Jennifer Lopez via her IG; actual green diamond engagement ring.

A World of Increasing Rarity: Green Fancy Diamonds With A Master Strategy to Sell Them AOC Jewelry News

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have done more to educate the world about fancy diamonds than any two people alive.

Neither of their engagement rings was purchased at Astteria, headquartered in London, but they could have been. This introduction to George Hadary, widely referred to as ‘George the Jeweller’, and his company Astteria UK is about so much more than fancy diamonds.

Perhaps it’s because I devoted 30 minutes listening to Mr. Hadary’s podcast with Paul Zimnisky [scroll to bottom of page] that I have a sense of his personality. My original intention was to only write about the world of fancy diamonds — triggered by the Lopez-Affleck late summer nuptials and their major impact on the shrinking world of fancy diamonds.

First, Let’s Get Fancy

When Lopez and Affleck reunited in love for the second time in 2021, nearly two decades after they filmed the movie ‘Gigli’ in 2002, the diamond masters of the universe knew that this second-act engagement would be spectacular.

The first fancy diamond ring Ben Affleck purchased for Jennifer Lopez in 2002 was a 6.1 carat pink-diamond solitaire, and it was breathtaking. Today pink diamonds cost as much as 50 times the price of white diamonds, while making up less than two percent of all diamonds sold.

The closure of Australia’s Argyle Mine, supplier of 90 percent of the world’s pink diamonds, will drive their value higher.

In Praise of Green

In April 2022, Jennifer Lopez revealed that she and Ben Affleck were engaged for the second time. On J Lo’s ring finger was a spectacular 8.5-carat natural green diamond.

In the world of fancy diamonds, red and green are the two rarest colors — with red the most rare of all. Industry experts say that the value of red diamonds has risen by 500 percent in two decades.

Green diamonds are so exclusive that only a handful are introduced to the market each year.

Estimates of the price of the Affleck’s green diamond range from $5 - $10 million, but no one really knows. Now that the ring has been discussed and researched for several months, it has only grown in stature and reputation.

Astteria [aka Asteria] but Astteria is used in all online media, has a very detailed information page about green diamonds on their website. And AOC shares a sampling of beautiful green diamond jewelry from the Astteria website.

Digital Marketing Lessons from George Hadary

AOC readers know that always before writing about any company in fashion or jewelry, I look for 1) sustainability and ethical procedures prominently displayed on a website and social media; and 2) a sense of ‘ubuntu’, the traditional thought of southern Africa.

Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning humanity and a sense of interconnectedness. “I am because we are.”

You can read about the philosophy of Astteria on the environment and transparency. The company controls almost the entire process of bringing the stones to market in the form of high jewelry, an asset in a world where traceability means everything with younger customers.

George was advised not to do it, that these types of stones were not suitable for England. Very British himself, ‘George the Jeweller’ followed his own instincts.

As Hadary explains to Paul Zimnisky in the podcast, it’s already been three or four years that the company has been advertising and selling Astteria diamonds via pictures and videos that are shared on all major digital marketing platforms. These include WeChat, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.

A 30-Day Return Guarantee

In his podcast, Hadary stresses that Astteria is devoted — almost fanatically so — to a 30-day, absolutely no questions asked return guarantee. Nothing has to be wrong, except that the buyer has changed his or her mind about the purchase. In a business where reputation means everything, Astteria clients know that if something goes wrong, the guarantee stands.

George Hadary’s “people skills’ are praised on the website, but they really come through loud and clear when he speaks. He is absolutely an ambitious, very intelligent, savvy businessman. But there is also a warmth to his personality that inspires engagement and trust. He’s a human you want to know — an asset to the planet.

I’m no expert on selling the finest jewelry to an elite clientele online, but it seems to me that trust and a sense that a person has fine character go a long way in cementing a long-term relationship. Read much more information about fancy diamonds and my own deep dive into The House of Astteria in AOC’s Jewelry News. ~ Anne