Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s sixth richest man, has made a lot of things. He built an empire with Facebook. He made a staggering fortune. Most importantly, he made his wife, Priscilla Chan, a very happy woman. This is not solely owing to his immense wealth or ever-soaring success, but rather to his intent and personal effort. The tech tycoon, worth $257 billion (according to Forbes), married Chan on May 19, 2012, in a simple surprise backyard wedding attended by fewer than 100 guests. Since then, the Facebook founder has, by his own admission, helped design 20 pieces of jewelry.
The fascination with creating something special for his ladylove was already evident with that backyard wedding, where Zuckerberg designed Chan’s ruby ring. While that piece was deeply rooted in traditional romance, he later created something completely unconventional, as one would expect from the maverick that he is. The father of three, who loves to tinker and keeps a room full of manufacturing machines like 3D printers next to his Palo Alto office, did not make Chan a standard diamond-studded ring. Instead, he helped design a band carved as one continuous loop from a single diamond, reported the New York Times.
A diamond band designed to break-
Diamonds are the hardest natural substance on Earth, meaning nothing short of another diamond or specialized laser tech can scratch or cut them, a solid diamond ring presents a unique engineering puzzle. While conventional metal rings can easily be sliced off using an emergency ring cutter, a solid diamond band is another story altogether. Thoughtful as he is, Zuckerberg incorporated a deliberate breaking point so the band could be broken and removed in an emergency.
One rough diamond, two special gifts-
The analytical mind that went as deep as calculating the exact size of the raw diamond needed to carve one continuous circle also devised a solution for the leftover material. The tiny bits of chipped diamond were repurposed to make Chan a pebble-textured necklace, which she could wear daily on the school run, adding a touch of sparkle to ordinary tasks.
Zuckerberg, a man of billions and grand gestures-
While Zuckerberg’s gifts to Chan are truly headline-worthy, from this diamond band to a roughly 7-foot statue of Chan commissioned from Daniel Arsham, to throwing a lavish party complete with a surprise performance in Benson Boone’s actual Grammys jumpsuit, his creation is not the absolute first of its kind. According to the Gemological Institute of America, the Beaufort Ring was carved from an approximate 196-carat rough stone and weighed 13.15-carats. The Geneva-based house Shawish Jewellery also created a 150-carat ring valued at a whopping $70 million, out of a single, massive rough diamond.
On the other hand, Priscilla Chan’s first gift to the tech tycoon decades ago was not an expensive luxury item, but a simple piece of candy. When Zuckerberg asked her if she wanted a job at Facebook, Chan cheekily replied, “I’d love a job at Facebook,” before offering him a single, wimpy Twizzler.
All said and done, Zuckerberg’s creation and choice of gift stands in a league of its own. It is not about the price tag, but rather the devotion, the technical skill, and the originality that makes the piece of jewelry truly stand out. In the billionaire world, sometimes money takes a backseat to a deeply personal gesture.
