Mariah Carey is proving that she’s doing just fine without Nick Cannon in her life. After dating an uber-rich billionaire, James Packer, since last summer, Mariah accepted the opportunity to become engaged to her businessman beau. And just to make it extravagantly official, Carey now possesses a 35-carat diamond and platinum engagement band.
Although Carey and Packer have been a couple for awhile, it’s the stunning ring sported by the 45-year-old superstar singer that’s getting all the attention, reported ET .
Wilfredo Rosado, based in New York, designed the ring proudly worn by Mariah. And just in case Carey wants to compare her bling to those of some other famous recently wedded celebrities, Kim Kardashian sports a Lorraine Schwartz cushion-cut diamond band that is only 15 carats, while Beyonce is waving around an 18-carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond. Sorry, Kanye West, and Jay Z, but James Packer topped you both. And if it’s any comfort to these two famous dudes, Prince William also failed to come up with a band for Kate Middeton that outdoes the 35-carat bling now owned by Mariah, because Princess Kate wears an 18-carat heirloom band.
Carey and Packer are known to have been a couple since last summer. The 48-year-old billionaire asked Mariah to marry him in New York City on Thursday evening. It will be the third wedding for Carey, whose previous husbands include music executive Tommy Mottola and actor Nick Cannon, and third wedding for James as well, who was previously married to model Jodhi Meares and to singer and model Erica Baxter.
Mariah has 4-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan, with Nick, and Packer has a trio of kids from previous marriages.
Mariah Carey Basks In Brilliant Bling
As for the designer of the enormous engagement ring now proudly sported by Carey , Wilfredo Rosado has been friends with Mariah for over 25 years, reported Vogue . And that may have helped Packer in picking Wilfredo to design the band for the engagement of the famous singer and her billionaire boyfriend.
To come up with the concept of the 35-carat diamond and platinum engagement band that equals the combined size of Kim Kardashian’s and Beyonce’s engagement rings (and even outdoes the 33-carat bling that Richard Burton once gave to Liz Taylor), Rosado set a goal of making bling that could not be bettered.
“I took the standards super high, and I wanted to create a ring that could not be measured up to,” explained Wilfredo.
With a group of craftspeople including a specialist in huge gems and experts in measurements, the result was a stunner proportioned to create a simple yet stunning look, added Rosado.
“What is really most interesting about the ring are the proportions—the stone is so large, but we were able to create a beautiful balance with the overall simplicity of the design,” added the designer. “It was about mixing simplicity with volume, which is very difficult to do.”
In creating the band for Mariah at the request of James, Rosado added two baguettes, with the center stone between them. He noted that because he’s been close to Carey for so many years, he’s very aware of her style preferences.
“She obviously has a strong point of view about what she likes…I really wanted to create something for her that was about new beginnings. I wanted to give her something super sophisticated and something that took away all of the embellishments that a lot of people use when they design engagement rings these days. But it is epic. It’s an epic ring for an epic time in her life.”
But the groom-to-be, Packer, was not left out of the building of the bling for Carey. James was consulted at three stages during the creation process, and he also chose the diamond that Mariah would wear as the centerpiece.
“I consulted with James about the ring three different times during the process,” explained Rosado. “He wanted to create something very rare and very beautiful around this diamond he chose, and I followed his lead.”
At Packer’s request, the ring’s backside has an empty spot in which the Australian businessman plans to engrave something special for Mariah.
Date Night After Engagement Proves Dazzling For Mariah Carey
James and Carey enjoyed a date night together that gave Mariah a chance to flaunt her new bling, reported Us Weekly .
And as another way to understand the magnitude of the dazzle generated by Carey’s 35 carats, the standard engagement ring is one carat. Jennifer Aniston sports a 10-carat engagement ring, while as noted, Kim Kardashian received a 15-carat band from Kanye.
[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images For Nickelodeon]