Julia Chafé Believes A Real Diamond Ring Is Not Just A Girl’s Best Friend, It’s Her Biggest Asset

Editor’s note: This conversation first appeared as part of The Bridal Edit, a video series hosted by Natural Diamond Council in collaboration with The Nod, where Jewellery Editor Priyanka Parkash sits down with designers and insiders to discuss modern bridal style and natural diamonds.

An engagement ring is not just an accessory to a proposal; it is the first piece of milestone jewellery many women own. It marks the beginning of a shared future while remaining entirely theirs. So, while a natural diamond engagement ring has always been a symbol of love and commitment, it has also served as a form of financial security for generations of women across cultures. 

Today, as couples navigate a market filled with alternatives, the conversation around the engagement ring has become more layered than ever. For Julia Chafé, jewellery expert and designer, the natural diamond engagement ring continues to endure not simply because it’s a classic, but because it embodies the symbol of love in a way that’s tangible and timeless. We spoke to Julia to explore the symbolism and sentiment behind this defining piece of jewellery.

Back To The Beginning

Historically speaking, engagement rings have signalled a transfer of something tangible to the woman at the very start of a couple’s life together. Across Western traditions, the diamond ring in particular came to stand as a visible declaration of commitment. And so, the ring became the woman’s to keep, wear, and pass forward. In South Asian contexts too, the idea that certain jewellery belongs unequivocally to the woman has deep cultural roots. The concept of stridhan in Hindu tradition refers to material gifts received by a bride, often jewellery, that are recognised as her personal property, irrespective of who gave them.

It is this legacy of ownership that Julia Chafé believes remains key to the conversation, particularly at a time when the rise of alternative diamonds has shifted the focus to price and aesthetics. “I do believe that the push for alternatives is inherently anti-women,” she says. “When you receive a natural diamond engagement ring, that ring is the woman’s property forever. And if that rainy day were to come—which every woman hopes and prays doesn’t—your ring becomes an asset that cannot be taken from you.” It is this foundational perspective that gives the engagement ring its significance, beyond its ornamental appeal. 

Investing In Forever

The idea of an engagement ring as an investment may, at first glance, feel unromantic, until you realise that it is also a powerful way to preserve and pass on your family legacy. A natural diamond is not designed for a single day. It is made to stand the test of time through decades of wear. On her own hand, Julia wears a clean, modern solitaire—a square-cut diamond set simply and styled with two slim bands. “At the end of the day, diamonds are the most durable of all the stones. And if you saw how I treat my ring, you would actually throw up. I’m banging my ring against everything all the time,” Julia laughs. Its resilience is precisely what makes it worthy of becoming an heirloom. As years go by and tastes evolve, the diamond itself can be reset into a new design, adapted to reflect a different chapter, and eventually handed down to future generations. It becomes a part of a family’s story, acquiring meaning over time. 

Talking about one of her own family heirlooms that she cherishes as much as her engagement ring, Julia laughs about “stealing” a pair of turquoise and natural diamond earrings from her mother and transforming them from drop earrings into ear climbers. “She’s still mad at me,” she jokes. The earrings trace back to her great grandfather, a turquoise dealer in Iran, and were later reset by her aunt, preserving both the diamonds and the family sentiment in a new form.

Size Isn’t Everything, True Value Matters More

The first question people ask about an engagement ring is almost always: How big is it? But size has never been the only marker of value, and now with synthetics flooding the market, it isn’t the most important one. “I don’t think that carat weight matters at all,” Julia says, advising couples to go for a diamond that suits their individual budget. “If Bruno (Julia’s husband) showed up with a 10-carat diamond, I’d know damn well that’s not a real diamond,” she argues. Often, a smaller diamond can feel more elegant—and more believable—than something oversized for the sake of effect.

While Julia jokes that she once told her husband to “copy Kim Kardashian’s ring” when she was young and didn’t quite know what she wanted, she admits that what matters most to her now is not its proportions, but the memory of the proposal itself. “He proposed at our two year anniversary dinner. And then later, all my friends and family were waiting for us across the city in another location and we had the craziest night ever.” And now, every time she looks at her engagement ring, she’s taken right back to that beautiful evening.

There are also many practical ways to approach a diamond’s size. A 0.95 carat natural diamond, for example, looks pretty identical to a 1 carat diamond. “And even if you can only get a 0.25 carat diamond, it doesn’t matter as long as there’s a beautiful, romantic story behind it,” says Julia. 

Ultimately, the most meaningful engagement rings are not the ones with the biggest diamond, but the ones chosen with the intention to mark a commitment with something real and valuable, and to carry forward a piece that becomes a part of your journey, as well as the journeys that come after.