Jewelry Judge Blog
April 24th, 2013
Former Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel is sporting a brand new engagement ring bestowed upon her by Mad Men’s Vincent Kartheiser. The vintage-inspired design features an impressive bezel-set diamond set upon a simple platinum band, but is it a conventional round brilliant or a highly unusual modified octagonal brilliant?

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When Bledel hit the red carpet last week for the premiere of her new made-for-TV movie, Remember Sunday, the celebrity press finally got a good look at the engagement ring she accepted from Kartheiser about a month ago. Bledel was quick to offer that her beau was the genius behind the ring. “Vincent picked it out!” she reportedly exclaimed.

Instead of being prong set, Bledel’s diamond stunner has a distinctive octagonal-shaped bezel that frames the diamond in elegant platinum.

Instantly, the Internet started buzzing about the unique design and stunning diamond. HollywoodLife.com described the center stone as a “gigantic round-cut diamond,” and Us Weekly agreed that it was a “massive round-cut diamond on a simple platinum band.”

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But we believe InStyle.com got it right when its columnist stated it was “an octagonal diamond” set in a band with pavé stones decorating the sides.

The octagonal shape is formally referred to as a modified octagonal brilliant cut. It has faceting similar to a round brilliant diamond, but has eight equal sides. We believe the shape of the stone likely matches the contour of the bezel.

Bledel and Kartheiser broke the news of their engagement in March after nearly a year of dating. The 31-year-old actress guest-starred as the mentally unstable mistress of Kartheiser’s character, Pete Campbell, during Season 5 of Mad Men.

When asked about his recent engagement, the 33-year-old actor told Us Weekly, “I’m a very lucky man.”

Bledel Ring Close-up Credit: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com