Egads! Zuckerberg under attack for size of wife’s ring

First the flailing Facebook IPO has been blanketed in a cloud of suspicion, now Mark Zuckerberg is being accused of shortchanging his new wife, Priscilla Chan, on her wedding ring.

Which is worse?

“What happened to three months’ salary Mark? Billionaire Zuckerberg spends an estimated $25,000 on ‘simple’ ruby ring for Priscilla Chan,” screamed a headline in the Daily Mail.

And TMZ wrote, “If Mark Zuckerberg’s new wife was expecting a MASSIVE diamond on her wedding ring...she was SORELY disappointed.”

The stories surfaced Thursday after paparazzi photos of a dressed-down Chan flashing her new ruby ring were posted online.

The photos were taken from some distance away, so it’s hard to get a clear look at the ring. But that hasn’t stopped jewelery dealers from speculating on how much Zuckerberg may have paid for the ring.

Experts consulted by the Daily Mail put the price of the ring at about $25,000, but Michael Arnstein, chief executive of the Natural Sapphire Co., told Yahoo’s Shine blog that he thinks the price was significantly higher than that.

“It’s a small stone, but rubies can be extremely expensive,” he said, putting the cost of the ruby alone at $20,000 to $100,000 depending on the quality of the stone.

Zuckerberg and Chan, who were married last week at a small ceremony in the backyard of their Palo Alto home, seem to have very little interest in displays of wealth, and it’s not likely that the gossip magazines will change that.

What the couple might be more worried about however, is living life under the paparazzi microscope.

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