Michelle Monaghan Tells Us What Ignited Her Diamond Love Affair

We caught up with the actress inside her immaculate Hollywood Hills home to uncover the alluring history behind her diamond collection.

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Actress Michelle Monaghan has her grandfather to thank for her love of diamonds. He owned a jewellery store in a small Iowa town close to where Monaghan grew up. In her youth, she’d visit the shop every month and have a field day trying on all the diamonds. He was even the one who pierced her ears for the first time. In a beautiful full-circle moment, she recalls taking her first paycheck back to his store to buy her first pair of diamond studs, which still holds significance to this day.

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Photo: Diamond Diaries

In the years since playing dress up in her family’s fine jewellery shop, Monaghan’s had plenty of occasions to get dolled up in diamonds for her own red carpet moments. One that’s stuck with her the most is her Met Gala appearance back in 2017, where she wore a glittering Paco Rabanne gown offset by vintage Cartier diamonds (you can thank stylist Karla Welch for that one). “That remains my most special diamond moment—putting on this substantial, remarkable vintage diamond—it was a girl’s dream come true.”

Michelle-Monaghan-Natural-Diamonds
Photo: CBS Photo Archive / Getty

As for her off-duty diamond style? Monaghan describes her personal jewellery collection as simple and elegant. She’s also been known to pair her diamonds with something edgy like a black leather jacket to, as she describes it, “balance the loveliness of the gems.” Her favorite diamond piece is a 20th anniversary gift from her husband, a baguette-encrusted wedding band designed by friend and jeweler Anita Ko. “Anything designed by her will be of beautiful quality and craftsmanship, and it will be made with love.” She especially loves to wear her diamond collection out at night. “I’m a romantic in that way. If I’m sitting at a candlelit dinner with my husband, they shimmer and shine and make me feel beautiful.” 

“For women, that love affair for anything sparkly happens at a young age,” Monaghan says. “It all starts in those memories.” Continue watching her Diamond Diary for even more bejewelled recollections.

Michelle-Monaghan-Natural-Diamonds
Photo: Diamond Diaries
Michelle-Monaghan-Natural-Diamonds
Photo: Diamond Diaries