Caitriona Balfe on Outlander, Time, and the Endurance of Natural Diamonds
Caitriona Balfe reflects on her time on Outlander, her love for timeless fashion, and the allure of vintage diamond jewels.
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There are actors who swiftly pass through fashion and fine jewelry, simply “doing the red carpet thing,” and then there are actors who deeply understand it. Irish-born Caitriona Balfe has always belonged to the latter camp. Long before she played the time-traveling, corset-wearing heroine Claire Fraser at the heart of Outlander, Caitriona Balfe, in fact, built her career catwalking the runways of Paris Fashion Week, absorbing the language of silhouette, restraint, and craftsmanship. After over a decade living inside one of television’s most beloved and enduring roles, she has sharpened that sensibility.
Now, as we approach the final episodes of one of a generation’s most epic series, Caitriona Balfe reflects on time, specifically what it has meant to live with Claire Fraser for so long, to step out of corsetry and into legacy fashion houses, and to choose fine jewelry that feels not like decoration and more like authorship. This is a story about deep endurance, wide evolution, and the quiet power of objects.
Meet the Author
- Ruthie Friedlander is a writer, brand consultant, and founder of At Large Agency in New York. A former editor at ELLE, InStyle, and The Row, she is known for her signature style, sharp eye, and storytelling expertise—especially when it comes to diamonds.
- She is also the co-founder of The Chain, a nonprofit that supports individuals in image-focused industries who are struggling with eating disorders.
Living Across Time: Outlander and Caitriona Balfe’s Physical Transformation
If Outlander is obsessed with time—living across it, losing it, surviving it—Caitriona Balfe has felt that obsession firsthand. “Oh my god, completely,” she says when asked whether the show has changed her own perspective on time. “I mean, in some ways, we went to Scotland, we blinked, and we’re all over a decade older. Life has whizzed by. I sometimes can’t quite wrap my head around it.” She pauses, then adds, “I do think just getting older, you’re sort of more aware of time past and what’s ahead.”
Time, in Balfe’s world, is anything but abstract. It is the epitome of physicality. It is corsetry and wool. It is breath-restricted and posture redefined. The costumes of Outlander—meticulously constructed, historically grounded—did more than shape her silhouette. They shaped her performance. “The costumes are so informative,” she says. “When we started season one under [costume designer] Terry Dresbach, I was given clothes of that time, the weight of the Scottish wool, and the restriction of the corsets. It fed into [Claire] being this woman who was quite progressive.”
I do think just getting older, you’re sort of more aware of time past and what’s ahead.
She remembers the physical cost of those garments vividly. “It’s amazing what a corset does to you, because you’re cutting off your very source of life, which is your breath,” she says. “There were moments where I’d need to run up a hill, and I’d say, ‘I have no lung capacity.’”
And then there were the bum rolls. “Bum rolls. I could burn every bum roll I’ve ever worn. They are worse than corsets.” For those lacking 18th-century costuming vocabulary, a bum roll is a crescent-shaped padded undergarment women would tie around their waists to create shape at the hips. Balfe does not romanticize it.
Why Caitriona Balfe Is Drawn to the Permanence of Natural Diamonds
I’ve always been a huge collector and fan of vintage and antique pieces, whether it’s furniture, jewelry, or clothes.
Caitriona Balfe has always been drawn to objects that endure and have a past. “I don’t know if playing Claire changed that. I’ve always been a huge collector and fan of vintage and antique pieces, whether it’s furniture, jewelry, or clothes.” That instinct—toward the storied, the inherited, the layered—translates seamlessly to her relationship with natural diamonds. Unlike trends that flicker and fade, natural diamonds are formed over billions of years. They are, in their very nature, a study in patience and pressure.
Caitriona Balfe’s Most Memorable Fine Jewelry Moments
These are legacy brands that have real craftspeople at their center, and it’s such a beautiful thing to be able to be adorned.
On the red carpet, Caitriona Balfe has worn pieces from some of the most revered houses in the world, including JAR, Van Cleef & Arpels, and De Beers. “It’s such a privilege,” she says. “I’ve been lucky enough to wear Van Cleef, I have been lucky enough to wear De Beers… These are legacy brands that have real craftspeople at their center, and it’s such a beautiful thing to be able to be adorned.” And adorned she was, most notably by Van Cleef & Arpels at the 2022 Oscars, where she wore a 1957 bow-shaped diamond collar paired with earrings, matching diamond bracelets on each wrist, and a snowflake ring.
The necklace, which features 212 baguette-cut diamonds, 158 round diamonds, 2 marquise-cut diamonds, and 2 trilliant-cut diamonds to create its bow motif, is unique in that its flexible construction of platinum and diamonds allows it to subtly move like fabric. This movement made the piece an integral part of Balfe’s look, adding not only a moment of utter glamour but also a nod to the actress’s deep commitment and celebration of craftsmanship.
Caitriona Balfe’s Love of Antique Diamonds
And yet, in her private life, her relationship with jewelry is quieter, albeit no less integral to her sartorial appeal. “I don’t switch my stuff up as much as maybe I feel like I will in the future,” she says. “The things that are the most special to me are the things my husband has given me.”
Her engagement ring (a round white diamond flanked by two sapphires on a simple gold band) is particularly meaningful: “He actually bought two different antique engagement rings and then had a jewelry maker put them together because he wanted particular stones, and it was really beautiful, and it meant so much to me that he went and chose these different elements and then made them something very new.”
There is something fitting about that—taking antique stones, layering a new narrative over them. It mirrors Balfe’s own career: model-turned-actor, actress-turned-cultural touchstone. Before Outlander, before the red carpets, she was a model navigating an industry built on appearance. That experience left its mark. “I think I have PTSD from modeling years. I used to find photoshoots so difficult because it brought up all these insecurities that I used to have when I was in my twenties, modeling.”
It’s become about enjoying the experience — beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry, interesting people. It’s play. And play is important.
But age, like time in Outlander, has reframed her perspective. “Now it’s very different. I’m older, more accepting. I’ve stopped hoping to look like [my] 20-year-old self. It’s become about enjoying the experience — beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry, interesting people. It’s play. And play is important.” There is acceptance there, and a kind of elegance.
Beyond Adornment: Caitriona Balfe’s Work with World Child Cancer
For over a decade, Caitriona Balfe has worked closely with World Child Cancer as an advocate for children in developing countries who lack access to modern treatment. The work is not loud or performative, but something she speaks of pragmatically, much like you’d imagine Claire would. “They’re an amazing charity,” she says. “They generally work in developing countries where most of the cancer cases are single-cell cancers, which in any developed country would very easily be treatable and quite inexpensively treated. But because of the lack of resources and awareness, often these cancers progress to the point where they become life-threatening.”
The Legacy of Claire Fraser
For Outlander fans, Claire Fraser is not just a character; she is a companion through time. When asked what fans get wrong about Claire, Caitriona Balfe rejects the idea entirely. “Oh, I don’t know that they do get anything wrong. I think she’s everyone’s to take as they find her. We put a version out there, but you, as the viewer, your viewing experience is the final assumption of it.” It is a generous answer, one that speaks to her understanding of storytelling as a uniquely collaborative exercise. “We all get to put ourselves into it, and we all get to keep our own personal version of it.”
As Outlander draws to a close, Caitriona Balfe is by no means standing still. “It was a quarter of my life,” she says. “And I think the relationships were so deep and strong… but those are the things that will continue afterwards.” The ending, she admits, is “bittersweet.” But there is also forward motion. In the year ahead, we can look forward to seeing her in three films—Tenzing, Sense and Sensibility, and A Long Winter—and she is already preparing to begin another project with Helena Bonham Carter and Anthony Hopkins, among others. So yes, the decade may be closing, but the work most certainly is not.
Diamonds, like Claire Fraser, are shaped by pressure. They endure. They tell stories that span centuries. In Balfe’s hands—and on her ears, her fingers, her collarbone—they become something even more layered: personal artifacts, markers of time, symbols of authorship. In a world that moves quickly, she remains drawn to what lasts.
And perhaps that is the most Claire-like thing of all.
Photographer: Jackie Kursel
Stylist: Jermaine Daley
Creative Director: Lizzy Oppenheimer
Hair Stylist: Shin Arima
Makeup Artist: Linda Gradin
Manicurist: Pika
Entertainment Director At Large: Glynis Costin
Creative Production: Petty Cash Production
First Assistant: Brandon Jones
Second Assistant: Greg Moreno
Tailor: Susan Balcunas
