David Douglas Diamonds & Jewelry
September 11th, 2013
The colossal 20-carat diamond engagement ring that came to symbolize the ill-fated 2011 romance between jilted NBA star Kris Humphries and TV reality star Kim Kardashian will be hitting the auction block at Christie’s “Bright and Beautiful” event in New York on October 15.

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Humphries won the ring this spring as part of a divorce settlement stemming from the couple’s contentious 72-day marriage. Although the auction house says the ring is the “property of a gentleman” and doesn’t list Humphries as the owner, the Christie’s ring bears an uncanny resemblance to the Kardashian ring. They are virtually identical in terms of total weight, dimensions and design.

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At the time of her engagement to Humphries in the spring of 2011, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star told People magazine that her ring featured a 16.5-carat emerald-cut center diamond flanked by a pair of trapezoid-cut side stones weighing 2 carats each for a total of 20.5 carats.  "[Designer Lorraine Schwartz] always listened to what I would want and the shapes I love," Kardashian told People. "I had said I loved an emerald cut."

A Christie’s press release described its ring as an "impressive rectangular-cut, I-color diamond ring of 16.21 carats, by Lorraine Schwartz." The center stone is flanked by two 1.80-carat trapezoid-cut diamonds for a total of 19.81 carats.

The only major disparity between the Kardashian ring and the Christie’s ring is the reported value. A Kardashian family “insider” told the tabloids in 2011 that Humphries “got a great deal” when he paid $2 million for the designer ring. Christie’s puts the estimated value of the anonymous owner’s ring at only $300,000 to $500,000, with a portion of the proceeds going to an unnamed charity.

Some are now speculating that the Kardashian publicity machine may have floated an exaggerated $2 million price tag to support the reality show’s story line. In 2012, Kardashian began a relationship with rapper Kanye West and gave birth to their daughter North West in June of 2013.