The Star of China: A Douyin screencap showing Heung putting the necklace on his wife, Chen. (Inset) A close-up of the diamond adorning the necklace.
HONG KONG film producer Charles Heung and his wife Tiffany Chen showed off the 75 carat briolette diamond necklace that he bought for Chen a decade ago in a Douyin (akin to TikTok) post on Valentine’s Day.
China Press reported that the 64-year-old Chen shared a video of the couple speaking about the HK$86.1mil (RM48.6mil) diamond that was then one of the world’s most expensive ever under the hammer in her Douyin account.
Chen said the water drop-shaped diamond was the “biggest and most perfect” diamond that had been named “The Star of China”.
“When I was checking out the diamond at that time, its value was rumoured to be more than HK$150mil (RM85mil).
“But when it went under the hammer during the auction, I guess I made the bid too early so we got the diamond for only about HK$80mil including commission. Of course, I was very happy at that time and I want to thank my husband for this gift,” she said.
Chen said she decided to name the diamond after China because she was proud of her Chinese heritage.
Heung, 74, who is one of the most successful film producers in Hong Kong with his China Star Entertainment Group showbiz empire, said he had worked hard to buy Chen the diamond.
“When I married Chen (in 1980), we had nothing, not even a house or flowers. But we have worked very hard together until we could buy such a diamond.
“I want to tell the young people out there that they should work hard and not think of other things until they succeed,” he said.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
