Thanks to a modern marketing campaign, the not-really-rare gem became the iconic stone for eternal love. A 274-carat masterpiece cut from a 599-carat stone, the Centenary diamond is one of the ...

diamonds. Sure, part of it is due to cost: older generations might have considered it standard to spend 3-months’ salary on a ring, but this rule of thumb doesn’t resonate with millennials.

She sang Diamonds Are Forever – but Dame Shirley Bassey is to auction some of her jewels for charity. Among the gems to go under the hammer will be a diamond ring given to her as a gift by Sir ...