Dutch Hipsters Embrace Eyeball Jewelry; Tiny Platinum Charms Are Surgically Placed in the Whites of Their Eyes

Just when we thought we've seen it all, this cringe-inducing morsel appeared in the pages of Allure magazine. In a piece about unusual fashion and beauty trends from around the world, we learned that hipsters in Amsterdam are embracing eyeball jewelry — tiny platinum charms that are surgically implanted into the whites of their eyes.

Apparently, eyeball jewelry, also known as extraocular implants, leaves conventional tattooing and body piercing in the dust. It's the latest, most extreme new dimension in the art of body modification. It also looks pretty cool.

In a 15-minute procedure that takes place under a local anesthetic, a licensed ophthalmologist makes an incision with a small scissor in the interpalpebral conjuctiva – the eye's transparent outer membrane. Then, a wafer-thin platinum charm is slipped through the incision into the white part of the eye.

Charms are available in a number of shapes, including a heart, star, half moon, four-leaf clover, Euro sign or musical note. Manufactured by Hippocratech in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the jewelry is gently curved to fit the eye and is approximately 3.5mm (0.14 inches) wide. The jewelry may be positioned anywhere in the white of the eye.

Branded as JewelEye, these purely cosmetic implants were first developed at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (NIIOS) in 2002 using a technique that had been intended as a means for controlled drug delivery in glaucoma patients.

“In my view it is a little more subtle than [body] piercing,” said Gerrit Melles, director of the NIIOS. “It is a bit of a fun thing and a very personal thing for people.”

The NIIOS claims that the jewelry implant is completely safe. It does not impair eyesight, peripheral vision or the ability to move one’s eyes.

Critics of the procedure have warned that something as simple as eye rubbing could impale the implant into the eye, creating a surgical emergency with a likely loss of vision. Other concerns include the possibility of inflammation, scarring, bleeding or the charm’s migration into the orbit behind the eye, making it virtually non-retrievable.

JewelEye procedures start at $1,100 and are currently available only in the Netherlands.

Crowds Clamor to Get a Glimpse of Vermeer's ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ at The Frick in NYC

Elevated to superstar status by a best-selling 1999 novel and a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth, Johannes Vermeer’s 17th century masterpiece “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is drawing unprecedented crowds at The Frick in New York City.

Originally titled “Girl With the Turban,” the painting’s name was changed in the later part of the 20th century because a single drop pearl earring enlivens the portrait of a wide-eyed, moonfaced “Vermeer girl” looking over her shoulder. The painting was meticulously restored in 1994 to brighten the pearl to its original splendor, according to NY1.com.

"If you look closely, you'll see in the upper part of the pearl, a kind of highlight,” Collection Director Ian Wardropper told NY1.com. “And then you look in the bottom of the pearl and you see a reflection of her white collar. It's just a few strokes of paint, and in that [Vermeer] somehow captures this sense of a glistening pearl."

Painted circa 1665, “The Girl” is so special that it is the only work housed in The Frick’s famous Oval Room. This is the first time in nearly 30 years that this painting has been shown in New York. It’s been the crown jewel of the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in the Netherlands for decades, but the painting has been on a world tour while the museum is closed for renovation.

“The Girl,” which is sometimes referred to as the Dutch Mona Lisa, is the headliner of a larger exhibition of 15 works titled “Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Paintings From the Mauritshuis.”

The paintings can be viewed at The Frick through January 19, 2014. The Frick at 1 East 70th St. in Manhattan offers timed ticketing, plus three free Fridays each month. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students.

KC Chiefs Fan Swaps Bridal Set for Big-Game Tickets, Deflects Outrage by Clarifying the Jewelry Is From Previous Marriage

When a Kansas City Chiefs fan, known only as Rachael, offered to trade her engagement ring and wedding band for four tickets to the highly anticipated Chiefs-Broncos matchup on December 1, season ticket holder Rusty Jones quickly jumped on the deal.

"I went to Craigslist and found the ad," Jones told ABC News. "I showed my girlfriend the pictures and asked her if she liked it."

Apparently, girlfriend Janie Young-Tesch gave her approval, because Jones and the bridal set owner met on Thursday to have the jewelry appraised and to work out the final details of their trade.

By Friday night, Jones had popped the question and now the couple is happily engaged.

As the story went viral early last week, Rachael was widely criticized for being desperate and cold-hearted. How could she possibly give up her engagement ring and wedding band for football tickets? Later, she deflected the outrage by clarifying that the bridal set was from a previous marriage and that it held absolutely no sentimental value. The coveted Chiefs tickets would be a belated 40th birthday present for her current husband.

Rachael had described her bridal jewelry in the Craigslist ad as a “nice diamond ring and wedding band" worth $3,100. The engagement ring contained a .45-carat round, brilliant-cut center diamond in a white gold setting accented with 20 smaller diamonds weighing .50 carats. The matching wedding band contained 10 round, full-cut diamonds with a total weight of .25 carats.

Although a Kansas City jeweler appraised the set at $2,800 ($300 less than what Rachael had advertised), Jones still made the deal because the location of his seats in Section 123 near the end zone wasn’t exactly what Rachael requested. She ideally wanted tickets in the Lower Level or Club Level. Jones sweetened the offering by adding two seats to the Chargers-Chiefs game of November 24.

The Chiefs and division rival Broncos are having outstanding seasons. The teams played last night in Denver and will meet again in two weeks in Kansas City, where Rachael's husband and his guests will be cheering in Section 123. The Broncos prevailed 27-17 in Sunday’s primetime contest and are currently tied with the Chiefs at 9-1 for the top position in the AFC West.

Music Friday: Jason Derulo, ‘GMA’ and the USO Join Forces to Make Hero Coast Guardsman's Marriage Proposal Extra Special

In honor of Veteran’s Day, the crew of “Good Morning America,” recording artist Jason Derulo and the USO joined forces to make a hero coast guardsman's surprise marriage proposal extra special.

Six million viewers of ABC’s “Good Morning America” witnessed a truly heartwarming moment when Coast Guardsman of the Year Sam  Peikert got down on bended knee and asked for the hand of his girlfriend, Jackie Fairchild, during Derulo’s in-studio performance of his new release, “Marry Me.”

Fairchild believed that her special access to the live performers was related to her boyfriend’s prestigious award and GMA's salute to service men and women on Veteran's Day. But she was only half right.

As Derulo arrived at the first chorus, which includes the emphasized, elongated phrase — "Will… you… marry… me?" — Peikert pulled out a ring box and proposed to his visibly shocked girlfriend. She covered her face with both hands before settling down and accepting the ring and the proposal. After the song, Derulo embraced the happy couple in a three-way hug.

Peikert, who is stationed in Opa Locka, Fla., had earned the USO Coast Guardsman of the Year award in October for helping to save a father and son who were swept over a 20-foot dam on the San Marcos River in Texas. The USO had arranged for Peikert and his girlfriend to get VIP treatment at "Good Morning America" as part of a new campaign called “Every Moment Counts,” which shows gratitude toward service members by creating special moments for them.

“Marry Me,” which is the second release from Derulo’s brand new studio album, Tattoos, is rapidly climbing the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It currently sits at #36, and some critics are saying Derulo has granted the world its “next top wedding tune.”

The 24-year-old Derulo said the love song was inspired by his girlfriend, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks.

We invite you to enjoy the clip of Derulo’s performance and Peikert’s proposal on GMA. The lyrics to “Marry Me” are below if you’d like to sing along.

"Marry Me"
Written by Jason Derulo, Jonas Jeberg, “Hookman” Marlin Bonds and Andy Marvel. Performed by Jason Derulo.

A hundred and five is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you
Wake up every morning with you in my bed
That's precisely what I plan to do

And you know one of these days when I get my money right
Buy you everything and show you all the finer things in life
We'll forever be in love, so there ain't no need to rush
But one day I won't be able to ask you loud enough

[Chorus]
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"

Singing
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Oh, yeah

How many girls in the world can make me feel like this?
Baby I don't ever plan to find out
The more I look, the more I find the reasons why
You're the love of my life

You know one of these days when I get my money right
Buy you everything and show you all the finer things in life
We'll forever be in love, so there ain't no need to rush
But one day I won't be able to ask you loud enough

[Chorus]
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"

[Bridge]
And if I lost everything
In my heart it means nothing
'Cause I have you,
Girl, I have you
To get right down on bended knee
Nothing else would ever be better, better
That day when...

I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"

I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
(I'll get down on one knee)
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"

Got me singing
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Got me singing
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Would you marry me, baby?
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Ooh whoa ooh oh

A hundred and five is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you
Wake up every morning with you in my bed
That's precisely what I plan to do, yeah.

59.6-Carat ‘Pink Star’ Rocks the House at Sotheby’s Geneva, Sells for $83M and Claims the Title of ‘The Priciest Diamond Ever Auctioned’

The “Pink Star,” an astonishing 59.6-carat internally flawless pink diamond, earned the title of “The Priciest Diamond Ever Auctioned” when the hammer went down with a bid of $83 million last night at Sotheby’s Geneva. The gem, which carried a pre-sale estimate of $60 million, is believed to be the largest fancy vivid pink diamond in the world.

The auction of the Pink Star, which could be watched via a live video feed, was a five-minute frenzy of mostly on-site bidding. The opening bid was 54 million francs, which quickly jumped to 60 million and then 65 million. In the end, an unnamed suitor claimed the prize with a bid of 68 million francs. After fees and commissions, the tally came to 76.325 million francs ($83.188 million).

The Pink Star’s auction success comes on the heels of similar results for “The Orange,” which set two auction records two nights ago at Christie’s Geneva when it sold for $35.53 million. That 14.82-carat diamond set a new mark for highest price ever paid for a fancy orange diamond and the highest price per carat ($2.395 million) ever paid for any diamond.

“Off the scale” in terms of its extraordinary size and richness of color was how Sotheby’s officials described the oval-cut Pink Star during its five-city promotional tour that led up to the sale. Having attained rock-star status in the international press, the Pink Star flattened the previous record of the “Graff Pink,” a 24.78-carat fancy intense pink diamond, which was sold for $45.75 million by the same auction house in 2010.

“I have had the privilege of examining some of the greatest gemstones in the world over the past 35 years, and I can say, without hesitation, that the Pink Star diamond is of immense importance,” said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry division in Europe and the Middle East.

The Pink Star was originally cut from a 132.5-carat rough diamond mined by DeBeers in Africa in 1999. Steinmetz Diamonds cut and polished the diamond into its current oval shape during a process that took two years to complete. More than 55 percent of the stone’s mass was sacrificed in an effort to attain the most perfect cut, clarity and color. It had been named “The Steinmetz Pink” until it was sold privately in 2007 for an undisclosed amount.

The Pink Star, which measures 2.69 by 2.06 cm (1.06 by 0.81 inches), boasts the Gemological Institute of America’s highest color and clarity grades for a pink diamond. It earned a Type IIa designation, which signifies a high level of chemical purity and optical transparency. The diamond is the largest in its class ever graded by the GIA, with the next largest coming in at less than half its size.

Another notable piece auctioned last night in Geneva was the “Walska Briolette Diamond” brooch, which sold for 9.68 million francs ($10.57 million). It was estimated to sell for $8 million. Designed by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1971, the brooch is highlighted by a fancy vivid yellow diamond weighing 96.62 carats. The unique briolette diamond was once in the collection of opera singer and jewelry connoisseur Ganna Walska. Subsequently, it was mounted as a brooch and exhibited at Van Cleef and Arpels retrospectives internationally.