Press Release: As Southern University's Marching Band formed human letters spelling-out, "Marry Me," a special half-time squad rolled-out a enormous Pure Grown Diamonds gift box to mid-field where alumnus Calvin Mills, Jr., proposed to Brittany Ramsey before a crowd of 57,000 at this weekend's Bayou Classic football game against Grambling State University.
Ring Bearer Pops From Box
Ramsey's 12 year-old daughter, Ajaya, ascended from the massive box-top and handed-off a 2.62-carat, pear-shaped Pure Grown Diamonds ring to Mills. While on one knee, he slipped it on Ramsey's finger when he "popped-the-question." ![engagement](FilesRep/Gallery/PressRelease/purediam-bowl.jpg)
"She said, Yes." lit-up on the Superdome's Jumbotron. The Baton Rouge fiancé and fiancée received a standing ovation from tens of thousands of spectators that witnessed the marriage proposal.
Superdome Sneak Preview
The Superdome proposal is a prelude to the unveiling of the first-ever collection of the world's largest lab-cultivated Pure Grown Diamonds. They are indistinguishable from mined diamonds, even under a microscope, yet are priced 30 to 40 percent less, according to Pure Grown Diamonds' president and CEO, Lisa Bissell.
Fiancé & Fiancée
Mills, 37, is a native of New Orleans -- a Southern University three-time champion football player (1997 to 1999) -- who is now president and CEO of Baton Rouge's CMC Technologies.
Ramsey, 30, is a public advocate for the Louisiana Housing Alliance and AmeriCorps. She is one of the first people to preview one of the most unique diamonds in the world – the result of decades of research and development.
Fiancé: Practical, Conflict-Free & Environmentally-Conscious
Mills explains why he opted for a Pure Grown Diamond rather than a mined-diamond. "I chose to make a statement with my public proposal in buying a Pure Grown lab-cultured diamond over a mined diamond," said Mills.
"As a technologist I am in awe of the revolutionary process that cultivated this Pure Grown Diamond, which had zero impact on the environment and did not contribute to human rights violations and sporadic violence associated with mining in undeveloped countries where diamonds are found…and it cost a lot less."
Fiancée's Tears of Joy
While gazing at her new glittering yellow diamond ring, Ramsey said, "I love everybody here at the Superdome, in Louisiana and on national television that watched me get engaged here today. I love my Pure Grown Diamond because it came from Calvin's heart and not from a mine, which means I am helping to save the planet's natural resources for my daughter's generation."
Ring Description
Pure Grown Diamonds describes Ramsey's ring as a handmade, 14-karat white gold ladies antique style setting with a 2.62-carat pear-shaped lab-grown yellow diamond that is VVS2 clarity. The gold weighs 16 grams. The center diamond is surrounded by more than 1 carat of vivid-white diamond clusters.
The company declines to release the price of the ring, saying "Obviously, that would be inappropriate for broadcast and publication on this special public occasion."
World's Largest Laboratory-Cultivated Pure Grown Diamonds
"Pure Grown Diamonds are genuine diamonds that have the same physical, chemical and optical properties as mined diamonds," emphasizd Bissell. She is amongst the few women diamond industry CEOs in the world.
"Pure Grown Diamonds is about to change the landscape of the diamond jewelry business with the introduction of the first laboratory-cultivated, eco-friendly, 'conflict-free' diamonds of sizeable carat weight, clarity, color, cut and amazing brilliance," said Bissell.
Superdome Stunt
The idea for the Superdome publicity stunt began when Mills was completing his ring order on the phone with Pure Grown Diamonds' Bissell in New York. He told her that he was going to propose on the 50 yard line during the Bayou Classic.
"We then put our team to work on devising a Superdome stunt and decided to build a gigantic gift box for Calvin, which we viewed as a prime opportunity for publicity for Pure Grown Diamonds," said Bissell.
She continued, "Where else are you going to find an audience of these many people under one roof, in one place, at one-time, like we had at the Superdome."
Billboards
Just to make sure that she got the attention of the estimated 250,000 tourists that traveled to New Orleans as part of near week-long Bayou Classic festivities, Bissell's Pure Grown Diamonds company secured five Superdome-area digital billboards. They are flashing photos of the half-time engagement and a 15 percent www.PureGrownDiamonds.com discount offer through Tuesday morning.
Diamond Shopping Sticker Shock
"Pure Grown Diamonds' 21st Century technological achievement comes during the December holidays when 26 percent of U.S. couples get engaged; when most men will spend 25 percent of their annual salaries on diamond rings and when rough diamond prices are at an all-time high," emphasized Bissell.
"Most U.S. men will suffer sticker shock this Christmas shopping season," explained Bissell. "Rough diamond prices are up 75 percent in the past five years due to depletion of natural resources and increased global consumer demand."
"Pure Grown Diamonds is the new, affordable 'conflict-free,' eco-friendly option for consumers concerned about human and workers' rights and mining's environmental impact and price," she said.
Federal Trade Commission: Genuine Diamonds
"Pure Grown Diamonds are not synthetic diamonds, not costume jewelry and not cubic zirconium. These are genuine, sparkling precious stones, which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission recognizes as laboratory-cultivated diamonds," emphasized Pure Grown Diamonds' chief technical officer, Dr. Devi Shanker Misra, PhD. He is a world-renowned physicist and the inventor of the Pure Grown Diamonds laboratory cultivation process.
The Pure Grown Diamond Process
"Pure Grown Diamonds are cultivated in state-of-the-art facilities where the earth's process of crystalizing carbon into a diamond is exactingly replicated with Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition technology," explained Misra.
The process starts with a thin, transparent diamond plate, known as a seed. The seed is placed inside a low-pressure microwave chamber. Hydrogen and methane gases are introduced. A microwave generator pumps energy into the chamber that ignites a glowing plasma ball. Carbon molecules rain on the seed. Crystallization begins.
Growing a significant carat weight, brilliant, near-colorless diamond occurs within six to 10 weeks, according to Misra.
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