If you’re wondering why Lady Gaga seems a little bit extra this week, it’s because she’s going to be performing at the Oscars on Sunday. She’s doing some advanced promotion, I guess. And just my opinion: I think Gaga is in the midst of a rebranding. She’s done the crazy Mother Monster. She’s done the coked-out diva mess. She’s worn the faux cheekbones and she got all the mileage she could get out of her weight fluctuations. Her current incarnation is more old-school diva. It’s all about gowns, cleavage, Tony Bennett and diamonds.
Speaking of diamonds, we’re still talking about Gaga’s heart-shaped diamond engagement ring, given to her by her boyfriend of four years, Taylor Kinney. Some of you had questions about how Kinney could afford such a big diamond on his network-ensemble salary. Well, Us Weekly says that Gaga and Taylor went to Lorraine Schwartz together and Gaga had some input for what she wanted.
The creator of Gaga’s mega-sized heart-shaped diamond has been revealed. Lorraine Schwartz, the mastermind behind Kim Kardashian’s whopping 15-carat sparkler and Blake Lively’s massive oval diamond engagement ring, designed the Cheek to Cheek singer’s enormous heart-shaped rock.
Gaga and Kinney initially met with the celeb-loved jeweler in mid-January to shop around for rings. “Taylor has bought the engagement ring, he paid for it, and Lorraine Schwartz designed it,” a source told Us Weekly. “[Gaga] has been a major part of this whole process.”
The show-stopping quality doesn’t just stop with the sparkler. “The band is shaped with a T and S for their initials,” the source revealed.
Do you think the source is telling the truth about Kinney paying for it all by himself? I was also reading this article at Yahoo, which included an interview with a Sacramento jeweler who claimed that heart-shaped diamonds that size – it’s 15 carats!! – are very rare in the diamond market. The jeweler says “there are under 20 heart shaped diamonds between nine and 12 carats. That makes hers even more valuable.” The jeweler suggests that just the heart-shaped stone is probably worth $500,000. Whoa. Yeah, I don’t think Kinney paid for this all by himself. Maybe that was his intention, but when Gaga started telling Schwartz what she wanted, it got complicated.
As for the whole issue about a woman helping pick out her engagement ring – as I’ve always said, it’s an issue of practicality and I don’t hold it against men or women if the dude wants help in picking out the ring. In a perfect world, he would have excellent taste and he would know what would suit you perfectly. In the real world, the engagement ring is an important piece of jewelry and I don’t blame some women for wanting a say in what their ring looks like.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Instagram.
That’s a hell of a ring! There’s no way he could afford that, yes she helped with the cost.
idk! He may have been able to because 1. Schwartz probably gave them a deal for the publicity and 2. My guess is be doesnt pay for anything while he lives with Gaga. He can save up all his money from the show for something like this.
I agree. My jeweler has told me all of the celebrity ring claims are mostly lies. Not that I needed him to tell me that.
500K is nothing, if he is earning a good salary, I am pretty sure he’s not on peanuts. He’s been acting regularly…it may seem like a large amount to someone on 5K a month or some shit, but he’s defo on more, he has no kids, no commitments…he probably saves.
He is so gorgeous. I seriously wonder if he’s all there, being with Gaga for four years.
But, I told my husband what I wanted my engagement ring to look like. It was pillow talk that I guess stuck because a year later it was exactly what I had told him. Some men just rather get it right with help as opposed to doing what they think is nice and then getting shot down. I’ve seen it happen over an ugly ring.
I did too! I told him what I wanted (no prongs! white gold, etc) and he went out and found a wonderful ring that suits me beautifully. I love that he picked it out on his own and it was a surprise but since he got my input beforehand it was exactly what I wanted.
I told mine what I liked too. We were walking through the jewelry store much later and he’s like “I bet I know what you like” and pointed out the ring I’m now wearing. Nothing fancy. Yellow gold band, solitaire diamond. I love it. I’d have lived a piece of string from him though, so the bar really wasn’t super high.
My husband proposed with a solitare to surprise me. Afterwards he said I could keep the ring or we could go design one together with the help of a jewelry designer friend. It was such a fun experience creating it together and she ended up designing our wedding rings too.
I helped pick out my engagement ring, and I’m glad I did as my husband was eyeing something that would have looked to large on my small finger/hand.
I wonder what Gaga is like behind the scenes, is she ever ‘off’??
Not a typical engagement ring fan, much rather have a beautifully designed band, like the Paloma Picasso olive leaf ring.
Also, did Gaga’s CD with Tony sell big?
I think their cd was number 1 the week it debuted, but I am not familiar enough with similar types of cds to know how it compared.
I picked mine out. Solid sterling silver, nice and thick with a design by a Maori artist here in New Zealand. I love it, I wear it every day and it cost under $200 NZ. I didn’t want an engagement ring nor did I want a diamond or anything expensive. What I got was a one of a kind, durable, handsome engraved band (accented with black) that looks more amazing the longer I wear it. March 1st is 7 years 🙂
I don’t care if she picked it out or bought it. It’s going on her finger hopefully for life. She has the money so I wouldn’t be surprised. My husband and I went to a store and looked at options I would like then he picked one of those options.
We upgraded my ring on our fifth anniversary and paid for it out of our joint bank account. It’s really not a big deal.
I picked out my own ring too, and bought it myself. I figure I’d rather have something I love and cherish, because I might not love and cherish him forever. 😉
I picked my ring too. He asked me for help- wouldn’t have a clue what to get me! We went and looked at rings and then a year later he proposed. I would have been really upset to wear a ring I hated for the rest of my life and he didn’t want to buy something I wasn’t mad about.
My husband picked out my ring, and luckily I loved it. If he had asked my preference, though, I would have rather gone with him. It’s too risky. What if I had hated it? I would never have had the heart to say so.
OH GNAT… welcome to my world. I adore my husband and his proposal was perfect, except for the ring.
The crushing feeling of having the man you love propose and open a box and seeing a ring that is just not you, while a bit shallow, was tough. Of course I said yes, wholeheartedly to the man if not the ring, and have never said anything directly about it in the 9 yrs since.
Unfortunately he had his mom help him pick it out, with no input from me, my mom or any of my friends. I rarely wear it now as it is totally not my taste and it sits so high that I forever snag it on clothing. Rather, I wear a simple gold wedding band on my ring finger and on my right hand the fabulous ring that I picked and he bought me for our 5th anniversary, it isn’t worth nearly as much but it is the ring I love.
Lol mimif–my dad bought me a ring for my birthday last year. THANKFULLY, he sent me a bunch of links to see which one I liked…..and all the links he showed me were of rings that I HATED. And they all had the same aesthetic. So I went to the website and picked out a bunch I liked, lol. And he actually thought he was doing good with what he picked out–they were giant clunky UGLY rings. Stuff my sister would like. I like small stuff.
I find a lot of Lorraine Schwartz designs big and ugly, but I guess the bigger the ring, the wealthier you look.
I’m sure she’s not the first in the world who ever did. Pretty ring, but too big for me
That picture from Taylor’s Instagram is nice, she looks really pretty and he looks so happy. As for the ring, call me a sap (you wouldn’t be wrong) but I would rather it be a surprise personally. If I were in love with the man and excited about marrying him then I am sure whatever ring he picked out for me would be gorgeous in my eyes regardless.
Lorraine probably cut him a break because of the publicity, too. There was probably a deal worked out for instagramming and all of that. Gaga even showed off the initials — a serve Lorraine can also provide! See?
Yup. That’s what Ted Casablanca said happens in these cases.
It is not as if this was some $3500. engagement ring. So what if she put up cash for it. I am so tired of men getting mocked for being cheap… when they marry women who have better income than they do.
Plus a girl should have 100% input into the ring, if she is going to (allegedly) wear for the rest of her life. Just like men need to have the same input into their wedding ring.
The fantasy of being surprised with a diamond ring… will end with a girl being presented with an ugly ass ring. Go pick it out.
And if you want some truly expensive ring… be prepare to pay for half of it. That way when you divorce him in 3 years… the judge will reward you with the ring. 🙂
There needs to be more effort into being realistic about marriage. And being financially responsible for your future together.
Than having some need to have a fantasy about a ring, come true. Be smart. Be involved.
Amen to all of this. My husband and I went and looked at rings together before we got engaged and I had two or three picked out that I would have been happy with. We had a firm budget that we were both well aware of and, 10 years later, I still feel so great about the ring that he picked. Being involved in picking my ring was the best thing we did. The actual proposal was all him and it was plenty sweet and surprising. We talked about “upgrading” to something fancier some day but I don’t see that happening. If we were going to spend a couple thousand dollars on anything, I’d rather have a nice vacation together than a bigger diamond that I will leave in a dish by the bathroom sink half the time.
Thank you.
Amen!
My engagment ring is made from the wire on the vine bottle we had on our stiudent trip in Munich. I still have it today. He made it for me that night, and his hands were all scratched from the work. I love it more than if it was from the biggest diamond in the world-he made it from scratch, right then and there, because he realised he wants to spend his life with me. 8 years later (2 in marriage) and here we are!
Engagement ring fantasy and everything is fine by me, but it seems to me that people focus on the wedding day, the dress, the ring, the guests, the menu, the “bigger, better”…it’s just one day, people. Marriage is (should be, hopefully?) for life. Who cares about silly ring or silly main meal?
That’s really rad.
I’ve always envisioned a engagement being like that-it just seems so much more romantic and meaningful to me than some expensive ring. Then again, I hate diamonds and don’t really give a sh*t about jewelry so maybe I’m not the one to have an opinion about this.
Aww! I love that- so cool. THAT is an ideal ring- unique & meaningful!
@Kitten
I LOVE diamonds. Pearls. Emeralds. UNF! Except I don’t care if a dude buys them for me, I want to have enough money so I can buy them for myself whenever I want.
And I have an aunt who is SO cheap. She’ll grumble and huff about paying more than 10 dollars for a pair of jeans, but she thinks NOTHING of dropping a thousand dollars on a pair of diamond earrings. And then she NEVER wears them. My mom was pissed. She wanted to borrow a pair of earrings from my aunt, and my aunt left all of her jewelry in storage.
Yes. This exactly. I actually proposed to my fiance with a luxury watch (which he loved), and later we designed my ring together. It gets compliments all the time, is exactly what I wanted and what we could afford. Everyone wins.
If I were thinking of proposing to Lady Gaga, I would be terrified to pick the ring! What is her style?? How would you ever know?? She probably knew exactly what she wanted and it would have been impossible for him to know. Also, she’s super rich…if she wants a rare, huge diamond, OF COURSE she chipped in and paid for it. It’s not like he’s some shmuck with no job.
I don’t care about the ring, but I caught her doing the Stevie Wonder show, and she is incredibly talented. I hope she stays away from the art poop and keeps up with the music.
That’s what I’ve always thought about Gaga. Every time I hear about one of her crazy performances, crazy outfits, twitternanigans (twitter+shenanigans) I remember the first time I heard her perform. On a stage in a “normal” outfit at a piano. That’s it. And she was wonderful.
ETA !:
Loving your punctuation!
@Kiddo, I agree with you. I was pretty neutral on her and often annoyed by her antics. I saw her on the Kennedy Center Honors performing If I Ever Lose My Faith in You, and it brought Sting to tears. It was an amazing performance, and she has a hell of a voice.
I also think she is quite pretty when not dressed up like an asshole. Why does she present her worst side to the world?
She has said numerous times that the wigs and make up and crazy outfits are her way of protecting her insecurities. Example, she thinks she has big teeth so she thinks if she wears a huge crazy Christmas tree hat no one will say “OMG look at her horse teeth.” and instead will say “OMG look at her crazy hat.”
What’s the fur all about? Is that a part of hiding her insecurities as well or is that just her way of showing the world that animals’ lives don’t matter?
Sorry, but I’ll always dislike her for that. Talent, hot fiancée, big-ass diamond, whatever…
I so agree with you. I once saw her perform on SNL in her sort of “early” days of fame, and it was just her and a piano. I really thought she was incredibly talented and had an amazing voice. I’ve since watched some youtube videos of her performing like that with just a piano, and she is amazing. It was a shame to see all that talent obscured by all the crazy antics and bizarre clothes. But underneath all that is a very talented musician.
A stone of that size, cut, and apparent quality would be ridiculously expensive, and from a jeweler like Schwartz (super high end) that ring had to be more like $750K. Either she gave them a break (which I can understand considering the wedding industry is ridiculously lucrative and we havent been he ass ring much from Schwartz) or Gaga paid. That said… so what? He’s got a job, she’s got a ton of money, and if this is what makes her happy then more power to her.
She looks gorgeous in the picture and he is gorgeous and I always appreciate her more when I don’t see her as often so good luck to them both!
who cares. Why do we have to embarrass female entertainers when they make more money then their partners and help with the cost of their engagement rings. Geez. So petty, so rude.
ITA. I feel like these kind of stories feed into the idea that there’s something wrong/unnatural about the woman earning more than the man in a relationship. Screw that sexist line of thinking.
also the other way round. that a man MUST make more or he wont be married.
I agree. I’m really tired of these stories. It’s a lovely ring and they both look happy. Who cares who paid for it? She’s the one wearing it anyway.
She looks really pretty in that top pic- I hope she sticks with this look so I can stop rolling my eyes every time I see her.
I don’t see anything wrong with picking out your own engagement ring. After all, you’re the one who has to wear it on your finger for the rest of your life. What if your partner has no taste and picks out something horribly ugly, or he/she gives you something they think you might like but is very impractical for you or your job? I think the best thing to do is take a sister or close friend, and show THEM what you really like or would want, and then when it comes time to pick out a ring for the proposal they can ask or take along the person you showed. That makes the most sense to me, and there’s still the element of surprise when they do give it to you, rather then going with your fiance to pick it out together.
The designers give huge discounts when their name will be splashed all over the place with the free publicity. Also, Nick Cannon took out a loan for Mariah’s engagement ring. I wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor did also. Taylor is a small town guy from PA. I don’t think he would let Gaga pay for the ring. Sure he will enjoy her wealth as long as the marriage lasts. But I will give him a pass and say the ring was all him with a hefty discount. Also, heart shape rings are the worst shape for diamonds, they waste so much of the diamond. Don’t do it people.
Not only the cut is such a waste but the shape is tacky as hell. I am sorry, I know they are in love but representing it even with a big a$$ heart shaped ring reminds me of those fake rings you get from the mall.
I just went browsing for engagement rings with my boyfriend, mainly because I had no idea what style I liked until I saw it on my finger. If a woman wants to have a say in her engagement ring, then more power to her
I love hearts and all but damn thats an ugly ring….
Why does it matter if she helped pay for it?
Actually it would be good if she did if he couldn’t afford it on his own. Sharing finances is critical in a successful marriage.
My husband paid for my ring, but we also just put down a big down payment for a house and my share was slightly bigger because he also saved for the ring. In the end we paid about the same and got the house and ring we wanted.
I’m sure he did get an idea of the type of ring she wanted as she has made it clear for a year they would be getting married. He added his own touch underneath it, the initials in diamonds. At a certain age, we all have specific ideas of the cut, etc., we want and make it clear. My sister made it very clear out when stopping in jewelry stores together exactly what ring she wanted, as did my friend, going in, as she hates the typical rings.
It’s when they propose that becomes the surprise, not knowing the exact date they will.
Of course he paid for the ring. He has a career. Like probably many of them, he probably put part on credit. He owns a place in California and a mountain home in Pennsylvania. Come on. The guy isn’t some lame guy, loser, and she would never do that. And he’s the proud type, not a fame ho, using her. He’s not going to let Gaga pay for part of the ring.
The woman just bought a mansion in California as an investment that they will probably live in some day since he lives in California when not shooting his series, and she in NY when not touring. He can swing for the ring.
My husband gave a beautiful and (for our standard) pretty large diamond, I really was surprised. He told me that he did not really gifted me of much in our 4 previous years together and he wanted to show me what I meant to him. I love what he told me. Then we went to change the band and I fell in love with a diamond crusted band, and I had offered to pay for it as I apprecisted him offering me a much bigger stone than the one I was expecting. But yes we also just bought a house and I am putting down more down payment than him but he will pay the mortgage as I am a contractor and I am not able to get one. Sharing finances helps in a marriage.
My thought is that he probably paid for the setting and she fronted the dough for the 15 carat rock that she wanted.
The ring is not to my taste at all, but it makes her happy. My husband asked me how he could find out what I liked. I told him to remember comments I had made about not liking gold jewelry and liking very classic, simple things. He ran with it and surprised me months later. It is so perfect I didn’t want a separate wedding band to mess it up. Fifteen years later I still love him and it very much!
She’s wearing my tuition fees, living expenses AND extra on her finger. Oh gee.
I’m not a big jewelry person – most of what I wear is beaded stuff made by my artist friends and family, and I would have said ‘yes’ to a rubber band lol 🙂 But I got a white gold solitaire, which is perfect for me – simple, not too big, not too small. I was especially touched that his oldest son helped him pick it out, they did a wonderful job. That being said, had I not liked it, I don’t think I would have had the heart to tell him. At the end of the day, all I want is to marry the man I love, a ring is just a thing (hey, that rhymed!)
are those rings still a thing? diamonds are so unethical. not to talk about the sexist way of thnking that a man must show his financial status and the woman must be happy about materialistic stuff.
the tradition of those rings comes from the companies selling them, just like Valentines Day was invented and is not a “real” tradition.
also the rings lose most of their value the moment you leave the store. its one of the dumbest investments you can make.
i am also sure if this was something that was expected of women to do it would be seen as horribly sexist.
Hey Maria, I’m a pragmatist, like you. The whole idea of diamond engagement/wedding rings are all propaganda, fed to us by the cartel that controlled the diamond industry. And I’ve just read too many books about the diamond industry to want one. I’m not married/engaged yet, but I will definitely want a non-diamond ring. I would love to see that become a trend. Or better yet, why not just go back to the simple gold bands?
I don’t see the big deal about a woman buying her own ring these days. She’s obviously got expensive tastes so why wouldn’t she chip in if he couldn’t afford what she wanted?
I also would have loved to pick out my ring. I’m actually on my third one and I still don’t like it. I can tell my husband I want something and show him- I’ve emailed links and everything. He will get me something else. I’ve stopped trying.
Her nails are awful. I hate long nails so much, especially if you grow your actual nail out. And that is her real nail. As for the ring, yeah, I think it’s tacky to pick out your own and pay for your own. If your boyfriend makes less money, who cares about how big the ring is, he bought you that ring and he gave it you because he wants to spend the rest of your life with you. Just give him a heads up that you hate pear-shape or whatever so it’s something you can live with wearing until your fingers get too fat for it.
My boyfriend and I have been discussing rings more and more lately. The other night he told me that he has a solid idea of what I like, and proceeded to describe it perfectly. He’s either picked up on my (not-so-subtle?) hints, or he has a source (my best friend)… Either way, it’s nice to see the kind of effort he’s putting into it, it shows that it’s just as important to him!
So we’re all just going to skim over her knuckle stubble situation in that ring photo?
I hate engagement rings. They are all the same. I hate those traditions when a man gives a ring to the woman. I don’t know what the big deal is. Maybe a band is nice, something minimalist and simple… I told my boyfriend I don’t want an engagement ring. I’m not a traditional person. To each their own…