The sky's the limit when it comes to the rich and famous and their jewellery budgets, and we've certainly seen some epic celebrity engagement rings. But it turns out solitaires are more on the conservative side, according to these crazy requests that celebrity jeweller Jason Arasheben, Founder of Jason of Beverly Hills, has received...
What are the most unique requests you've had from high-profile clientele?
We’ve definitely had some crazy requests. Every year there is something new and exciting. Two that come to mind are a Himalayan Birkin we just adorned with 50 carats of baguettes and Mattel commissioning us to make a blue diamond HotWheels car.
Some other unique requests include the family crest we made for Michael Jackson and the reversible Championship ring we made for the Golden State Warriors. We also once had a wealthy real estate tycoon commission us to adorn his six-foot fish tank in diamonds!
What's the most extravagant celebrity request you've had?
Actor, rapper and TV presenter, Nick Cannon, also had an interesting request. When he approached me about custom Tom Ford loafers, he said he wanted to set a new standard in diamonds. Because natural diamonds are unique and each one is different, it took four months alone to source all of the diamonds in the same sizes to make the shoe.
I only ever use natural diamonds, and I recommend the same for my clients. Since diamonds are unique, rare and one-of-a-kind, they are proven to hold their value over time, whereas lab-grown stones can be made in unlimited quantities and will not hold their value.
The custom shoes have more than 14,000 full cut round white diamonds set onto white gold, with a total carat weight of 340 carats. In the end the entire process took more than 2,000 hours of work and close to a year to complete, but we finished them just in time for Nick to wear them on the Season 9 finale of America's Got Talent. They come with a price tag of $2,000,000.
I’ve also make a blue diamond iPhone case and a 4 finger GODDESS ring for Katy Perry.
And the most unique engagement ring?
I always love designing pieces that tell a story. Recently I made a custom engagement ring for a customer that was honeybee-inspired since his fiancée to be was named Honeybee. The 10ct centre stone gave us enough real estate to really bring out the details of the surrounding bees that we added. We dressed it up with honeycomb shaped white and yellow diamonds to really go there with the theme. It consisted of 32 separate parts that needed to be individually assembled. Definitely one of the most complex yet beautiful ring we have made.
