Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s engagement ring broke all the rules.
When John F. Kennedy Jr. proposed to a Calvin Klein publicist over the Fourth of July weekend in 1995, he offered her a platinum eternity band set with alternating diamonds and sapphires. This was a modest choice by America’s most eligible bachelor.
The ring, and the romance it represents, is back in the spotlight thanks to FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.”
Kennedy, who was 34 at the time of his proposal, drew inspiration from the ring of his late mother, former first lady Jackie Kennedy. The older Kennedy owned a gold and emerald eternity band by Jean Schlumberger, which he named “The Float” for its understated design.
Bessette Kennedy confirmed the relationship, telling journalist Carole Radziwill that the band was a “copy of the ring[John’s]mother wore,” according to Radziwill’s memoir, What Remains.
The eulogy was particularly poignant given that Jackie died in May 1994, before the couple’s relationship became serious. Bessette Kennedy never met her mother-in-law.
The sapphire and diamond in her engagement ring also had a family connection. They were procured by Maurice Tempelsman, a Belgian-born diamond merchant who remained Jackie’s friend until his death.
Rosemary Terenzio, a longtime assistant to President Kennedy, wrote in her memoir, “A Fairytale Interrupted,” that she once picked up the ring from Tempelsman’s office without knowing what was inside. It remained in a Duane Reade plastic bag on Kennedy’s desk until he proposed.
JFK Jr. reportedly posed this question on a fishing boat on Martha’s Vineyard, uttering the line, “Fishing is so much better with a partner,” to which he received a shy reply, “I’ll think about it.”
The ring was about to arrive in time for the wedding. During the couple’s infamous argument in Central Park in early 1996, the entirety of which was captured by paparazzi, Bessette Kennedy ripped the band off her finger in a fit of anger. Kennedy hurriedly retrieved it, put it in his pocket, and eventually returned it.
Although now remembered as a minimalist fashion icon, Bessette Kennedy’s aversion to ornamentation is well-documented. Bessette Kennedy did not wear earrings or a necklace at her own wedding, and in the years that followed, she often left her eternity band at home, preferring a gold wedding ring. This unique wedding ring was cast from the ribs of a rattlesnake by my friend Gogo Ferguson.
For a woman who once asked a Prada staff member to remove the logo from her ski wear, even sapphire may seem like too much.
Her jewelry habits were sentimental rather than showy. According to Sunita Kumar Nair’s 2023 book CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion, she wore her mother’s first wedding ring in college and, in light of her parents’ messy divorce, “joked that she had to soak it in holy water” before putting it on.
The whereabouts of the engagement ring remain unknown. On July 16, 1999, Bessette Kennedy, her husband, and her sister Lauren died when the small plane Kennedy was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. It is unclear if she was wearing a band or if it was recovered.
“Bessette Kennedy’s life and romance with John Kennedy is shrouded in myth and mystery,” said Rachel Garrahan, jewelry director for British Vogue.
“Her typically minimalist engagement ring is no exception.”
