Kate Middleton Gets Princess Diana's Sapphire Engagement Ring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jewelry hounds? Prince William gave Kate Middleton Princess Diana's stunning sapphire and diamond engagement ring - and here are the pictures to prove it. It's just the perfect sentiment. I think I'm getting misty-eyed.

Not only is Princess Diana's rock the Holy Grail of engagement ring history - it's actually on trend, if you can believe it. Diamonds are taking a back seat these days to gemstone alternatives (click here for more). And, well, Kate has one whopper of an 18-carat sapphire gemstone on her hands. Literally.

Wasn't it just a few years' back the first baby pictures of the world's new little Prince William hit People Mag (because that's the only place you could find them back then!) Now look at him. Must be a bittersweet time without his mother here to share in his happiness.

In their first appearance earlier today since announcing their engagement, Kate was asked about the legacy of Princess Diana, and she expressed her sadness at never having had the chance to meet her.  Now? Kate's got probably the most famous ring in the world on her finger as a reminder.  And the entire free world watching her every move.

No pressure.

Of course I wouldn't be me without trying to find affordable alternatives for my fellow royal ring watchers. How about this one for starters.... 

 Cheerio! And congrats to the happy couple!

Color-Changing Sapphires, A Love Story

Sapphires aren't just the blingy blue bauble often likened to the color of Elizabeth Taylor's eyes - they're crazy chameleons that wear a coat of many colors. While deep blue is certainly what most of us think of when it comes September's birthstone, the gem also comes in a rainbow of hues - from pink and green to yellow and red (also known as - a ruby!) Cool, right?

But sapphires have a special shade that I recently discovered, and it's downright drool-worthy: the color-changing sapphire.

Not quite purple, not quite red, not quite blue - the ever-elusive color changer is a slippery little devil that injects some much needed intrigue into the gemstone world. I admittedly just came across the 'c-c sapph', when writing about the gorgeous 'Royal Butterfly' brooch a few days ago - and decided to do some digging to find out more.

Here's the skinny:

While many sapphires may exhibit faint color changes upon exposure to incandescent or fluorescent lights, the 'c-c sapph' is a dramatic diva, bless her heart. Most color change sapphires belong to one of two groups depending on their color change: the green to red (alexandrite), and the blue to purple kind.

Most alex type color change sapphires are from Songea, Tanzania while the blue-purples occur in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Burma, and other parts of East Africa and Tanzania.  In all color change stones, the strength of the change is probabably the most important factor affecting their value - but the blue to purple variety tend to be the more pricey option.

Do any of you designers out there have a color-changer in your coffers you'd like to share? Make a comment here or send me a Twitpic with a link to an image/description, and I'll post it here.

In the meantime, here's a one-of-a-kind engagement ring featuring a color changer from The Jewelry Experts to whet your whistle.