Hearts On Fire awards $1 million-plus in bling

New York—Before today, Jennifer Barnier, 50, never owned a diamond. But after winning a $1 million Hearts On Fire (HOF) diamond-shopping spree at Michael C. Fina this morning, she said she'd wear diamonds every day for the rest of her life.

Barnier was the grand-prize winner among three finalists for the 11th Annual Valentine's Day promotion from Godiva Chocolatier, co-sponsored this year by HOF. Two other winners, Karen Sanders of Denver, and Tony Griggs of Bellevue, Wash., won $50,000 worth of diamonds. All three received a year's supply of Godiva chocolate, to be awarded in monthly installments.

Barnier started out her shopping spree with a pair of $19,000 diamond stud earrings and topped it off with a spectacular $130,000 diamond choker necklace, featuring 132 HOF diamonds and weighing 8.5 carats.

"This has been a transformational sort of experience," she said, while smiling as brightly as the eye-catching diamond necklace. "I never thought I was a diamond person, I never saw myself as a person who would wear diamonds, and I'm going to be wearing diamonds every day for the rest of my life."

Going in, she said she had no preconceived notion about diamonds or people who wear the stones, but it was important to learn that HOF only uses conflict-free diamonds.

"Integrity is really important to me, and when I saw that [HOF diamonds] are conflict-free, I really felt they fit," she said.

Helping her go from zero diamonds to an entire diamond wardrobe was her partner of nine years, Lynett Oliver, who said it was the chocolate that drew them into the contest.

"We laughed, what would we do with a million dollars of diamonds?" Oliver said.

That changed after learning of the prize and checking out the jewelry at a local retailer, All About Diamonds, which carries HOF. She recalled how the salesperson told Barnier to try on a pair of studs.

"We both just got tears in our eyes, they're so gorgeous," she said.

While the Austin, Texas, pair took the top prize, all the winners browsed giddily through the collection of diamonds that had been assembled by the company.

"This is a great way to spend your day," said runner-up Sanders, who enlisted boyfriend Kyle Callaway to help choose $50,000 worth of diamonds.

Told that the diamond bracelet she was trying on cost $25,000, she quipped, "I can afford that."

Callaway also got in on the action, upgrading his cubic zirconium studs to a pair of $8,000 diamond ones.

In addition to the diamond and chocolate giveaways, the contest also included an auction of several diamond-jewelry pieces that have been worn by celebrities such as Teri Hatcher and Sienna Miller. The value of the gems is an estimated $50,000, and they will be auctioned over the next two weeks through Charity Folks, an online marketplace for nonprofit fund-raising. The proceeds will benefit a charity picked by Barnier.

Alison Tryon of Godiva said this year's partnership with HOF marks the biggest prize ever given away in the Valentine's Day promotion.

"We're always trying to top ourselves and do something more extravagant," she said. "We try to think of the most romantic prize ever for Valentine's Day, and diamonds get that wow reaction."