Ana de Armas Engagement Ring Photos

The clouds over Cala Ratjada — Mallorca's easternmost village — disperse to reveal rays of light, which seem to animate the town's blue pools and earthen stonework. Then, there's some commotion in the bay: a sleek, mercurial sailboat is flanked by support vessels carrying film crews, wardrobe assistants, producers and more. At the center of this scene, with a shortened bob and glimmering eyes, sits Ana de Armas, the Cuban-born actress who is set to appear in three major titles over the next few months (No Time to Die, the latest James Bond movie; Blonde, Netflix's Marilyn Monroe biopic; and Deep Water, in which de Armas stars alongside her ex, Ben Affleck). "Let's do this," she says, smiling widely on the playback video feed.

de Armas is in the Balearic Islands to film her second campaign which premieres worldwide on September 8, for the Natural Diamond Council, a group that seeks to advance the integrity of the natural diamond industry by inspiring and educating consumers about all that goes into their jewels. The NDC, as it is called for short, counts the De Beers Group and the Arctic Canadian Diamond Company among its members. de Armas tells InStyle she was drawn to the association because of "how much they do, and in such a clean, honest way." Particularly, she adds, in the way they support communities where diamonds are mined: "I've been blown away by seeing how they support [communities], by providing the tools to grow. A mine may last for 30 years, but life, of course, goes on."

Ana de Armas

"If I had known that we would be living through what we've faced over the past 18 months, I'm sure I would've done things differently." 

— Ana de Armas

In the sailboat scene, de Armas is wearing a Cuban-link bracelet that is all-over embedded with pavé diamonds. In another, which finds her in a vintage sports car (with red lipstick to match) in the Mallorcan capital of Palma, she wears a weighty Marquise-cut diamond ring, along with a diamond-studded link necklace. The ring alone is enough to bring celebrity news sites to their knees, so let us reiterate: This shoot is fashion for fashion's sake. The ring is very real, but there's no promise behind it other than the NDC's pledge to support ethical, sustainable diamond production.

"This campaign makes me want to get out of my shell, and I hope that it inspires viewers to feel and do the same," de Armas says. "Don't leave what you want to do for the future; be present. If I had known that we would be living through what we've faced over the past 18 months, I'm sure I would've done things differently. But, as we know, it's impossible to know what will happen."

Throughout the campaign, de Armas is largely dressed in designs that were custom made for the project by Malyia McNaughton, a participant in the Natural Diamond Council's first ever Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative. The EDDI program is a partnership between the NDC and jeweler to the stars Lorraine Schwartz, and it provides a total of $1 million in diamond credit, industry opportunities, and resources to BIPOC jewelry designers. McNaughton, whose label is named Made by Malyia, says: "For the pieces I created, the theme was to update classic shapes but with distinct and notable twists. I also wanted this jewelry to spark a connection between people again, because it's something we've been missing for so long. Jewelry has the ability to kickstart, or restart, a sense of optimism and connection." Through the NDC, McNaughton's campaign designs have been made available for manufacturers nationwide.

For de Armas, the Spanish setting brought back deep personal ties (she once lived in Madrid) and served as a reminder for valuing each and every day — especially those moments in which interactions, adventures, new discoveries, and visits with loved ones are possible. "Who the hell knows if or when we're going to have another pandemic, another catastrophe, another problem. You don't know that, and I don't know it, either. So, go get together with the people you love. Enjoy life right now. Go get on that sailboat!"

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