When engineer Cristina Montiel and her fiancรฉ, Ruben Yrady, decided they were going to get married, Montiel wanted a ring that conveyed their years-long romance.
The couple met as high-school students in Venezuela, and both studied engineering in college before moving to Miami in the United States in 2019. In December, Yrady proposed to Montiel in Italy with a radiant-cut diamond almost as big as a gummy bear.
โEveryone and all of my girlfriends that see it are in love with it,โ said Montiel, 30. โMy friends that know me know itโs what Iโve dreamed of, shape-wise. Everyone compliments the ring.โ
What most people do not know is that Montielโs sparkling diamond was made in a laboratory.
In recent years, lab-grown diamonds have gained recognition for their similarity to naturally occurring diamonds โ and significantly lower prices.