Do Taylor Swift's $36,000 Diamond Earrings Have a Deeper Meaning?
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Taylor Swift was always going to shimmer for her first public appearance since buying back her masters after years of negotiating. She finally had complete ownership of her life's work; she was going to dress like it.
Sure enough, the singer leaned on her preferred loud luxury formula when she met up with Selena Gomez for a celebratory dinner on May 31. First, the pop star (and her stylist, Joseph Cassell Falconer) selected a black Gucci skirt set lined in silver crystals, paired to metallic platform sandal heels and a matte bamboo bag by the same designer. Then, she twisted her curls into a low bun—the better to show off a familiar, $36,000 pair of DeBeers diamond earrings.
This "Arpeggia" set—a riff on "arpeggio," the musical term for a chord's notes played in succession—features sixty diamonds stacked into a single line on an 18-carat white gold drop silhouette. Twelve larger, prong-set diamonds contrast the smaller stones, meant to resemble "musical notes on a score," per DeBeers.
More than her diamond-crusted Cartier watch or her symbolic Jacquie Aiche Evil Eye ring, this pair is lately Taylor Swift's favorite way to look "Bejeweled" on special occasions. She's selected it at least five times over the past year, including for moments toasting her musical career. Knowing Swift's attention to detail, picking chord-inspired jewelry for major career moments isn't an accident.
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The DeBeers diamonds first emerged at the 2024 Golden Globes, where Swift arrived in a floor-length Gucci gown. That night, she had been nominated for a newly-created award: "Cinematic Box Office Achievement," earned for her record-breaking Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour documentary concert film. She didn't take home the golden trophy that night, but that didn't dim her outfit's shine. Her earrings referencing the notes making up her catalog of hits, and a green dress bringing both her debut's color scheme and serpentine Reputation styling to mind, were enough to top the best-dressed list.
Several months went by until Swift decided to bring out her DeBeers diamonds once again. They rejoined her jewelry rotation in a celebratory mode: first, for back-to-back dinners at New York City's Chez Margaux. One outing came with boyfriend Travis Kelce, where she paired $70,875-worth of date night jewelry to a crystal-coated Simkhai coat and Fleur du Mal mini dress. Swift had been officially declared a billionaire by that point in 2024, earned entirely from her music and affiliated business pursuits. Her off-duty wardrobe read "pop royalty" with every diamond.
A few weeks later, Swift returned to the same NYC hotspot for a girls' night out with Gigi Hadid. She traded her shimmering outerwear for a long-sleeve bubble dress by Simkhai. Her earrings, however, were the exact same DeBeers diamonds—this time paired to a crystalline Dôen bag and Gucci pumps.
The last DeBeers diamond outing of 2024 was Swift's most celebratory. Kelce planned a surprise Eras Tour-wrap-meets-birthday-party to celebrate the singer's 35th, complete with surprise visits from her close friends and props referencing all eleven of her albums thus far. In party photos shared by Brittany Mahomes and Ashley Avignone, Swift pairs a little black Balmain party dress with a stack of friendship bracelets and her go-to diamond drop earrings.
Swift has worn little black dresses and diamond jewelry for several recent birthdays. Her 35th, however, aligned with the end of a tour grossing more than $2 billion in ticket sales. Naturally, her party jewelry paid homage to the notes she sang to break records and make music history.
Some Swifties have no doubt counted the glistening oversize stones in her repeat earrings and deduced that album twelve is on the way. (Fans have also counted up twelves in her masters acquisition announcement and across her social media captions.) But there's a catch: Swift began wearing her DeBeers diamonds in January 2024—before she had even announced The Tortured Poets Department, her eleventh album.
Declaring an item to be an Easter egg is sometimes an invitation to be proven wrong by Swift herself. (How many Reputation outfit theories did I write over the last year—only for the singer to share she isn't releasing a re-recording?) So for now, fans can interpret the singer's $36,000 earrings as a dazzling reward for her year of hard work.
And if Swift does in fact announce new music while wearing these earrings, just remember where you first read about them.
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