Mills Jewelers Notebook
December 24th, 2013
Stunning actress Gabrielle Union and NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade took to their respective Twitter pages on Saturday to jointly announce their engagement with a close-up shot of the ring — a fabulous 8.5-carat cushion-cut diamond set on a simple platinum band. Jewelry experts pegged the value of the stylish four-prong sparkler at nearly $1 million.

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Best known for her roles in Bring It On and Think Like a Man, the 41-year-old former model surprised her fans with this tweet on Saturday, “Sooooo this happened…#Yessss.”

She included a link to her Instagram page, where her 1.4 million followers were treated to a detailed view of her mammoth ring. In the photo, Union is wearing the ring as she gently caresses Wade’s hand.

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Also on Saturday, the 31-year-old Miami Heat guard tweeted, “She said YES!!!,” while including a link to the same ring photo on his Instagram page — a page followed by 2.3 million fans.

MailOnline reported that sourcing the 8.5-carat center stone was a challenge for Beverly Hills jewelry designer Jason Arasheben. Apparently, it required three buying trips to Miami to locate the perfect stone.

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The December Essence cover girl and the defending NBA champion have been a high-profile couple since 2009. Despite a brief breakup earlier this year and the challenges of their busy schedules, the couple agreed to try to make the relationship work.

“At the end of the day, we came back together and said we want to continue this and we want to get better each day,” Wade told Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.