Best for Last: Hope Diamond Is the Final Stop on 2020's Gem Gallery Virtual Tour

More than 200 million visitors to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, have marveled at the beauty and majesty of the Hope Diamond since jeweler Harry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. In yesterday's column, we recounted how and why Winston decided to use the US Postal Service to ship the 45.52-carat gem from New York to DC.

The weathered brown paper mailing wrapper — showing $2.44 in postage, but also $142.85 for $1 million worth of insurance — is a popular exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. But, 1.3 miles away on the National Mall, the Hope Diamond is the prize of National Gem Collection.

When the Smithsonian's gem gallery was renovated in 1997, the Hope Diamond necklace was moved onto a rotating pedestal inside a case made of 3-inch-thick bulletproof glass. The display sits in the center of an expansive rotunda, adjacent to the main entry of the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals. The 7,500-plus gemstones in the collection range in size from less than a half-carat to 23,000 carats.

In a normal year, 4.2 million people would pass through the Smithsonian's most popular museum, but this has not been a normal year. The Smithsonian museums remain closed in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.

During the pandemic, we have hosted 13 virtual tours utilizing 360-degree viewing technology provided by the Smithsonian. Previous stops have included the “Zuni Tribe Turquoise,” “Picasso Kunzite Necklace,” “Marie Antoinette Earrings,” “Hall Sapphire Necklace,” “Victoria-Transvaal Diamond,” “Carmen Lúcia Ruby,“ “Chalk Emerald,“ “Gifts from Napoleon,“ “Stars and Cat’s Eyes,“ “Logan Sapphire,“ “Dom Pedro“ aquamarine, “Steamboat“ tourmaline and a grouping of enormous topaz.

Here’s how to navigate to the Hope Diamond.

— First, click on this link…

The resulting page will be a gallery called “Geology, Gems & Minerals: Precious Gems 1.”

— Next, click the double-left-arrow two times to navigate to the gallery called “Geology, Gems & Minerals: Hope Diamond 1.”

When you arrive, you will see a single, glass-encased exhibit at the center of a rotunda.

– Touch the Plus Sign to zoom in.

(You may touch the “X” to remove the map. This will give you a better view of the exhibit. You may restore the map by clicking the “Second” floor navigation on the top-right of the screen.)

Researchers believe the Hope Diamond’s origin can be traced back to 1642, with the discovery in India of a beautiful blue rough diamond. It was crudely finished and weighed 115 carats when it was purchased in 1666 by French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, at which time it became known as the Tavernier Diamond.

French King Louis XIV bought the Tavernier Diamond in February 1669 and ordered it to be recut. The result was a 69-carat heart-shaped stone that would be known as the French Blue.

In 1792, the French Blue was stolen from the royal treasury in Paris. Its whereabouts remained unknown until a large blue diamond appeared in 1839 in the collection of Henry Philip Hope, a London banker and gem collector. Gem historians believe the French Blue had been. once again, recut. The 45.52-carat gem became known as the Hope Diamond.

After going through numerous owners, it was sold by French jeweler Pierre Cartier to Washington socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean in 1911. In 1949, McLean's heirs sold the stone to Winston, who exhibited it throughout the US for a number of years. In 1958, he decided to donate it to the Smithsonian.

According to the Smithsonian, Winston envisioned the institution assembling a gem collection to rival the royal treasuries of Europe -- "crown jewels" that would belong to the American public.

"Other countries have their Crown Jewels," Winston reportedly said. "We don't have a Queen and King, but we should have our Crown Jewels, and what better place than here in the nation's capital at the Smithsonian Institution."

Credits: Hope Diamond photo by Studio Kanji Ishii, Inc. / Smithsonian. Screen captures via naturalhistory2.si.edu.

In 1958, Hope Diamond Was Sent From NY to DC Via Registered Mail for $2.44 in Postage

The Hope Diamond may be the most famous gemstone in the world, but when NBC’s Harry Smith recently visited the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, he highlighted the surprising story behind the parcel that ferried the priceless 45.52-carat gem in 1958 from Harry Winston's New York headquarters to its new home in the US capital.

In the six-minute piece that aired on NBC's TODAY show earlier this week, we learned that when the esteemed Fifth Avenue jeweler decided to donate the gem to the Smithsonian, his preferred carrier was — not an armored vehicle — but the US Postal Service. The registered First-Class postage cost him just $2.44, but he also paid $142.85 for $1 million worth of insurance. The total payment of $145.29 is equivalent to $1,289 today.

“It’s the safest way to mail gems,” Winston told The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.). “I’ve sent gems all over the world that way.”

Winston was right. The package arrived in DC safe and sound.

In Washington, the package stamped "Fragile" was delivered to the Natural History Museum by local letter carrier James G. Todd. Reporters were on hand to witness Todd plucking the valuable package from his mail satchel and presenting it to Smithsonian Secretary Leonard Carmichael and Smithsonian curator George Switzer. Also attending was Edna Winston, the jeweler's wife.

While the Hope Diamond is the most popular exhibit at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, only 1.3 miles away at the National Postal Museum, the post-stamped mailing wrapper remains one of its most cherished artifacts.

"The National History Museum can have the diamond. I want the box it came in," said Dan Piazza, Curator of the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. "I kind of think we got the better end of the deal."

Smith and Jeffrey Post, the Curator-in-Charge of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian, shared a nervous laugh when discussing the credibility of the "Hope Diamond Curse." Within a year of completing his delivery in November of 1958, Todd was plagued by a series of tragic events. He suffered a crushed leg and head wound in two separate automobile accidents, his wife died of a heart attack, his dog strangled on his leash and Todd’s home was partially destroyed by fire.

The Hope Diamond has been a permanent resident of the National Gem Gallery for 62 years. Over that time, it has left the safe confines of the museum only four times, according to the Smithsonian. In 1962, it was exhibited for a month at the Louvre in Paris, as part of an exhibit entitled "Ten Centuries of French Jewelry." In 1965, the Hope diamond traveled to South Africa where it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. In 1984, the diamond was lent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary celebration. In 1996, the diamond returned to Harry Winston for a cleaning and some minor restoration work.

See the TODAY show segment at this link.

Credits: Hope Diamond mail wrapper and package delivery shots courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Hope diamond image by Chip Clark / Smithsonian.

Fossicker's Paradise: Queenslanders Seek Gold Nuggets, Sapphires, Emeralds and Opals

Queensland's resource minister is encouraging residents to pursue a heart-stopping, Eureka moment in the Australian state's hotspots known to bear precious metals and gems. All it takes is a AU$8.65 license, a few tools and a lot of luck.

“Whether you’re hunting for gold in Charters Towers and Clermont, searching for sapphires around Emerald or looking for the vibrant and colorful gemstones of Agate Creek, and western opals at Yowah and Opalton, Queensland is a fossicker’s paradise,” said Resources Minister Scott Stewart.

Fossicking is the term Aussies use to describe amateur prospecting, especially when carried out as a recreational activity. The Queensland Government is promoting fossicking as a popular outdoor activity the whole family can enjoy. It is currently the summer season in Australia.

“It’s been a tough year for Queenslanders,” he said, “but we’re encouraging everyone to get out and support our regional communities and explore our state’s natural beauty by urging more families to put fossicking on your must-do list these holidays.”

According to the Queensland Government, there has been an upsurge in the number of people fossicking for gold and precious gems. More than 18,000 fossickers’ licenses have been issued in just the past two years.

The Queensland countryside is filled with stories of Eureka moments...

• In 2017, an amateur fossicker discovered a yellow sapphire the size of a golf ball near Anakie. Named the "Pride of Tomahawk," the gem was one of the rarest and most significant discovered in Queensland during the past decade.

• One the largest sapphires ever discovered in Queensland is "The Stonebridge Green," a 202-carat gem that is owned by a fourth-generation gem miner at Anakie. It was originally unearthed by gem miner Frederick Max Stonebridge in 1938 and continues to be the star of an annual gem festival in central Queensland.

• Also, in 2017, a prospector found a 1.17 kg (2.57 lbs) gold nugget in a paddock in the Charters Towers region. It was just 15cm (5.9 in) below ground and was discovered using a metal detector.

Stewart clarified that fossickers are permitted to use hand tools, such as picks, shovels, hammers, sieves, shakers, electronic detectors and other similar tools.

“You can collect gemstones, ornamental stones, mineral specimens, alluvial gold — including nuggets and some fossil specimens, but not meteorites or fossils of vertebrate animals,” he said.

A month-long license will cost a family just AU$12.40 or AU$8.65 for an individual.

Credit: Image courtesy of the Queensland Government.

Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' Singalong Is Guaranteed to Bring a Smile to Your Face

Welcome to an unusual edition of Music Monday, as we bend the rules in an unconventional year to present a fabulous video that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and might even make you cry.

(We normally feature music on Fridays, but since Christmas Day came out on a Friday this year — and because you need to end the year on a high note — we've implemented this temporary change.)

Regular readers also know that the music offered up in this column usually contains jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we're including music by an artist with a gemstone in his name. Yes, we're talking about Neil Diamond.

Diamond is keenly aware that 2020 has been an extremely difficult time for everybody worldwide, so the legendary 79-year-old singer staged a way to spread joy and togetherness. What you are about to see is Diamond's global "Sweet Caroline" singalong, created from real fan submissions.

At the beginning of the video, a caption laid over a background resembling the facets of a black diamond explains how and why the musical piece was assembled.

“2020 has been a tough year for everyone," Diamond wrote, "so we wanted to bring people together the best way we knew how: Through music.”

Diamond added, "To inspire people to come together, we challenged fans all around the world to sing along to 'Sweet Caroline'.”

Fans were encouraged to upload their videos to the now-expired site, sweetcarolinesingalong.com, and they delivered in a big way. Thousands responded.

The edited clip shows people of all generations, nationalities and ethnicities pouring their hearts into the song, some playing instruments, others dressed like Diamond impersonators. We see toddlers singing with their parents, school kids singing with their buddies, Santa singing with his iPad, a stadium full of fans shouting “So good, so good, so good," and even an elderly couple serenading each other while dancing closely. Clearly, some of the clips were captured before COVID-19 gathering restrictions were implemented.

As the song builds to a crescendo, the individual performers on the screen shrink and multiply to reveal the thousands of participants singing in harmony. The image then dissolves into a photo of Diamond superimposed over the same black diamond graphic that opened the presentation.

Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," which was originally released in 1969, has been spotlighted in this column twice in 2020. Back in March, as the pandemic started to wreak havoc on our lives, Diamond spun up some new lyrics to the song in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

While performing in self-quarantine, Diamond replaced the popular pre-chorus, “Hands, touching hands / Reaching out, touching me, touching you,” with these health-conscious alternative lyrics, “Hands, washing hands / Reaching out, don’t touch me, I won’t touch you.”

Diamond, who stopped touring in 2018 due to a Parkinson’s diagnosis, just released his latest album, Neil Diamond with The London Symphony Orchestra, Classic Diamonds.

Please check out the video of Diamond's fans singing "Sweet Caroline." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

“Sweet Caroline”
Written by Neil Diamond. Performed by his fans.

Where it began
I can't begin to knowin'
But then I know it's growin' strong

Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who'd have believed you'd come along

Hands, touchin' hands
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I…

…look at the night
And it don't seem so lonely
We fill it up with only two

And when I hurt
Hurtin' runs off my shoulders
How can I hurt when holdin' you?

Warm, touchin' warm
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh, no, no

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
Sweet Caroline
I believed they never could

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

Set With 804 Gems, LA Lakers' Championship Rings Are the Most Elaborate in NBA History

The LA Lakers received their 2020 championship rings — the most elaborate in NBA history — on Tuesday night before their home opener at the Staples Center. Designed by Jason of Beverly Hills with an assist from streetwear designer Don C, each ring glistens with 180 grams of yellow gold and 804 gemstones. It also conveys the narrative of a season like no other.

The gemstones — which include white diamonds, yellow diamonds and purple amethysts — weigh a total of 16.45 carats.

The face of the ring features a prominent Laker "L" logo rimmed in gold and filled with 17 custom-cut amethysts weighing .95 carats. The number 17 represents the number of NBA titles won by the franchise (tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in league history) and the .95 carats represents the 95 days the team spent in the "bubble," the Walt Disney World facilities in Orlando where all the playoff teams competed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The yellow diamonds outlining the "L" filling the basketball of the Lakers' logo weigh exactly 0.52 carats, a nod to the team's 52 regular season wins.

One of the most unique features of the ring is a ball-bearing-enabled removable top that, when opened, reveals a graphic representation for the Staples Center rafters — every one of the franchise's retired jersey numbers superimposed over a black mamba pattern. Among the retired numbers are 8 and 24, the ones worn by Kobe Bryant, the beloved Laker who tragically passed away January 26 in a helicopter accident. Black Mamba was Bryant's nickname.

The shoulder of the ring displays the jersey numbers of every player who suited up for the Lakers during the 2019-2020 season. Each number is spaced by a tiny Larry O’Brien championship trophy.

On one side of the ring is the player's name and number written in raised gold letters. A Black Mamba snake seems to be wrapping itself around the player's number. Also incorporated into the design is the Lakers' playoff slogan, "Leave A Legacy," in LeBron James' own handwriting.

The other side of the ring shows the team's playoff series records against Portland, Houston, Denver and Miami, along with the team's regular season record (52-19), the Larry O’Brien trophy, the year and the NBA symbol tucked into the first zero of 2020.

A unifying theme is the snakeskin-textured background behind the graphics on the right and left sides of the ring.

Credits: Images by Jason of Beverly Hills.

Canada's Remote Gahcho Kué Mine Yields Its Biggest Diamond Ever

A 157.4-carat gem-quality diamond — the largest ever recovered from the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in Canada's Northwest Territories — was revealed on Thursday by the mine's co-owner, Mountain Province Diamonds. Resembling a frosty cube of ice, the rough gem will be offered for sale during the first quarter of 2021.

While the Gahcho Kué diamond mine sold nearly a million carats in diamonds during the fourth quarter of 2020, the great majority were small in size. Mountain Province Diamonds' president and CEO Stuart Brown said that the extraordinary recovery provided his company and employees with a much-needed injection of good news following a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The recovery of the largest-ever diamond… was certainly a boost to the morale of the company," Brown said in a statement. "It shows that the mine, although a high-volume producer of predominantly smaller diamonds, does produce diamonds of exceptional size and quality."

The Gahcho Kué Mine is a remote fly-in/fly-out location 280km (174 miles) northeast of Yellowknife. De Beers has a 51% stake in the mine. The property consists of several kimberlites that are actively being mined, developed and explored for future development. It is said to be one of the 10 biggest diamond mines in the world.

The 157.4-carat rough gem unearthed at the Gahcho Kué mine is not the largest ever recovered in Canada. That distinction goes to the "552," a diamond named for its carat weight.

The 552 was sourced by Dominion Diamonds at the nearby Diavik mine in 2018 and famously displayed to the public in February of 2019 at Phillips auction house in New York City.

According to the Canadian government, Canada is the world's third-largest diamond producer, by value, behind Botswana and Russia. Canada exported $2.9 billion in diamonds in 2018.

Credits: Gahcho Kué diamond photo courtesy of CNW Group/Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. "552" images by The Jeweler Blog. Map by Google Maps.

Amid Pandemic-Spawned Disruptions, Couples Rely on Technology to Find the Perfect Ring

Faced with the pandemic-spawned life disruptions of 2020, tech-savvy millennials and Gen Zers were quick to adapt to the changing retail landscape by utilizing digital resources in their quest for the perfect engagement ring.

According to The Knot's 2020 Jewelry & Engagement Study, the limited ability to shop in person for engagement jewelry led many proposers to use more online features throughout the research process, such as increasing the amount of time spent researching engagement rings online (33%), connecting with jewelers via social media (11%), or even using virtual tools for online consultations with jewelers (10%).

The study of more than 5,000 newly engaged individuals (who got engaged between April and November 2020) analyzed how couples and their proposals were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. One silver lining of the pandemic is that it offered many couples an additional chance to connect, as quarantine restrictions resulted in the majority of newly engaged couples (68%) spending more time together.

Due to social distancing guidelines and limited in-store appointments, proposers visited fewer retailers in 2020 (on average 2, down from 3 in 2019) and viewed significantly fewer rings (8, down from 15 in 2019) before selecting the one. Overall, the majority (63%) of engagement rings continue to be purchased in person at either a local jeweler (51%) or national retailer (33%). Nearly a third were purchased online.

Uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and the state of the economy only slightly impacted how much couples budgeted for their rings. Respondents said they spent an average of $5,500 on an engagement ring in 2020, compared to $5,900 in 2019. Engagement ring shopping in 2020 continued to be a collaborative effort for most couples, as 72% of proposees reported being involved in the selection of their engagement ring.

Here are some other quick takeaways...

• The most popular center stone cuts were round (43%), oval (15%) and princess/square (13%).
• The most popular setting materials were white gold (48%), yellow gold (16%), rose gold (13%) and platinum (13%).
• The average ring's diamond total weight was 1.5 carats and the average center stone weighed 1.3 carats.

Regarding the actual proposals, 83% of proposers said they felt pressure to curate a highly unique proposal in 2020 (up from 75% in 2019), and nearly half of proposers had to pivot original plans as a result of the pandemic, from changing the location (67%) or date (63%) to involving their loved ones (52%).

Many proposers (48%) had to rethink their proposal plans, as the pandemic altered their original proposal location (67%), date (63%) and how the proposal took place (56%). Despite many proposers needing to alter their original proposal plans, the most popular proposal locations in 2020 remained the same as previous years: scenic viewpoints (31%), at their home (23%), at a place with significance to the couple (16%) and during outdoor activities like hiking (15%, up from 12% in 2019).

The study also revealed that newly engaged couples have an increased sense of urgency to kick-start wedding planning: 8 in 10 newly engaged couples have secured an upcoming wedding date, the majority of which will occur in 2021 (73%), and most (66%, up from 57% in 2019) started to plan their future wedding festivities within one month of getting engaged.

Credit: Image via Bigstockphoto.com.

Music Friday: In Olivia Holt’s 2013 Holiday Release, People ‘Shine Like Diamonds in the Sun’

Welcome to another Christmas season edition of Music Friday, when we bring you festive songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we present former Disney star Olivia Holt performing her holiday release, “Snowflakes,” an inspirational song about how we’re all unique and beautiful in our own ways.

In the first verse, she sings, “Some people spend their whole life in the clouds / Some ride the wind and never hit the ground / Some will shine like diamonds in the sun / Heaven sent down each and every one.”

Songwriters George G. Teren III and Jessi Alexander use diamond and snowflake imagery to deliver a powerful message about how we should embrace the qualities — and flaws — that make us different from the rest.

“Snowflakes” was first heard in 2013 on Disney’s Holidays Unwrapped Christmas Album, which featured performances by a number of popular Disney Channel favorites, such as Debby Ryan, Ross Lynch, Sabrina Carpenter and Zendaya. In 2014, at age 17, Holt released an acoustic version of “Snowflakes” for Disney’s Playlist Sessions. The official video of that performance has accumulated more than 1 million views on YouTube.

The Tennessee-born and Mississippi-raised Holt got her start in show business as a 10-year-old doing commercials for popular toys, such as Bratz dolls and Littlest Pet Shop.

She is best known for her starring roles in the Disney series Kickin’ It and the Disney Channel Original Series, I Didn’t Do It. In 2016, she released her first EP, Olivia, and more recently, she portrayed the titular role Tandy Bowen/Dagger in the Freeform series Cloak & Dagger.

Please check out the video of Holt’s acoustic version of “Snowflakes.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Snowflakes”
Written by George G. Teren III and Jessi Alexander. Performed by Olivia Holt.

Some people spend their whole life in the clouds
Some ride the wind and never hit the ground
Some will shine like diamonds in the sun
Heaven sent down each and every one

We are snowflakes
Floating till we find our place
From a distance we may look the same,
but we’re beautiful in our own way
We are snowflakes

Will I sparkle, will I drift or will I dance
Will I melt when I touch another’s hand
Will I learn for my mistakes when I fall
And remember when I get to feeling small

We are snowflakes
Floating till we find our place
From a distance we may look the same,
but we’re beautiful in our own way
We are snowflakes

And all I can do is do my best
What it is that makes me different from the rest
And nothing more,
and nothing less

Then snowflakes,
Floating till we find our place
From a distance we may look the same,
but we’re beautiful in our own way
We are snowflakes
Mmm, yeah, snowflakes
Mmm, yeah…

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

It Takes 20,000 Hammer Blows to Make Gold Leaf at This Mandalay Workshop

Wielding seven-pound hammers, rows of young men in a Mandalay workshop rhythmically take aim at their precious targets with the goal of creating the thinnest of gold leaf.

The process starts with tiny squares of 22-karat gold separated from the next by a layer of protective bamboo paper. Hundreds of these gold-and-paper pairs are neatly stacked like pages in a book and then tightly wrapped in a bundle made from deer hide. After 20,000 hammer blows over five grueling hours, the gold is reduced to a thickness of just .0001 inches — about 30 times thinner than a human hair.

Writer and National Geographic fellow Paul Solopek shared his experiences at Myanmar's King Galon Gold Leaf Workshop on the magazine's website.

Solopek reported that the young tradesmen aim for the center of their deer-hide targets to achieve the ideal thinness, as the gold grows hot from the thousands of blows. An antique clock called a clepsydra guides the workday. It is constructed of a coconut shell floating in a bucket of water. The coconut shell has a small hole, which causes it to take on water and sink every hour, signaling a 15-minute break for the workers.

The writer noted that gold leaf manufacturing in Myanmar is many centuries old and is closely associated with Buddhist rituals.

Gold is nature’s most malleable metal. That means that it can be pounded so thin that one ounce of gold could cover about 100 square feet of a surface. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) calculated that it would take 576 ounces (or just 36 pounds) of gold to completely cover a football field. The element is also ductile, which means that gold can be made into the thinnest wire. The AMNH notes that one ounce of gold can be drawn into 50 miles of wire, five microns thick.

Edible 24-karat gold leaf has become a culinary treat for over-the-top eateries looking to add a touch of decadence to a main dish, dessert or drink. Gold is tasteless and is not harmful to the digestive system because it is inert.

Please check out this short video of the King Galon Gold Leaf Workshop…

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com. Gold leaf photo by Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Diamond Ring Taped to Dollar Bill Makes Season Brighter for Salvation Army

An anonymous donor who taped a diamond engagement ring to a crisp dollar bill and deposited it into a Red Kettle is making the season much brighter for The Salvation Army of Jacksonville and the people it serves.

The Salvation Army’s bell ringing season starts each November and runs through Christmas Eve. While the bulk of donations come in the form of coins and paper money, the most newsworthy ones always contain a bit of bling.

The yellow gold ring, which features a 1.75-carat round solitaire diamond, is valued between $8,000 and $9,000, according to a local jeweler's appraisal. The diamond carries a clarity grade of VVS2 and a color grade of M/N. It was deposited into a Red Kettle at a Publix supermarket in Jacksonville, FL, and the story behind the ring and its anonymous owner remains a mystery, for now.

Kettle counter Kirk Lewis said he was stunned to find a diamond ring taped to a folded dollar bill.

The Salvation Army of Jacksonville plans to auction the ring, with the proceeds going to provide year-round services for thousands of children, families and seniors in the local area. This includes meals, toys and other holiday support for those in need, along with funding for food pantries, soup kitchens, social services and education programs.

“We are encouraged by every donation because it means someone gave of their hard-earned money to help others. We are hoping this diamond ring donation will inspire others to give,” noted Salvation Army Area Commander, Major Keath Biggers.

Biggers added that this year's Red Kettle Campaign has been challenging due to less foot traffic in retail locations due to COVID-19. He also noted that consumers are generally carrying less cash, fewer coins and are doing more electronic transactions.

“In spite of this jeweled donation, the funds raised through The Salvation Army’s iconic Red Kettles are at risk this year due to COVID-19, while requests for services are at an all-time high,” Biggers said.

Credits: Images courtesy of Salvation Army.

Music Friday: In This Holiday Classic, Idina Menzel Sings, ‘Let Us Bring Him Silver and Gold’

Welcome to a special holiday edition of Music Friday, when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals is the title or lyrics. Today, we present one of our all-time-favorite Christmas classics, “Do You Hear What I Hear.”

In this song about the birth of Jesus, a shepherd boy tells the mighty king, “Do you know what I know? / A child, a child shivers in the cold / Let us bring him silver and gold / Let us bring him silver and gold.”

The lyrics are based on the Gospel of Matthew (2:11), which recounts the story of the magi — three wise men — who traveled to Bethlehem to deliver gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Babe in the manger.

Penned by the married couple Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker in 1962, “Do You Hear What I Hear” was intended as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis — a time when the US and the USSR were in a tense standoff regarding the Soviet Union’s provocative move to construct ballistic nuclear missile bases in Cuba, just 100 miles from the US mainland.

Baker told the Los Angeles Times years later that neither she nor Regney could perform the song at the time they wrote it. “Our little song broke us up,” she said. “You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at the time.”

Baker and Regney’s “Do You Hear What I Hear” became one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists over the past 58 years.

Crooner Bing Crosby made the song a worldwide sensation in late 1963, when he featured it on his holiday Christmas album and performed it during Bob Hope’s televised Christmas special.

As a holiday treat, we’re presenting two renditions of “Do You Hear What I Hear.” The first, from 2014, is an off-the-charts, full orchestral version by Tony Award-winning Idina Menzel, who is most famous for her Broadway stage roles in Rent and Wicked, as well being the voice of Elsa in Disney's animated musical, Frozen. The second is Bing Crosby’s iconic version from 51 years earlier.

The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along. Enjoy!

“Do You Hear What I Hear”
Lyrics by Noel Regney. Music by Gloria Shayne Baker. First performance by Idina Menzel. Second performance by Bing Crosby.

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
“Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite.”

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
“Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea,
With a voice as big as the sea.”

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
“Do you know what I know?
In your palace walls, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.”

Said the king to the people everywhere,
“Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere,
Listen to what I say!
The child, the child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light

Idina Menzel (2014)

Bing Crosby (1963)

Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com/Idina Menzel.

25-Year-Old Indian Jeweler's 12,638-Diamond Ring Smashes World Record

A 25-year-old Indian jeweler just earned a Guinness World Record for his eight-layer floral ring set with 12,638 natural diamonds. Three years in the making, Harshit Bansal's “The Marigold - The Ring of Prosperity” now holds the record for the "Most Diamonds in a Single Ring."

The new titleholder smashed the former record of 7,801 diamonds, which was held for a little more than a month by Indian jeweler Kotti Srikanth. Bansal's "Marigold" boasts 62% more diamonds than Srikanth's “Divine.”

In third place is Lakshikaa Jewels' "Lotus Temple Ring" with 7,777 diamonds.

Bansal, who works for Meerut-based Renani Jewels, told AFP that his dream was always to create a ring with more than 10,000 diamonds. He started formulating his plan while studying jewelry design in Surat.

"I trashed many designs and concepts over the years to finally zero in on this,” he told the news agency.

Bansal noted that the ring weighs 165.45 grams (5.83 ounces) and sparkles with 38.08 carats of diamonds. All the diamonds boast E-F color and VVS clarity.

“It was Renani Jewel’s and Harshit Bansal’s dream to achieve a Guinness World Records title and hope to receive international recognition for the diamond ring which they have created,” according to the Guinness World Record site.

In Indian culture, it is believed that marigolds bring prosperity and luck to everyone's life. According to the designer, each individual petal is uniquely shaped, giving the ring a perfect blend of organic symmetry, design and alignment. Despite its enormous size, Bansal claims that the ring is wearable and very comfortable.

The battle for diamond ring supremacy has seen three new title holders in the past 16 months. They're all India-based and each one used a multi-petal, floral motif to pull off the award-winning designs. In the video, below, you can see that Bansal set diamonds on both the front and back of each petal.

Credits: Screen captures of The Marigold via Youtube.com/Renani Jewels. Divine Ring and Lotus Temple Ring images courtesy of Guinness World Records.

New Survey: 63% of Couples Pick Their Diamond Engagement Ring Together

For generations, grooms-to-be have been faced with the daunting task of picking out the perfect engagement ring. Sometimes they got it right and sometimes they got it wrong. With the engagement ring being the second-highest-priced item of all the couple's wedding expenses (the venue is #1), grooms are now acknowledging that they could use a lot of help.

According to a brand new survey commissioned by the Natural Diamond Council and carried out by One Poll, 63% of couples reported that they picked out their precious ring together, rather than having the ring chosen by the partner who would be popping the question.

These results seem to mesh with recent reports from The Knot, which revealed that 7 of 10 “proposees” were “somewhat involved” in selecting or purchasing their engagement ring, and nearly a quarter of that group (23%) said they looked at rings with their partner.

The recent One Poll survey also confirmed that white, colorless diamonds are still overwhelmingly favored by newly engaged couples. Two-thirds of the 2,000 respondents made this more traditional choice.

"Despite all the ways in which our society has evolved over the centuries, the diamond endures as the ultimate expression of love and commitment and the most beautiful way to mark life’s most precious moments," Lisa Levinson of the Natural Diamond Council told harpersbazaar.com.

Survey respondents also noted that clarity was the most important consideration when buying a diamond, followed by the setting type and the uniqueness of the design. Surprisingly, they reported their ideal center stone to be 2.2 carats. This number seems to be high and might reflect a very affluent group of respondents.

The survey also encouraged respondents to reveal their favorite celebrity engagement ring of all time. The Top 10 answers are below…

1. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's oval blue sapphire engagement ring
2. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's trilogy ring with a cushion-cut center diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds
3. Singer Miley Cyrus' 19th century vintage old mine cut diamond in a solitaire setting
4. Model Hailey Bieber's oval-shaped diamond engagement ring
5. Singer Beyonce's 18-carat emerald-cut diamond ring
6. Actress Elizabeth Taylor's Krupp diamond ring
7. Rapper Cardi B's pear-shaped diamond ring with two diamond halos
8. Singer Demi Lovato's multi-carat emerald-cut ring with two smaller diamonds
9. Reality star Kim Kardashian's 15-carat cushion-cut diamond ring
10. Socialite Paris Hilton's 20-carat pear-shaped diamond accented with smaller diamonds

Credit: Photo by BigStockPhoto.com.

Music Friday: Country Star Russell Dickerson Compares His Love to a 'Band of Solid Gold'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great, new songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, country star Russell Dickerson compares his love to a "band of solid gold" in 2020's "Love You Like I Used To," the lead single from his forthcoming album.

When Dickerson delivers the first verse — "Girl, I have always loved you / Oh but something’s changed / Blame it on time, the road or the ride / But it ain’t the same" — the listener is certain that this is going to be another sad break-up song.

But, as he rolls into the chorus, we realized that we've been fooled. "Love You Like I Used To" is really a romantic testament to how love gets better and stronger over time.

He sings, "What we got ain’t got no ending, like a band of solid gold / It’s sweeter with time like strawberry wine / It gets as good as it gets old."

The surprising plot twist wasn't part of Dickerson's original version of the song. He wrote it in January of 2018 and then re-worked the lyrics in September to make the song more reflective of his own relationship with his wife, Kailey.

Dickerson told Billboard magazine that his wife really didn't care for the original version of the song. He recalled her saying, "Oh, I don't think you nailed it on this one."

She loved the revised version, a collaboration with songwriters Casey Brown and Parker Welling.

Dickerson recalled, "When we came back with the song sounding like a breakup song in the first verse and then it hit that twist in the first chorus, it was like boom!"

The song was released in February of 2020 and zoomed to #5 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs chart and #2 on the Billboard Canada Country chart. "Love You Like I Used To" will be featured on Dickerson's yet-to-be-released second studio album, Southern Symphony.

Russell Edward Dickerson was born in Union City, TN, in 1987. He earned a Bachelor's degree in music from Belmont University and signed a record deal with Creative Artists Agency in 2010. In May of 2013, he married his wife, Kailey.

“Like all of my songs, I’ve lived it," Dickerson said. "I started dating my wife 10 years ago and it is true — I don’t love her like I used to and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to this song.”

Please check out the video of Dickerson performing "Love You Like I Used To." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Love You Like I Used To"
Written by Russell Dickerson, Casey Brown and Parker Welling. Performed by Russell Dickerson.

Girl, I have always loved you
Oh but something’s changed
Blame it on time, the road or the ride
But it ain’t the same

It’s a different kind of feeling
Not the one I knew
From the sweet on your lips
To how your hand in mine fits
Girl, I have always loved you

But I don’t love you like I used to
This gets better every time you kiss me like this
It’s stronger the longer I’m with you, yeah

More than every single day before
Didn’t know I could ever love you more than I did
But baby I do, I don’t love you like I used to, no

What we got ain’t got no ending, like a band of solid gold
It’s sweeter with time like strawberry wine
It gets as good as it gets old

And oh, we thought we knew what it meant way back then
Why would I keep fallin’ all-in higher than I’ve ever been?

Oh no, I don’t love you like I used to
This gets better every time you kiss me like this
It’s stronger the longer I’m with you, yeah

More than every single day before
Didn’t know I could ever love you more than I did
But baby I do, I don’t love you like I used to, no

No, no, no, no
I don’t love you like I used to
This gets better every time you kiss me like this
It’s stronger the longer I’m with you, yeah

More than every single day before
Didn’t know I could ever love you more than I did
But baby I do, I don’t love you like I used to

I don’t love you like I used to
(I, I love you like, love you like, love you like, love you like)
No, no, no, no
(I, I love you like, love you like)
Love you like I used to, no
(I, I love you like, love you like)
Oh, I don’t
Love you like I used to

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com/Russell Dickerson.

Consider This Stunning Keepsake for the Diamond Lovers in Your Life

Looking for a great holiday gift for the diamond lovers in your life? Check out the newly published Diamonds Across Time, a stunning 432-page coffee-table book that celebrates every aspect of history’s most coveted precious stone.

Featuring 10 richly illustrated essays by world-renowned scholars who are united by their deep affection for diamonds, the book looks back on history and trade, investigates the nature of diamonds, reviews legendary gems, celebrates jewelry collections and spotlights great designers. The volume places diamonds in the context of the political, social and cultural stage on which their histories were etched. The contributors tell the human stories that underpin the world's adoration of diamonds.

The glossy pages pop with high-quality photographs of gems and jewels, archival documents and rare drawings.

The hardcover book was compiled and edited by the World Diamond Museum’s chief curator and world renowned jewelry expert Dr. Usha R. Balakrishnan, who contributed her own monograph titled The Nizam Diamond, Bala Koh-i-noor, the Little Koh-i-noor in the Sacred Trust of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Other topics include the following:

• Diamonds of the French Crown Jewels – between West and East, by François Farges;
• A Concise History of Diamonds from Borneo, by Derek J. Content;
• Indian Diamonds and the Portuguese during the rise of the Mughal Empire, by Hugo Miguel Crespo;
• Two Large Diamonds from India, by Jack Ogden;
• The Romanov Diamonds – History of Splendour, by Stefano Pappi;
• The Londonderry Jewels 1819-1959, by Diana Scarisbrick;
• Dress to Impress in South East Asia, by René Brus;
• Powerful Women Important Diamonds, by Ruth Peltason;
• One in Ten Thousand; the Unique World of Coloured Diamonds, by John King.

“The establishment of the World Diamond Museum marks the first step in the long journey to reignite the passion for diamonds, chronicle traditions, explore cultures and show the eternal relevance of beauty, even in present times,” wrote Alex Popov, Founder of the World Diamond Museum, in the book’s foreword. “This volume unites diverse stories that reveal the many meanings of the diamond and how human emotions and beliefs are reflected in its thousands of facets. The book is illustrated with incredible photographs of rarely seen gems and jewels from closely held collections and reconstructions of historical diamonds, done with the help of state-of-the-art computer technology.”

Diamonds Across Time may be purchased at this website. The cost is £95 (about $127.55) and shipping to the US is approximately $35.

Credit: Image courtesy of the World Diamond Museum.

'Outback Opal Hunters' Discover 45-Carat, 'Life-Changing' Gem During Season Finale

During the thrilling season finale of Outback Opal Hunters, 21-year-old Sam Westra and his mentor Pete Cooke discovered a 45-carat double-faced black opal valued at AU$120,000 (about US$89,000).

The "life-changing" find marked a 180-degree turn of fortune for the team that had suffered through a woeful three-month period of losing money in Australia's remote and inhospitable interior.

Fans of the Discovery Channel's hit reality TV show have been rooting for the likable team from Lightning Ridge, NSW. The success of their entire season hinged on their final cleanup — four tons of fractured stones collected from the 100-year-old open cut mine they call "Old Nobbys."

"Plenty of material, just potch everywhere," said Westra as he and Cooke began the sorting process in the video below. "Just got to get the big one, mate. Where's the big one?"

Potch is the term for the near-worthless rocky material that has the same chemical makeup as precious opal with one critical difference. With potch, the tiny silica spheres that make up the stones are jumbled. In precious opal, they’re all laid out evenly, which gives the structure the ability to break visible white light into separate colors.

Within a few minutes, Cooke encountered a small, but valuable, stone that presented hints of green, blue, red and orange.

"There's a gem there for sure. We're on the money, mate," said Cooke. "This is fantastic."

But then the mining veteran turned absolutely giddy when he spied the "king stone," the best stone of his parcel.

"These come up two or three a lifetime, if you’re lucky,” said the gleeful Cooke as he rotated the stone for the Discovery Channel's viewers.

Although initially valued at AU$55,000 on camera, the team later met with an opal carver who confirmed that the actual value was AU$120,000. The gem, which Cooke dubbed "Fire and Ice" because of its brilliant flashes of red and deep blue, is the most valuable opal unearthed to date by any of the Outback Opal Hunters.

About 90% of the world’s finest opals are mined in the harsh outback of Australia, where a unique combination of geological conditions permitted the formation of opal near the margins of an ancient inland sea.

Scientists believe that between 100 million and 97 million years ago, Australia’s vast inland sea, which was populated by marine dinosaurs, began retreating. As the sea regressed, a rare episode of acidic weather was taking place, exposing pyrite minerals and releasing sulphuric acid. As the surface of the basin dried further and cracked, silica-rich gel became trapped in the veins of the rock. Over time, the silica solidified to form opals.

Outback Opal Hunters has entertained audiences in more than 100 countries and territories.

Please check out this clip from the season finale of Outback Opal Hunters.

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

Sotheby's NY to Deliver Pre-Holiday Treat to Fancy-Colored Diamond Lovers

Ultra-rare fancy-colored diamonds in vivid shades of pink, blue, orange and red will headline Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York on December 9.

All eyes will be focused on Lot 75, a colorful ring set with a rectangular mixed-cut 5.03-carat fancy vivid pink diamond flanked by two cut-cornered triangular fancy intense blue diamonds weighing 0.88 carats and 0.77 carats.

The piece comes from a private collection and carries a pre-sale estimate of $9 million to $12 million.

Lot 31 features a heart-shaped fancy red diamond weighing 1.71 carats. The stone centers a heart-shaped pendant pavé-set with rows upon rows of round diamonds and dangles from a 20 1/2-inch chain accented with rose gold heart stations. Interestingly, the reverse is further enhanced by round diamonds.

The romantic pendant has a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million. With a little more than two weeks to go before the live auction, online bidders already have pushed the offering price to $2 million.

Orange diamonds rarely hit the auction block, but Sotheby's will have one to offer on December 9. This heart-shaped fancy vivid orange diamond weighs exactly 2.00 carats and is framed and accented by round colorless diamonds. Lot 29 is expected to sell in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million. The top pre-sale bid is currently $800,000.

Another heart-shaped stunner is this 2.29-carat fancy vivid blue diamond encircled by yellow diamonds and near-colorless diamonds. The Gemological Institute of America report accompanying the stone states that the blue diamond is potentially internally flawless. The current high bid is $1.8 million, but Sotheby's believes the hammer price will be in the range of $2.25 million to $3.25 million.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's.

Couples Spending Less on Weddings and Honeymoons, More on Engagement Rings

While couples are spending less on elaborate weddings and honeymoons due to the pandemic, they are spending more than ever on the perfect diamond engagement ring — often upgrading in color, cut and clarity, rather than size. That was the key finding from the De Beers Group's latest Diamond Insight "Flash" Report, which has been looking carefully at the impact of COVID-19 on relationships and engagements.

Interviews with independent jewelers throughout the US also revealed that the rate of engagements has increased significantly, with bridal sales accounting for the primary source of diamond jewelry demand.

"For many couples, the pandemic has brought them even closer together, in some instances speeding up the path to engagement after forming a deeper connection while experiencing lockdown and its associated ups and downs as a partnership," commented Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group. "Engagement rings are taking on even greater symbolism in this environment, with retailers reporting couples are prepared to invest more than usual, particularly due to budget reductions in other areas."

De Beers' informal survey also revealed that consumers are often choosing more classic designs. Jewelers noted that round diamonds and round-edged fancy shapes of better qualities are dominating their bestsellers, and that designs have become simpler, with customers less interested in extra pavé and melee embellishments.

While halos are still selling well, jewelers are generally seeing engagement ring customers opt for more conservative looks. Round diamonds are the most popular shape, followed by ovals and cushions.

The "Flash" report also included findings from a national survey of 360 US women in serious relationships, undertaken in late October in collaboration with engagement and wedding website, The Knot. It found that the majority of respondents (54%) were thinking more about their engagement ring than the wedding itself (32%) or the honeymoon (15%), supporting jewelers' hypothesis that engagement ring sales were benefiting from reduced wedding and travel budgets in light of COVID-19 restrictions.

When it came to researching engagement rings, 86% of respondents said "online" was, by far, the most effective channel for gaining ideas/inspiration, with 85% saying they had saved examples of styles they liked.

"Part of the reason people are getting engaged during COVID is because there is so much distance between them and their community," noted Dr. Terry Real, a relationship therapist and author of the forthcoming book Us: The Power of Moving Beyond Me and You. "The couple is intimate, but thirsty for outside stimulation... For a young person to have a performance of your love that's witnessed is like water in the desert in this culture. The ring is that performance. Especially now."

Credit: Image by BigStockPhoto.com.

Music Friday: Nat King Cole's Love Is As ‘Warm As the Ruby’ and As ‘Pure As the Pearl’

Welcome to Music Friday when we often unearth wonderful, but sadly forgotten, songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we present the immortal Nat King Cole singing “The Ruby and the Pearl,” the theme song to the 1952 film, Thunder in the East.

In this ballad written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, Cole uses gemstones and precious metals to describe his love and devotion. He sings, “Can love be as warm as the ruby? / Can love be as pure as the pearl? / Just look in the heart of my love for you. / You’ll find the ruby and the pearl.”

In a later verse, he sings, “My love will endure as the diamond / And shine with the shimmer of gold. / It glows like a bright star above for you / A thing of beauty to behold.”

Released on Capitol Records only one year after his iconic hit, “Unforgettable,” “The Ruby and the Pearl” peaked at #23 on the U.S. Billboard chart. One online movie reviewer noted that Cole’s beautiful performance of “The Ruby and the Pearl” was the best thing to come out of Thunder in the East, which he called a routine action film.

In 1954, “The Ruby and the Pearl” was included in a 10-inch LP Nat King Cole compilation album called Eight Top Pops.

Born in Montgomery, AL, in 1919 to a Baptist minister and a church organist, Nathanian Adam Coles learned to play the piano at the age of four. He first came to prominence as a jazz pianist, but is most famous for his silky smooth baritone voice. In 1956, he hosted The Nat King Cole Show on NBC, the first variety program to be hosted by an African American.

Nat King Cole's adopted middle name was inspired by the nursery rhyme "Old King Cole." He dropped the "s" from his last name when he started performing in Chicago clubs.

During his abbreviated career (he died of lung cancer in 1965 at the age of 45), Cole released 29 albums and scored 79 Top-40 singles. His famous daughter, singer Natalie Cole, saw her career cut short by congestive heart failure at the age of 55, in 2015.

In 1990, Nat King Cole was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and, in 2000, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1994, his likeness adorned an official U.S. postage stamp. More than 35 million 29-cent Nat "King" Cole stamps were released on September 1, 1994.

We invite you to enjoy the audio track of Cole’s hypnotizing performance of “The Ruby and the Pearl.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“The Ruby and the Pearl”
Music by Jay Livingston. Lyrics by Ray Evans. Performed by Nat King Cole.

Can love be as warm as the ruby?
Can love be as pure as the pearl?
Just look in the heart of my love for you.
You’ll find the ruby and the pearl.

My love will endure as the diamond
And shine with the shimmer of gold.
It glows as a bright star above for you,
A thing of beauty to behold.

Come close and cling to my kiss.
Stay close and share the passion of this.

Yes, love is as warm as the ruby
And love is as pure as the pearl.
Just look in the heart of my love for you.
You’ll find the ruby and the pearl.

Come close and cling to my kiss.
Come close and share the passion of this.

Yes, love is as warm as the ruby
And love is as pure as the pearl.
Just look in the heart of my love for you.
You’ll find the ruby and the pearl.

Credits: Cleary, Strauss, Irwin & Goodman-publicity, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Stamp image by the United States Postal Service, Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

Anthony Anderson Shows Off His Hollywood Walk of Fame Ring on 'Ellen Show'

An ecstatic Anthony Anderson showed off his Hollywood Walk of Fame diamond ring during an interview with guest host Sarah Silverman on Monday's installment of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The Black-ish actor told Silverman that George Lopez and Cedric the Entertainer surprised him with the supersized, championship-style ring after his Walk of Fame Star was unveiled in mid-August.

After explaining how the celebration had to be pared down due to COVID-19 social gathering restrictions, he aimed the ring directly at the camera operator so the home audience could get a perfect view of the jewelry. The design features a miniature Walk of Fame star set in white precious metal and embellished by diamonds.

"It was kind of weird," the actor explained to Silverman. "They held the ceremony in a backroom at Ripley's Believe It or Not because of COVID. Only 11 people were allowed to be in the room, eight were family members. My mom was one. She gave a great speech for me. George Lopez was there, he gave a speech. And he also gave me this ring right here."

In a Tinseltown twist of fate, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce placed Anderson's star on the corner of Hollywood and Hyland.

"What's crazy [is] I went to Hollywood High School. So for years I would walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard, never in a million years thinking I would be immortalized on the Walk of Fame," Anderson said. "My star is literally across the street from my old high school."

In September, Anderson shared a closeup of the ring on his Instagram page and included this caption: "A gift from my brothers @cedtheentertainer and @georgelopez welcoming me to The Hollywood Walk of Fame. I have a Star amongst the Stars with my brothers!"

The 50-year-old told Silverman how bizarre it is to shoot a television series during a pandemic.

"It's been crazy," he said. "We have everything on our stage now except stop lights. We have crossing guards. We have grids on the floor. One way in, one way out. When the actors are moving, everything shuts down and everyone splits like the Red Sea."

There are more than 2,690 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, CA. The Hollywood Walk of Fame, which was conceived in the mid-1950s, honors all the major branches of the entertainment industry: motions pictures, broadcast television, audio recording or music, radio broadcast and theater/live performance.

Check out this clip of Anderson chatting with Silverman on Monday's show. The ring conversation starts at the 3:28 mark.

Credits. Screen captures via Youtube/TheEllenShow. Closeup ring image and Hollywood Walk of Fame image via instagram/anthonyanderson.

VIPs Get an Opportunity to Customize a Piece of 549-Carat Rough Diamond

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton is taking the concept of bespoke opulence to a whole new level. By securing the rights to represent Lucara's 549-carat "Sethunya" diamond, the retailer can offer its discriminating clients a unique opportunity to design the gem of their dreams, down to the exact shape and carat weight.

"In this way, the client will be involved in the creative process of plotting, cutting, polishing and becoming part of the story that the stone will carry with it into history," noted a Lucara press release.

Back in February of 2020, Lucara Diamond Corp. announced that it had recovered a massive white diamond of “exceptional purity” from its Karowe mine in Botswana — a mine that has earned worldwide recognition for producing the 1,758-carat Sewelô, the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona and the 813-carat Constellation diamond.

The 549-carat diamond was given the name Sethunya, which means "flower" in Setswana, the primary language spoken where the diamond was recovered.

In the three-way collaboration among Lucara, Louis Vuitton, and HB Antwerp, the latter will provide state-of-the-art scanning and planning technology to determine the number and size of diamonds that can be derived from the stone.

This is the second time Louis Vuitton has entered an agreement with Lucara to secure a huge rough stone. In January of 2020, the Paris-based retailer purchased the 1,758-carat Sewelô diamond, also from the Karowe mine.

Town and Country reported that the retailer will be taking both stones on a worldwide promotional tour, during which VIP clients will get a closeup look at the Sethunya and Sewelô diamonds and consult with cutting experts.

Sethunya is the fourth-largest diamond ever recovered from the prolific Karowe mine. It was cherry-picked from Lucara’s MDR (Mega Diamond Recovery) XRT circuit, a system that uses advanced technology to identify 100-carat-plus diamonds by monitoring the rocky material for X-ray luminescence, atomic density and transparency. Previously, large diamonds might have been mistaken as worthless ore and pulverized during the primary crushing process.

Credit: Photo by Philippe Lacombe, courtesy of Louis Vuitton (CNW Group/Lucara Diamond Corp.).

Music Friday: If That ‘Mockingbird’ Won’t Sing, He'll Buy Carly Simon a Diamond Ring

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Carly Simon and then-husband James Taylor perform their hit, “Mockingbird,” in a rare live performance at NYC's Madison Square Garden in 1979.

In the catchy song that is actually based on the lullaby “Hush Little Baby,” the duo sings, “Everybody have you heard? / He’s gonna buy me a mockingbird / And if that mockingbird won’t sing / He’s gonna buy me a diamond ring."

“Mockingbird” reached #5 on the US Billboard Top 40 chart in 1974 and was released as the lead single from Simon’s Hotcakes album.

Five years later, “Mockingbird” would be back in the spotlight as Simon (who suffered from stage fright) and Taylor kicked off the high profile MUSE No Nuke concert at Madison Square Garden with a rousing rendition of the song.

MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) staged a series of concerts in September of 1979 to bring national attention to the dangers of nuclear power. Among the artists participating in the all-star shows were Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall, The Doobie Brothers and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Even though “Mockingbird” is widely associated with Simon and Taylor, who were married from 1972 to 1983, Inez and Charlie Foxx first released the song in 1963. That version was also a Top 10 hit.

It’s hard to believe that Simon, one of the quintessential singer/songwriters of the 1970s celebrated her 75th birthday in June. The Bronx-born, two-time Grammy winner has amassed 24 Billboard Hot 100 singles over her stellar career.

A few items of Simon trivia…
• She attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y.
• She is the daughter of Richard Simon, co-founder of the publishing house Simon & Schuster.
• She submitted a demo tape to Clive Davis at Columbia Records, who turned her down. She she ended up signing with Elektra.
• She earned a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1971.
• She and James Taylor lived in the house later owned and made infamous by O.J. Simpson.

The 72-year-old James Taylor is a five-time Grammy Award winner and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Please enjoy the video at the end of this post. It’s a classic clip from Simon and Taylor’s triumphant performance of “Mockingbird” during the No Nukes concert. As a bonus, we're including the audio track of the original release by Inez and Charlie Foxx. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

“Mockingbird”
Written by Inez and Charlie Foxx. Performed by Carly Simon and James Taylor.

Everybody have you heard?
He’s gonna buy me a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird won’t sing
He’s gonna buy me a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring won’t shine
He’s gonna surely break this heart of mine
And that’s why I keep on tellin’ ev’rybody, sayin’
Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo

Hear me now and understand
He’s gonna find me some peace of mind
And if that peace of mind won’t stay
I’m gonna find myself a better way
And if that better way ain’t so
I, I, I’ll ride with the tide and go with the flow
And that’s why I keep on shoutin’ in your ear sayin’
Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo

Everybody have you heard?
She’s gonna buy me a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird won’t sing
She’s gonna buy me a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring won’t shine
She’s gonna surely break this heart of mine
And that’s why I keep on tellin’ ev’rybody, sayin’ no, no, no, no,no

Listen now and understand
She’s gonna find me some peace of mind
And if that peace of mind won’t stay
I’m gonna find myself a better way
I might rise above , I might go below
I, I, I’ll ride with the tide and go with the flow
And that’s why I keep on shoutin’ in your ears y’all
No, no, no, no, no, no, now, now, baby 

Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

November's Fiery Birthstone Takes Center Stage in 'Jolie Citrine Necklace'

Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals in the Earth’s crust, and in its pure state it is colorless. But when trace amounts of iron (about 40 parts per million) mix into quartz's chemical makeup, extraordinary things happen. The colorless silicon dioxide emerges as citrine in a gorgeous array of fall colors, from the warm hues of golden champagne to the deep orange-browns of Madeira wine.

Citrine, which gets its name from “citron,” the French word for “lemon,” is one of the two official birthstones for the month of November (the other is topaz).

One of the finest examples of gem-quality citrine is the 177.11-carat pear-shaped drop that dangles from the Jolie Citrine Necklace, a stylish piece donated by actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie to the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection in 2015.

The necklace is beautifully styled with 64 graduated citrine gems, each bezel set in 18-karat yellow gold. The large pear-shaped citrine drop is also bezel set, giving the necklace a sharp, clean look.

A collaboration between the actress and American jewelry designer Robert Procop, the Jolie Citrine Necklace is from the Style of Jolie jewelry collection. Jolie created the collection to promote education and establish schools in conflict-affected countries. Proceeds from the sales of jewelry in the Style of Jolie collection are donated to the Education Partnership for Children in Conflict, which builds schools for children around the world, the first few of which were established in Afghanistan.

“We are thrilled to receive this important piece for the Smithsonian,” Jeffrey Post, curator of the National Gem Collection, said in 2015. “It is the first piece of citrine jewelry in the collection. The fact that it was personally designed by Angelina Jolie and Robert Procop makes it all the more significant.”

The Jolie Citrine Necklace is on permanent display at the Janet Annenberg Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, which is located in the National Museum of Natural History. Sadly, the Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC, have been temporarily closed to support the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Citrine is a near-cousin to other popular quartz-family members, including amethyst, rose quartz and tiger’s eye.

Most citrine comes from Brazil, but other important sources include Spain, Bolivia, France, Russia, Madagascar and the U.S. (Colorado, North Carolina and California). Citrine wasn’t always an official birthstone for November. The National Association of Jewelers (now Jewelers of America) added it in 1952 as an alternative to topaz.

Credits: Images by Robert Procop/Smithsonian.