Outlander's Caitriona Balfe Sparkles in Van Cleef & Arpels at Starz Screening in NYC

Outlander panel at 92nd St Y

On July 28th, fans of Diana Gabaldon's novel, Outlander, got an early screening of the book's upcoming television adaptation at New York City's 92nd St. Y. 

My sister treated me to tickets to the screening. She has been a fan of Diana Gabaldon's books for some time now and teaches Outlander in her romance novel class at George Mason University in Virginia. When we got to the 92nd St. Y, we found the place packed with hundreds of other Outlander fans, some of whom even dragged their kilt-wearing husbands to the event.  Note to self…think about buying husband a kilt. 

Much has already been written about the first episode screened that night, as well as the lively panel discussion with series producer Ron Moore, Gabaldon, and the charming stars of the show, Caitriona Balfe, Tobias Menzies, and a very red-headed Sam Heughan, that followed. Moderator Leslie Yazel, Executive Editor at Cosmopolitan, was funny as hell and could have career possibilities on Saturday Night Live. She guided her guests through the epic journey of adapting Gabaldon's story about a 20thC nurse, Claire Randall (Balfe) who time-travels back to the 18thC where she falls in love with a hunky Highland hero, Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan. This is what happens when you are not careful around ancient stones that make strange noises. 

Caitriona Balfe

But forget those stones. Let's talk about the other stones on display during the discussion. The most striking thing I saw from my seat on Monday night was not Sam Heughan's thighs (you'll see plenty of that in the first episode anyway), but rather the jewelry Caitriona Balfe was wearing (this is a jewelry blog after all).  Balfe wore a beautiful flowered dress from Honor with a poor shoe choice (weird Mary Janes), but her jewelry was the star.  I  mentioned to my sister that I thought Balfe was wearing a Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra diamond necklace.  Her neck sparkled like crazy from where we were sitting and it was a little hard to make out the exact design with all that plaid in the way.  

Van Cleef and Arpels later tweeted that Balfe was wearing the storied jewelry firm's Folie des Prés earrings and ring, along with their Frivole necklace.  The ring alone retails for $56,500 and the necklace for $67,500. Gorgeous!

No time travel with these stones, but I think I hear them calling my name...

Folie des Prés diamond earrings

Folie des Prés diamond ring - $56,500

Frivole diamond necklace - $67,500