Diamonds Are a Cheater’s as Well as a Girl’s Best Friend

For Robert Charlton, wealthy English businessman, diamonds were a way to apologize for his infidelity. After 26 years of marriage, his wife had more than 40 glittering masterpieces. Read on for more details, but don’t let the stars get in your eyes.

According to news sources, long-suffering Elizabeth Charlton stayed married to Robert Charlton for 26 years, enduring his infidelity. Unlike many other women, she at least at the end of the day had more than 40 diamond pieces to show for her trouble, including antique diamond earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. Every time her rich husband cheated, she always knew because each time afterwards he bought her some extravagant jewelry to assuage his guilt and try to make amends. (He never stopped cheating, but he did keep buying.) When the couple’s daughter auctioned off the late couple’s jewelry collection last month, it was revealed that Charlton's infidelity cost him nearly 300,000 pounds ($492,400). Clare Durham, a spokesperson for Woolley & Wallis, the auction house handling the sale:

“He bought her a lot of things to keep her happy and to ease the pain of his many affairs. I think everybody knew; it was a fairly open secret.”

Charlton died in 1974 and over the years he bought his wife diamond everything; earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. The most expensive piece, a riviere necklace made up of 54 diamonds, was sold for 50,000 pounds (about $95,000). The necklace contained beautiful Edwardian and Victorian diamonds, which made the piece antique even when Charlton bought in 1960. Charlton's daughter chose to auction a total of 43 pieces after other family members who kept other pieces, declined to accept them. Are diamonds a cheater’s best friend? What do YOU think about this?