Over the weekend I was half-watching the 1990 (20 years ago!) film Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and one particular scene caught my eye.

It’s the bit where he gives her a fabulous diamond necklace; here’s the scene, at the start of this YouTube compilation:

I’ve always enjoyed Julia Roberts’ reaction when he snaps the lid of the box onto her fingers, but the other notable point about the necklace is that he hasn’t bought it for her – he’s just borrowed it for her for the evening.

Gere has to manage Roberts’ expectations quite carefully; before he opens the box he tells her, “I don’t want you to get too excited – it’s only on loan“.

But the fact that the necklace isn’t to be hers forever doesn’t seem terribly important – either to her or to him.

What’s important is that she will be adorned by something really special for the evening. She will dazzle with diamonds (and in this case I think, rubies) for the few hours that it matters the most.

And actually the fact that the necklace will not be hers for life might even increase their enjoyment of it on this particular night: the jewellery – just like the time that they are spending together – is a really precious thing, and they must make the most of it, enjoying every moment while it lasts.

So there it is: Pretty Woman teaches us that you don’t need to own fine diamond jewellery in order to enjoy wearing it!

You really can look and feel fabulous wearing borrowed bling, whether it’s for your wedding or a night at the opera with Richard Gere, and that’s why we do what we do here at diamondthrills…