Simone Biles Goes for the (White) Gold
This Stephanie Gottlieb ring, similar to Simone Biles’ engagement ring, features a 2.5-carat G-color SI1 oval-shaped diamond set in the company’s signature platinum three-sided diamond pavé setting.
"Houston—She has gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medals to her name, and now Simone Biles adds white gold to her roster of precious mementos.
The 24-year-old Ohio native and Houston resident announced her engagement to NFL player Jonathan Owens, a safety for the Houston Texans, on Instagram this week, satiating any ring curiosity with a detailed video of the sparkler among a carousel of loved-up pics with her betrothed.
Owens posted a near-identical batch of photos to his Instagram account, crediting Houston-based private jeweler @zofrost for the oval-shaped diamond engagement ring.
Zohaib Muhammad, head of ZoFrost & Co. is a go-to jeweler for professional athletes. He began working at a jewelry kiosk in college to help fund his education at the University of Houston, not knowing jewelry would become his ultimate career path.
After years of working for a local jeweler, he set out on his own in 2018, cultivating a clientele of the who’s who in sports.
“I’m beyond grateful to say that many of the top athletes in the NFL and NBA trust me with creating their jewelry and I’m lucky to call many of them close friends,” Muhammad told National Jeweler.
His Instagram is littered with pictures of elaborate custom works, from personalized pendants and grills to diamond-encrusted chains, blinged-out Cartier watches, and even diamond sunglasses.
With men’s jewelry his forte, diamond engagement rings aren’t his most common custom project.
But, he said, “At least a couple times each year, one of my clients will ask me to help them design and create a ring for their special day.”
Such was the case with Owens.
“Jonathan and I started the process together a few months ago to select the perfect diamond for Simone,” Muhammad said.
“After looking at a number of stones, he handpicked the 3-carat oval diamond. He wanted to add a special touch to the ring by adding a halo around the center stone.”
Visible in the Instagram video is the hidden halo, seen only in profile, a more sophisticated cousin of the traditional halo that is seen from above.
Muhammad said a stone of that size would start at about $70,000 and go up from there depending on the quality.
Biles’ 3-carat oval diamond center stone is F-color with VVS2 clarity, set on a 14-karat white gold shank with diamond pavé for maximum sparkle.
New York City-based jeweler and designer Stephanie Gottlieb estimated similar characteristics upon viewing pictures of Biles’ ring online. An oval diamond is extremely popular among her clientele.
“Oval-shaped diamonds are absolutely trending, and we’ve seen a ton of celebrity proposals with ovals over the last few years,” she said. (Kourtney Kardashian is one of the most recent.)
“This is a beautiful setting, with lots of bling!” Gottlieb continued. “When working with a three-sided pavé setting, it’s important to ... "
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