Friday, May 25, 2018

Music Friday: The Rolling Stones Release Kaleidoscopic Lyric Video of 1967's 'Ruby Tuesday'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we present The Rolling Stones' newly released, kaleidoscopic lyric video of their 1967 smash hit, "Ruby Tuesday." The video premiered on Tuesday, of course, to promote the group's 2018 European tour, which kicks off tonight in London.

Composed by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, the hauntingly beautiful ballad is our pick for the most popular "ruby" song of all time — even though it's about a lost love and not about the coveted scarlet gemstone.

The famous reprise goes like this… “Goodbye Ruby Tuesday / Who could hang a name on you? / When you change with every new day / Still I’m gonna miss you.”

The lyric video delivers a throwback vibe on a number of levels. The producers used the original mono recording and illustrated the lyrics with brightly colored floral and paisley graphics reminiscent of the 1960s hippie era. The choruses cut to kaleidoscopic patterns set against a bright ruby red backdrop, ensuring a big hit of color in contrast to the verses.

In his autobiography, Richards noted that "Ruby Tuesday" was inspired by an emotionally devastating breakup with his girlfriend, Linda Keith, who left him for a poet.

“That’s the first time I felt the deep cut," he explained. "The thing about being a songwriter is... you can find consolation in writing about it, and pour it out... It becomes an experience, a feeling, or a conglomeration of experiences. Basically, Linda is ‘Ruby Tuesday.’”

The Rolling Stones released the original 45 of “Ruby Tuesday” in January of 1967 and the song immediately ascended to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song #310 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Ruby Tuesday" had been intended as the B side of “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” another Stones hit, but radio deejays at the time were uncomfortable with the adult theme of the A side, and chose to play the flip. Today, the 45 is referred to as a double-A-sided record.

The Rolling Stones are credited with more than 250 million album sales. They are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were ranked fourth on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”

Septuagenarian rockers Jagger, Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood will be performing "Ruby Tuesday" on their "No Filter" tour, which runs through July 8 and will take the band throughout Europe.

Please check out the new video of "Ruby Tuesday." The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Ruby Tuesday”
Written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. Performed by The Rolling Stones.

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don’t matter if it’s gone
While the sun is bright
Or in the darkest night
No one knows, she comes and goes

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

Don’t question why she needs to be so free
She’ll tell you it’s the only way to be
She just can’t be chained
To a life where nothings gained
And nothings lost, at such a cost

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

“There’s no time to lose,” I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind
Ain’t life unkind?

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Floyd Mayweather Gives Daughter 18-Carat Canary Diamond Ring for Her 18th Birthday

Boxing great Floyd Mayweather — a man with a well-documented passion for fine jewelry and one of the wealthiest athletes in the world — gave his daughter Iyanna an 18-carat canary diamond ring for her 18th birthday.

The platinum ring, which was designed by New York's Pristine Jewelers, features a modified radiant-cut yellow center stone surrounded by a halo of 36 small, round colorless diamonds. The dazzling band is adorned with eight 1.5-carat round colorless diamonds, bringing the total diamond weight to more than 30 carats.

The birthday girl took to Instagram on Sunday to show off the ring. The first snapshot was captioned, "First bday gift I'm soo in love. Thank you so much Dad." For the second, she wrote, “I just can’t stop staring at it.”

The 41-year-old Mayweather retired from the ring with a pristine record of 50-0 and career earnings of more than $1 billion. Yes, that's billion with a "B."

Conflicting reports place the value of Iyanna's canary diamond ring somewhere between the "high six figures" and $5 million.

Avi of Pristine Jewelers told PageSix.com that the champ wanted "something different" because his daughter already owned a lot of white diamond rings.

"He wanted something to pop out and stand out," the jeweler noted.

Mayweather ordered the ring in early May and the jeweler delivered it two and a half weeks later.

Mayweather has always treated his daughter like a queen. He reportedly spent seven figures on her 16th birthday bash, which included live performances by Drake and Future.

Credits: Images via Instagram/Pristine_Jewelers; Instagram.com/moneyyaya.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Royal Wedding Report: All Eyes Were on Meghan Markle’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara

An estimated 3 billion people worldwide tuned in Saturday to see American Meghan Markle tie the knot with Prince Harry of Wales, and much of the buzz about the romantic royal nuptials was focused squarely upon the bride's diamond tiara.

Holding Markle's veil in place was the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara — a stunning piece lent to the young bride by 92-year-old Queen Elizabeth II. The platinum tiara was originally made for Queen Mary in 1932 and incorporates a removable center brooch that dates back to 1893.

The platinum tiara is formed as a flexible band of 11 sections, each glittering with large and small brilliant-cut diamonds. The tiara was specifically designed to accommodate the center brooch, which is set with 10 diamonds, according to an official press release.

The brooch had been gifted to then-Princess Mary in 1893 by the County of Lincoln on the occasion of her marriage to Prince George, Duke of York. The bandeau and the brooch were bequeathed by Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Queen Elizabeth is the longest-reigning British monarch.

Prior to Saturday's royal wedding, there was some speculation that the bride might forgo tradition and have a new tiara designed for the occasion. In the end, Markle decided to pay homage to her new family by wearing an accessory from the Queen's jewelry collection.

The bride's Welch gold wedding band also reflects a long-standing royal tradition. For the past century, royal wedding bands have been crafted from rare Welsh gold, sourced at the Clogau mine in Bontddu, Wales. The mine dates back to the Bronze Age, and commercial mining began there in the mid-1880s, according to a report by CBS News.

The mine was closed in the 1990s, but Queen Elizabeth II had received a kilogram of the rare gold for her 60th birthday in 1986. CBS reported that the Queen's reserves have been the source of royal wedding bands ever since. While the bride will be wearing a gold wedding band, Prince Harry opted for a platinum band with a textured finish.

Screen captures via YouTube.com/Today; YouTube.com/BBC.