Friday, October 11, 2013

Music Friday: Adele Turns Her Sorrow Into Treasured Gold in Her 2010 Mega-Hit, ‘Rolling in the Deep’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, British sensation Adele “turns her sorrow into treasured gold” in one of the most popular tunes of all time, the 2010 international mega-hit, “Rolling in the Deep.”

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In this powerful song about a scorned woman seeking to turn the tables on a lover who has done her wrong, Adele promises revenge. In the end, she knows her anguish will pale in comparison to torment he's about to suffer.

She takes great pleasure in plunging him into the depths of despair, and this is where our precious metal reference comes into focus: "Turn my sorrow into treasured gold / You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you've sown."

Not surprisingly, the song was inspired by the real-life breakup of Adele and her boyfriend. It’s been reported that Adele (born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins) co-wrote the song with Paul Epworth in a single afternoon.

“Rolling in the Deep,” which was the lead single from Adele’s breakthrough album 21, reached #1 in 11 countries including the U.S. and Canada. As of September, it had sold 7.98 million digital copies in the U.S. alone, ranking second all-time, just behind The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” (8.40 million downloads).

“Rolling in the Deep” won three Grammy Awards in 2012 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video.

We invite you to watch the video of Adele’s live performance of “Rolling in the Deep” from a 2010 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

“Rolling in the Deep”
Written by Adele Laurie Blue Adkins and Paul Richard Epworth. Performed by Adele.

There's a fire starting in my heart,
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.
Finally, I can see you crystal clear,
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare,
See how I'll leave with every piece of you,
Don't underestimate the things that I will do.

There's a fire starting in my heart,
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.
The scars of your love remind me of us,
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all.
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless,
I can't help feeling,

We could have had it all,
(Your gonna wish you, never had met me)
Rolling in the deep,
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside your hand,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

Baby, I have no story to be told,
But I've heard one on you and I'm gonna make your head burn,
Think of me in the depths of your despair,
Making a home down there as mine sure won't be shared,

The scars of your love remind me of us,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
I can't help feeling,
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

We could have had it all,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside your hand,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

Could have had it all,
Rolling in the deep,
You had my heart inside of your hands,
But you played it with a beating.

Throw your soul through every open door,
Count your blessings to find what you look for.
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold,
You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you've sown.

(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
We could have had it all,
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
We could have had it all.
(You're gonna wish you never had met me),
It all, it all, it all.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

We could have had it all,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hand,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

Could have had it all,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)
Rolling in the deep.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)
You had my heart inside of your hands,
(You're gonna wish you never had met me

But you played it,
You played it,
You played it,
You played it to the beat.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

World’s First Pair of Pure Platinum Stilettos Carries a Price Tag of $112,826

Despite technical challenges related to platinum’s 3,215°F melting temperature, House of Borgezie designer Christopher Shellis has introduced the world’s first shoe fabricated entirely from precious platinum. Dubbed the Borgezie Platinum Cleopatra Stiletto, a pair costs $112,826 and carries an eternal 1,000-year guarantee. New York magazine fondly called Shellis’ new creation a “foot tiara.”

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“Due to the extremely high temperatures required to work with platinum, it proved to be one of my greatest challenges,” Shellis told The Daily Mail. “The platinum stiletto took [more than] four years of development.”

In 2010, Shellis made headlines with his $159,550 Eternal Borgezie Diamond Stilettos — shoes designed in 18-karat yellow gold and featuring 2,200 brilliant-cut diamonds. At the time, he revealed that he had to reinvent the fundamental principal of the classic stiletto construction, using a fluted heel shape reminiscent of a lily stamen.

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The same stamen-fluted heel design is seen on the Platinum Cleopatra Stiletto, but this model has the name “Borgezie” spelled out around the heel and across the front strap. An ingenious design allows the owner to replace the heel and sole within minutes without any professional assistance.

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Shellis noted that each pair takes more than 100 hours to construct. “The result is not so much a shoe, but rather a fine piece of jewelry that can be miraculously, yet practically, worn as the ultimate feminine adornment,” Shellis said.

Shellis is comfortable incorporating elements of jewelry design into his fine footwear because he has more than 25 years of experience in the jewelry field, including diamond setting, gold and silversmithing and precious metal casting.

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The U.K.-based House of Borgezie is also offering an 18-karat yellow gold version of the Cleopatra Stiletto at a slightly lower price than its platinum counterpart. The gold version sells for $95,730.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Huge Trove of 16th and 17th Century Jewels Unearthed 101 Years Ago by Demolition Workers Goes on Display at the Museum of London

Back in June of 1912, London demolition workers were breaking down the dilapidated Wakefield House in Cheapside when they discovered a decayed wooden box beneath the brick cellar floor. Stacked within the box were trays of jewelry and gemstones, a priceless cache of 500 pieces.

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The jewelry, which had been hidden and forgotten for more than 250 years, now represents the world’s largest known discovery of Elizabethan and Jacobean-period jewelry. Dubbed the Cheapside Hoard, the collection will be on display at the Museum of London from October 11 until April 27, 2014. It’s the first time all 500 items have been on exhibit in more than 100 years.

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Among the items on display are rings, necklaces, jeweled scent bottles and fan holders, brooches and bracelets. Reflecting how London was a hub of international trade, there are emeralds from Colombia and Brazil; Brazilian amazonite; spinel, iolites and chrysoberyl from Sri Lanka; Indian rubies and diamonds; Persian turquoise; lapis lazuli from Afghanistan; Red Sea peridot, opals, garnets; amethysts from Bohemia and Hungary; and pearls from Bahrain.

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One star of the show is a watch set into an enormous carved-out hexagonal Colombian emerald. Another standout is a gold, diamond and emerald hat pin in the shape of a salamander.

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Most of the jewelry is representative of the 16th and 17th centuries, but some of the items date back 1,300 years to the Byzantium period.

According to thehistoryblog.com, the demolition workers helped themselves to the jewels, wrapped them in handkerchiefs and stuffed them into their pockets, boots and caps. They knew that they could make a quick buck by selling the bounty — no questions asked — to a local man they knew as Stoney Jack.

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Jack’s real name was G.F. Lawrence, an antiques dealer who was also the head of acquisitions for the brand new London Museum which, coincidentally, opened the same year the Cheapside Hoard was discovered. Lawrence purchased every Cheapside item that came into his shop, and this is why the huge collection stands intact today.

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Exhibition curator Hazel Forsythe believes the Hoard was buried between 1640 and 1666. Scholars assume the huge jewelry collection was probably the stock of a jeweler or a group of jewelers who hid it for later retrieval. In the 17th century, Cheapside was known for its jewelry shops. Why the Hoard remained under the basement floor of the Wakefield House for two and a half centuries is still a mystery.

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

‘Greatest White Diamond’ Sets Auction Record, While ‘Premier Blue’ Flops at Sotheby's Hong Kong

A perfect 118-carat D-flawless oval diamond sold for $30.6 million at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels Auction in Hong Kong yesterday, setting a new record for the highest price ever paid for a white diamond. Sotheby’s had called it “the greatest white diamond ever to appear at auction,” and the egg-sized gem certainly lived up to its pre-show hype.

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Flopping at the same auction was the Premier Blue, a 7.59-carat internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond that failed in its bid to establish a record for the highest per-carat price ever paid for any diamond.

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The blue diamond, which is believed to be the largest of its type ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America, could not meet its reserve and went unsold when bidding petered out at $16.1 million, according to the South China Morning Post. Sotheby’s had estimated it would sell for $19 million, or $2.5 million per carat.

The Associated Press reported that the 118-carat white diamond was sold during a six-minute exchange that came down to a battle between two telephone bidders. The winner was described as a “private collector” who wished to remain anonymous. The seller was also unidentified.

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The $30.6 million selling price set a new record for a white diamond, edging out the “Winston Legacy,” a 101.73-carat D-flawless pear-shape gem that was sold at Christie’s in May for $26.7 million.

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The flawless oval diamond weighed an astounding 299 carats when it was discovered in its rough form two years ago in an African mine.

The auction record for the highest price ever paid at auction for any jewel may be crushed next month when Sotheby’s hosts an ultra-rare 59.60-carat pink diamond at its Geneva sale. The gem is expected to fetch at least $60 million, which should handily displace the current record holder — a fancy intense pink diamond weighing 24.8 carats that Laurence Graff purchased in 2010 for $46 million.

Monday, October 07, 2013

Glee Star Naya Rivera and Rapper Big Sean Are Engaged; Halo-Style Ring Features Cushion-Cut Diamond

Glee star Naya Rivera was beaming with some new bling as she posed on the red carpet of Latina magazine’s Hollywood Hot List Party in Los Angeles on Thursday. On her left hand was a brand new halo-style cushion-cut diamond engagement ring that was given to her by rapper Big Sean.

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A jewelry-industry expert told Hollywoodlife.com that she believed the center diamond weighed approximately 5 to 6 carats and that the ring was valued at somewhere between $50,000 and $125,000, depending on the quality of the diamond.

The expert, Shari Fabrikant of Robert Fabrikant Inc., also guessed that the ring was designed in platinum and featured micro-pavé diamonds on the delicate halo surrounding the center stone and on the band.

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The relationship between Rivera, 26, and Big Sean, 25, seems to be on the fast track, as the newly engaged couple had been dating for only six months. They had officially confirmed their relationship back in April at the premiere of the movie 42 after having met on Twitter, according to E! News.

"Someone told me that she thought I was cute, and I thought she was fine and [so] I was like, 'Let's make this happen,'" Big Sean told Philadelphia’s Hot 107.9 radio audience in June. "The first thing that happened was she followed me on Twitter and I followed her back, and I was like, ‘What’s up?’ and she was like, ‘What’s up?'"

“We went to dinner and the rest is history,” Rivera told Access Hollywood.

In addition to being madly in love, the couple has found a way to connect professionally. Big Sean collaborated on Rivera’s debut single, “Sorry.”

The cushion cut is considered a “fancy” diamond shape and is often selected as an alternative to an oval- or princess-cut diamond. It’s essentially a “pillow” shape with softened, rounded corners.