It feels like it happened so long ago, but it was just in 2015 or so that Mariah Carey and Aussie billionaire James Packer started dating. They quickly became engaged in early 2016, but by 2017, the engagement was over and they were fighting about who broke up with whom. I tended to believe that Packer broke it off with Mariah, and that he regretted even getting involved with her. But, when he proposed to her, he gave her a giant 35-carat diamond engagement ring. It was and is a HUGE rock. Reportedly, Packer shelled out something like $10 million for the rock. Reportedly, Packer wanted the diamond back when he dumped Mariah and she refused, and apparently she got her way – Packer must have just conceded that Mariah could keep the ring. She was still wearing the diamond ring all of last year and into this year. But now it seems like she’s sold it… for a lot less than it was reportedly worth?
Mariah Carey has sold the 35-carat diamond engagement ring James Packer gave her two years ago. The huge sparkler, widely reported to be worth $10 million, was part of the financial settlement the diva made in 2017 after her split from the Australian media baron.
“Mariah has been very vocal recently about her choice to move forward in her life surrounded by positivity,” her publicist told me. “That requires leaving emotional and material baggage behind, including an old engagement ring from an ex-boyfriend.”
A source said Carey had one of her business managers quietly sell the ring for $2.1 million to a Los Angeles jeweler.
“A confidentiality agreement was signed, but the jeweler is currently selling it, and there’s only one such ring,” my source said. “Mariah Carey’s public relations people are desperately trying to keep the story from the press, and have threatened the jeweler with litigation if he discloses her name.”
An insider in Carey’s camp scoffed at the idea that she sold the bauble because she’s short on cash: “She owns multiple homes, her entire catalog of music, and she’s had numerous successful tours and residencies.” The insider also said the ring was worth way less than $10 million.
I don’t know that much about the pricing on elite, one-of-a-kind jewels, but I do know that a piece of jewelry is “worth” more given the history of a particular piece – if a ring was owned by Marie Antoinette or Elizabeth Taylor, of course it’s going to be worth more. But a ring owned by Mariah Carey, from a broken engagement? I don’t know. Does that depreciate the worth? As for Mariah needing the money… both things are true. She has money, she has multiple homes, she has a catalog of songs AND she needs more money because she spends like a drunken sailor.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Butterfly has to pay for those champagne bubble baths somehow.
Problems of the rich! 🙂
If he broke it off with her, she gets to keep the ring. If she breaks it off, then she hands it back. I’ve read enough etiquette books to know them’s the rules !
Don’t most women return the ring if they don’t end up getting married? Sure he can afford spending millions, but she’s not broke either and her selling it and keeping the money is kind of tacky
I had to keep my ring. He has broken off all contacts immediately and when me and my dad asked his family to set up a date when we could give all the stuff he had given me back, they refused. Pretty much they closed the door immediately on us.
I gave all clothes and stuff to charity. Took the ring to a jeweller to sell it and give the money to charity, turned out it was some 5 dollar fake.
I am sorry for you and you are probably deeply hurt by this!
But, believe me, you are better off without him!
💍🤥
Oh it was about 3 years back. I moved on and met someone wonderful already
But the anger still remains deep down. Often they resurface at certain triggers
Omg Tan I am so sorry that happened to you! At least you found out who he truly was before the wedding. But still, that must have been awful to go through. What a jerk for treating you like that. His loss!
So happy to hear you’ve moved on with someone new.
Oh, Tan, I understand the frustration there. My ex kept all our furniture and pets that I didn’t leave with. I took the dog when I left (in the middle of the night) because my ex was out of town for the weekend. He changed the locks and I never saw my cats again. I hear they’re fine, but I would have liked to say goodbye. Went to get my ring appraised and it was a Walmart-level cubic zirconia. Now I have a great relationship and am happier than ever, but man, did that time hurt.
That’s got some pretty visible inclusions for a rich person’s diamond.
If you’re blowing $10 m, you can get something 10ct that doesn’t look like it has cigarette ashes on it.
Why yes you CAN be gaudy, without looking like you got took!
(also: that is NOT 35carats. No way.)
Agree on all accounts. I wouldn’t place it above 20ct even with a high crown, AND the number probably still takes into account the side diamonds at about 1ct each.
“A fool and his money…”
Maaaybe 25? If that. I’m thinking 15-18ct. Because the crown is high–WAY too high, but at the same time the pavilion might be shallow? All the light is going to escape out the sides and you’ll have dark facets out the bottom to look at. It was cut with no other purpose but to stick out of the setting and look big.
It’s messy. That rock is a mess.
also, no way is that a $10 million diamond. Either Packer got taken for a ride or Mimi just wanted it out there to look good.
As my jeweler friend says, a diamond (ring) is worth only what someone will pay for it. Especially if it’s in a setting, although hers is basic enough notwithstanding the size.
Exactly what I’d expect from the queen of tackiness
Don’t invest in diamonds, they only depreciate
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rohin-dhar/diamonds-are-bullshit_b_3708562.html
It warms my heart to see that someone else gets this. At least with a well chosen ruby or sapphire, you have some likelihood of breaking even, if not actually gaining, depending on how long you’ve had it. And by well chosen, I mean above a certain size, from certain locations, with top color and clarity and no treatments. Those have gone up by 10x in the last decade.
Plus of course, when you buy anything from a jeweller, you pay retail price. If you try to sell it to a jeweller later, he’s not buying at retail, he’s buying at Rap with a steep discount.
OMG! Who cares? I’ve been reading this for 3 days. Move on.
She is so tacky! And this is completely a PR story, as if her team didn’t “let this slip”. BS.
They are milking the heck outta this to try to drive up the status of the ring. Hey girl, you are NO Liz Taylor. Talk about problems of the wealthy, whiny, pay attention to me set.
Yuck to her, Packer, and that ring. Btw, it’s not that nice. Big but not pretty/sparkly enough for that $$.
So is selling a Packer ring shady, since he is a known money launderer via Macau casinos and more? I found it interesting that she got out just as the law started catching up to him.
If she’s in financial trouble I doubt $2mil is going to do much to help her. She could get more money from her Birkin collection.
I could swear I remember learning in law school that an engagement ring is a gift given with the expectation that the marriage will take place and if it doesn’t, the ring must be returned. But I could be wrong and with Mariah, who knows.
I’ve always heard it should be returned, unless it was given as a gift, such as birthday/Christmas.
Either way, unless I was completely broke, I’d give it back no matter what.
I still can’t believe she got a settlement for a broken engagement.
Mariah doesn’t give back rings, y’all. I would think less of her if she did. Also, she got a tidy sum from him for her “inconvenience.” Let’s just accept that Mariah is in a class of one. I enjoy her antics immensely and I see her as sincerely believing she deserves whatever it is she wants. I hope she never changes.
ghet-to.
always.
all ways.
At a certain carat weight rings end up looking like glass. Bigger is not always getter when it comes to diamonds.