Sharon Colman turned down the offer of De Beers�s gift of diamonds by insisting that she was not really here for De Beers. Miss Colman was in Los Angeles, where her seven-minute animated film Badgered was among the Oscar nominations. She has never enjoyed the big star treatment. The 27-year-old film school graduate, who has a modest and intermittent income, struggled to find sponsors to fly her to the states and put her up in a hotel so she could attend the awards. But when De Beers offered her a Diamond Healing therapy and massage using gems worth $6 million, plus her pick from a $30 million selection of diamonds to wear, she said she was "too busy."

"I really dont have time to sit around sipping champagne," said Colman, from Balloch in Dunbartonshire. Her attitude was in sharp contrast to that of Keira Knightley, who spent hours choosing from De Beers diamond rings, necklaces, earrings, and tiaras laid out at the heavily-guarded Soho Hotel in the Hollywood Hills before Oscar night. But a spokesman for Colman said she was "perfectly happy" with the costume jewellery she had already chosen at Butler and Wilson, whose necklaces start at GBP18. "Diamonds are not really her thing," said the spokesman.

"Sharon doesnt feel it is in keeping with the image she is trying to portray." A stunned Hollywood source said, "De Beers dont just select anyone. Of course she must be busy, but her film is only seven minutes long, for goodness sake." "I hope its not a decision she lives to regret - these people dont ask twice."