love. Hence, they are worn on the fourth finger of the left hand as it is in this finger where the bloodline leading directly to the heart is believed to be found. These days, no other symbol of that promise of true love can be best embodied and expressed than with a Neil Lane engagement ring and wedding band because true love deserves no less.