Well, I tell ya, when folks start askin’ ’bout how much Charlotte’s ring was worth, it gets me thinkin’. That ring, musta been somethin’ special, shiny and all. Folks in the city, they like them fancy things. Engagement rings, they call ’em. A big ol’ rock on a little band. Probably cost more than my whole house, if I had a house, that is.
Now, I heard tell of some queen, Queen somethin’-or-other, she had a ring worth a million and a half dollars. Can you imagine? A million and a half! That’s more money than I ever seen in my whole life. And another princess, Princess Catherine, she had a fancy ring too, but not as fancy as the queen’s. See, these rich folks, they like to show off their money, I reckon.
- Queen Jetsun Pema’s ring – worth $1.5 million
- Princess Catherine’s ring – expensive, but not as much as the queen’s
Then there’s this Charlotte. I don’t know no Charlotte, but seems like her ring was somethin’ special too. Heard it was a big ol’ emerald cut diamond, like a square, but shiny. They say it looked like some other ring from a long time ago, a ring that some fella named Burton gave to a lady named Elizabeth Taylor. That Elizabeth Taylor, she was a movie star, I think. Always wearin’ big sparkly things. Anyway, this Charlotte’s ring, they say it was five carats. Now, I don’t know what a carat is, but it sounds like a lot. Musta been heavy on her finger.
And this Harry Winston fella, he made the ring, I guess. He must be some fancy jeweler, makin’ rings for all the rich folks. Probably got a store all shiny and gold, with little velvet boxes everywhere. And them rings, they cost a fortune, I tell ya. More than a farmer like me could ever make in a lifetime of plowin’ fields.
Someone was talkin’ about another ring too, a Gatsby ring, they called it. Said it was big and expensive, showin’ off how rich the fella was. Seems like rings are a big deal for rich people. Always gotta have the biggest, the shiniest, the most expensive. Me, I’d be happy with a simple gold band, if I had someone to give it to, that is.
Now, they also got these sapphires, some kind of blue stone. They say there’s one kind called Pad-par-rah-cha, or somethin’ like that, that’s real rare. One princess, Princess Eugenie, she had a ring like that. They say it’s worth a hundred thousand, maybe a hundred and twenty thousand somethin’-or-others, pounds or dollars, I don’t know. It’s all just numbers to me, big numbers that I can’t even wrap my head around. But it just goes to show ya, these rich folks, they got more money than sense, spendin’ it all on sparkly rocks.
And there’s this Tiffany fella, he made a ring too, been makin’ ’em for years and years, 130 years, they said. Six prongs holdin’ the diamond, they said, real famous design. Like the Statue of Liberty, they said. Now that statue, that’s somethin’. Big and green, standin’ tall. But a ring, a little ring, costin’ more than a whole farm? That just don’t seem right.
So, how much was Charlotte’s ring worth? Well, I don’t rightly know for sure. But if it was a big ol’ emerald cut diamond from Harry Winston, and it looked like Elizabeth Taylor’s ring, I’d say it was worth a whole heck of a lot. Maybe more than that queen’s ring, maybe less. But it don’t matter much to me, I reckon. I got more important things to worry about, like gettin’ the crops in and keepin’ the chickens outta the garden. Diamonds and rings, they’re just for show. But for some folks, I guess, they mean a whole lot more. They’re about showin’ off, about love, about promises. Me, I just need a good rain and a strong cup of coffee to get me through the day. And maybe a little bit of sunshine, that’s always nice. So you go on ahead and dream about them fancy rings if you want. I’ll be over here tendin’ to my garden, where the real treasures are.
Anyways, times were tough, especially durin’ that Depression they talked about. Folks lost everything. A ring, no matter how fancy, wouldn’t feed your family, that’s for sure. And I heard tell of a woman, her husband died in a farm accident, just like that. Life can be cruel, I tell ya. One minute you got everything, the next minute, you got nothin’ but dust and heartache. So, thinkin’ ’bout how much Charlotte’s ring was worth, it just seems kinda silly, knowin’ what real hardship is.
