Diamonds Shine Light On Friendship

It has long been said that diamonds are a girl's best friends. But have you ever heard of diamonds helping 13 women become best friends?

This week's People magazine profiled a group of women from California who decided to buy and share a spectacular diamond necklace worth $37,000. But in the end, they wound up with so much more than they bargained for.

It all started when Jonell McLain, 59, of Ventura, Calif., saw the diamond necklace in the window of Van Gundy & Sons Jewelers in August of 2004.

"I felt really comfortable trying it on. I couldn't resist it," McLain tells The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. "I tried it on, and it was absolutely beautiful."

McLain initially wondered how anyone could buy anything that cost that much, especially when there are starving children in the world.

"The world where I live, $37,000 for something like this, when people are hungry, doesn't really compute," McLain says. "But to take something like this and make it about sharing with your friends. It actually has a meaning beyond just owning."

McLain started telling her friends about the necklace and soon some of them were going to the store to try it on, too.

Priscilla Van Gundy was not in McLain's circle of friends, but when McLain gathered her 11 friends and made the storeowner an offer, Tom Van Gundy agreed to take her offer only if she would include his wife in the group.

"At that point, I had lost my sister, Doreen," Priscilla Van Gundy says. "It had been a very difficult time for the whole family. But Tom had been negotiating with Jonell the whole time. It seems like all these women kept on coming in and the level of the noise just kept on rising. He just saw the snowball effect of this noise level and this happiness and he wanted me to be part of that. He was sweet about that, and they included me."
On Sept. 19, 2004, the necklace was purchased by 13 women ages 50-62. Some are married with children, some are working, and others are retired and never had children.

Dana Murdock is responsible for the name of the necklace: Jewelia, pronounced Julia.

Murdock says, "We first became interested in the group around the necklace at the same time that Julia Child passed away last August. And she was always a hero of mine, and we decided that it would be nice to name the necklace Jewelia. There was some debate about the spelling."

Each of the women gets to wear the necklace for 4 weeks (for most, it is the month of their birthdays). There are really no rules, only humorous suggestions, McLain notes. "We say if you go to Paris, you have to take Jewelia. And then we have a rule that isn't a rule but it's amusing. It's about making love with your husband."

McLain emphasizes, "The rule is really sharing because that's the important thing. You wouldn't be talking to me if I bought this necklace all by myself. It's because it is a group of people. It has a bigger purpose that relates to the community. The community is so much more powerful. It's about women sharing. I understand that you are really involved with breast cancer work and that you know the power of women, protecting life and everybody's children's lives."

The women also raise money for various causes. They have raised $5,500 for the Domestic Violence Project and they plan to do more. They meet as a group once a month to pass the necklace on to the person next in line.

Roz McGrath says wearing that necklace was not in her wildest dreams. But adds, "I have worn Jewelia everywhere. I've worn her to the gym. I work out with about 50 women that Jazzercise and there was a lot of interest."

Right now, McLain is in possession of the necklace. She is turning 60 in September.

"You aren't what you own, but you are what you do, and you are what you do for other people." McLain says. "When we came together as friends, we have gotten so much more out of it. We were so close as friends. It's been an amazing experience."