Vanessa Bryant is close to facing her third Christmas without her husband, Kobe and their daughter Gianna – who were killed in a helicopter crash with seven other people in January.
But on Tuesday, the doting mum revealed that Kobe will always stay in her heart after showing off a stunning diamond ring in tribute to her late spouse. While there’s no denying her nails looked on point, it was her sparkling diamond ring that really caught our eye.
In a fitting tribute to her husband, Vanessa wore a wrap-around ring – which reads ‘Kobe’ – on her wedding finger in place of her engagement and wedding bands. In many Western countries, the tradition of wearing an engagement ring on the fourth finger on the left hand can be traced back to the Ancient Romans. They believed this finger had a vein that ran directly to the heart, the Vena Amoris, meaning “vein of love”.
Following Kobe and Gianna’s tragic death, Vanessa paid tribute to them by changing her Instagram profile photo to one of her late husband and daughter. The heartbreaking image showed Kobe smiling down on his daughter, who had her arms wrapped around her dad’s neck. It was the first time Vanessa publicly acknowledged the shocking loss of her loved ones.
Nine people, including Kobe and Gianna, lost their lives when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Calabasas, Los Angeles. The other victims were identified as John Altobelli, his wife Keri and their daughter Alyssa, Christina Mause, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton Chester and the pilot, Ara Zobayan. They were all travelling to Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for Gianna’s basketball game.
