Ancient Egyptians Weren’t Far Off When They Celebrated Peridot as the ‘Gem of the Sun’

The Ancient Egyptians mined peridot on the Red Sea island of Zabargad and celebrated the vibrant green stone as the “gem of the sun.” Thousands of years later, modern scientists have proven that August’s official birthstone is truly extraterrestrial, as it has been found embedded within meteorites and scattered across the surface of Mars.

While nearly all of the peridot that you see in your jeweler’s showcase was born deep within the Earth’s mantel, some very special specimens originated in deep space.

Did you know that translucent gem-quality peridot is a prominent part of a stony-iron meteorite called a pallasite? The formation contains large gem crystals in a silvery honeycomb of nickel-iron.

A beautiful example of this phenomenon is seen in the Fukang meteorite, which was discovered near Fukang, China, in 2000. The 2,200 lb (1,003 kg) mass was obtained by a Chinese dealer, who removed a 44 lb chunk from the main mass and exhibited the specimen at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in 2005.

The photo, above, shows a slice from the Fukang pallasite. The greenish-yellow areas are gem-quality peridot in various shapes, from rounded to angular. They range in size from 5 mm to several centimeters.

The main mass of the Fukang pallasite reportedly contains peridot clusters up to 11 cm (4.3 in) in diameter.

Peridot is also credited with being the first gem to be discovered on another planet. The Mars landing of 2003 revealed that green peridot crystals — in the form of the gem’s less-precious cousin, olivine — cover about 19,000 square miles of the Red Planet’s surface.

In addition to being the official birthstone of August, peridot is also the 16th anniversary gemstone. Colors range from pure green to yellowish-green to greenish-yellow, but the finest hue is green without any hint of yellow or brown, according to the Gemological Institute of America.

The world’s largest faceted peridot weighs 310 carats and is part of the Smithsonian’s National Gem and Mineral Collection.

Credits: Pallasite slice by Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Peridot grouping by Chip Clark/National Gem and Mineral Collection, Smithsonian.

Tokyo Olympic Gold Medal Has a Melt Value of $832, But This One From 1936 Fetched $1.46MM

If the gold medals awarded at this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo were made of pure gold, each would carry a precious metal value of $35,556. Unfortunately for the 339 athletes who will earn the ultimate symbol of athletic achievement at these Games, the gold medals are actually made of 500 grams of silver overlaid with 6 grams of gold. The melt value is just $832 — far from the $1.46 million paid in 2013 for Jesse Owens' 1936 Olympic gold medal.

There was a time when Olympic gold medals were actually made from pure gold, with the last ones awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, back in 1912. Starting in 1916, the International Olympic Committee mandated that gold medals be made with a 24-karat gilding of exactly 6 grams (.211 ounces).

On rare occasions, Olympic gold medals will appear at auction and this is where their real values are reflected.

Back in 2013, billionaire Ron Burkle plunked down $1.46 million at SCP Auctions for a Jesse Owens gold medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was the highest price ever paid for a piece of Olympic memorabilia.

Owens’ performance in Berlin was one of the most significant in Olympic history because German führer Adolf Hitler was convinced the Games would showcase what he believed was the superiority of the Aryan race. Instead, the 23-year-old son of an Alabama share cropper embarrassed the German dictator by dominating his athletes with decisive wins in the 100- and 200-meter dash, the long jump and as a member of the 4×100 meter relay team.

In 2019, Goldin Auctions offered for sale a second Owens gold medal from the same Berlin Olympics. That medal was sold to an online bidder for $615,000.

Of the four gold medals captured by Owens, the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. The one purchased by Burkle in 2013 had been gifted by Owens to his good friend, entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. The medal came to SCP Auctions via the estate of Robinson’s wife, Elaine Plaines-Robinson.

The Owens medal sold by Goldin Auctions had been owned by the family of John Terpak, Sr., a weightlifter who met Owens during the 1936 Games. Owens apparently gifted the medal to Terpak in appreciation of his generosity and kindness.

Interestingly, Owens’ 1936 medal is significantly smaller than the ones being awarded in Tokyo. It measures 55mm in diameter (compared to 85mm for the Tokyo medal) is 5mm thick (vs. 7.7mm to 12.1mm thick) and weighs 71 grams (vs. 556 grams).

If Owens' gold medal was made of pure gold it would have a melt value of $4,450. Since it was made primarily of silver, its melt value is just over $442.

Credits: Gold medals courtesy of Goldin Auctions. Jesse Owens photo by N.N., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Music Friday: Lady A Sings, ‘You Shine Like Diamonds’ in 2008’s ‘Love’s Lookin’ Good on You’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today we have country music trio Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) singing “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You” from the group's 2008 chart-topping album.

The premise of the song is that a woman in love undergoes a beautiful and undeniable transformation. She beams with confidence, her eyes are twice as bright and she looks like a million bucks.

Lady A sings, “How your sweet smile has a way of / Lighting up the room / Yeah you shine like diamonds / In everything you do / Oh love, love, love is looking good / Good, good on you.”

“Love’s Lookin’ Good on You” is the sixth track on the group’s inaugural album Lady Antebellum, which was released in April of 2008 and made its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country albums chart. It was also a crossover success, as it reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

(Lady Antebellum changed its name to Lady A in 2020 because another artist, Anita White, had been performing under that name for more than 20 years.)

The five-time Grammy-award-winning Lady A is composed of the multitalented trio of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) and Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin). The group got its start in Nashville in 2006 and signed with Capitol Records a year later.

The trio is credited with 11 chart-topping songs, five billion digital streams and 18 million albums sold.

Check out the awesome 2008 live performance of Lady A singing “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You.” The studio session was sponsored by radio station 96.9 “The Kat” in Charlotte, NC. And, as always, the lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Love’s Lookin’ Good on You”
Written by Victoria Lynn Shaw, Jason Deere and Matt Lopez. Performed by Lady A.

Oh baby, baby something’s just a little bit different
In your eyes tonight,
Why they look twice as bright.
Oh baby, baby something’s changed,
That I can’t quite put my finger on,
Well I’ve been racking my brain,
Wait just a minute,
Well hold on now,
Well I’ll get it.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

Ooh baby, baby,
Isn’t it funny,
How we don’t need any money,
Just a little love to look like a million bucks

Ooh baby, baby,
Kinda makes you think that the stars were in sync on the night we met.
There’ll probably be a red carpet everywhere you go,
Throw it on out hey don’t you know.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

I knew right away from the very first kiss,
That it just doesn’t get much better than this.
We fit just like a favorite pair of jeans.
We just keep coming back for more,
Like two kids in a candy store.
And now I know what everybody means when they say.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

I’m telling you mighty mighty good babe.

Love, love, love is looking,
Good, good, good on you,
Love is looking good on you.

Love, love, love is looking
Good, good, good on you

Love, love, love is looking,
Good, good, good on you

Credit: Photo by zqvol, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

For the Second Time This Month, TSA Reunites Panicked Traveler With Lost Diamond

We think it's fair to say that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is VERY good at finding loose diamonds.

Last week, we recounted the story of how the TSA reunited distraught newlyweds with a diamond lost at a security checkpoint at JFK International Airport in New York City. Today, we tell the story of how a former Mrs. Alaska was reunited with a very sentimental diamond that popped out of her ring in the baggage claim area of Ketchikan Airport 3,400 miles away in Alaska.

Danielle Wakefield, Mrs. Alaska 2017 and assistant coach for the Anchorage-based Nunaka Valley Little League softball team, flew to Ketchikan to participate in a state softball youth tournament last week. Wakefield exited the airport without realizing that the center diamond of her engagement ring — a diamond given to her by her late father — somehow got dislodged.

Wakefield's trip to the tournament required a ferry ride, and that's when she noticed her diamond was missing.

“By the time I had gotten off the ferry, I felt my ring — and my diamond was gone,” she told the Ketchikan Daily News. “I couldn’t go back.”

On the suggestion of her mother, Wakefield turned to Facebook to get the message out about her lost diamond.

In a post punctuated by two blue heart emojis and a sobbing face emoji, Wakefield wrote, "I lost my diamond in Ketchikan, Alaska between Alaska Airlines flight 64 and the ferry drop off on the other side of the channel between 4:45 pm and 5:15 pm on July 15, 2021. It would not be that big of a deal but this is the only thing I have from my late father and I’m really upset. I know it’s a long shot but I thought I would post and see if it could make it far enough to get to the person who who might find my diamond. If you found a diamond in this area, please return it to me. If you are my friend in Alaska please share! You might know someone who knows someone."

The post was widely shared by Facebook users in Ketchikan and soon caught the eye of Ketchikan Lead TSA Officer Destiny Madewell, who immediately shared the post so her friends who work at the airport would see it, and increase the chances of them finding the missing diamond.

“Looking for a lost diamond at the airport was the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack,’ but I knew from the Facebook post that the diamond had sentimental value to the owner. It had been given to her by her late father,” said Madewell. “I wanted to help in any way I could, to get the word out among the Ketchikan airport community.”

According to the TSA, later that same day as Madewell was wrapping up her shift, she went downstairs to confirm the checked baggage screening area was secured for the evening. While returning to the security checkpoint upstairs, she walked through the baggage claim area.

Something sparkling on the floor caught her eye. She took a closer look and was shocked it was the diamond described in the Facebook post.

Wakefield had been at the baggage claim about 24 hours earlier. Remarkably, the diamond had remained on the floor, undisturbed — and unnoticed — by an estimated 500 people who had been through that area of the airport after since the previous evening.

“I took the diamond upstairs and showed it to my supervisor who was aware of the Facebook post,” said Madewell. “We immediately reached out to the traveler to begin the process of reuniting her with the diamond.”

Wakefield got her diamond back in time for her to catch her flight back to Anchorage.

Returning to Facebook to update her friends about her good fortune, Wakefield also related how the spirit of her late father may have influenced the outcome.

"Thank you to everyone who shared my post!!" she wrote. "My diamond was FOUND and returned to me today by a complete stranger who saw my post shared (Destiny Madewell) and found it right before it got vacuumed up. Immediately after it was returned to me 2 Bald Eagles flew over my head. Bald Eagles are a sign of my dad - they always come at important moments."

Wakefield wrote that she was "beyond thankful."

"I can’t believe it," she continued. "Grateful doesn’t even cover it."

“We train our employees to be alert in all situations and in all aspects of their job," said Federal Security Director for Alaska Pete Duffy. "This training paid off! I am so proud of the KTN (Ketchikan Airport) TSA team, their integrity and ongoing commitment to the community. They make a positive difference in so many ways, every single day.”

Credits: Ring photo via Facebook / Danielle Wakefield. Destiny Madewell and diamond images courtesy of TSA.

Super Bowl Champ Tom Brady Just Received the 'Most Incredible Ring That's Ever Been Made'

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady couldn't be more impressed with his brand new Tampa Bay Buccaneers championship ring — a spectacular, commemorative piece featuring 319 diamonds and an innovative twist-off top.

“They’re not so much rings, they’re more like trophies that you wear on your finger,” the age-defying quarterback said in a video posted by the Buccaneers. “This is by far the most incredible ring that’s ever been made.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' players, coaches and staff received their championship rings during a private ceremony in Tampa on Thursday. The next day, Brady turned to Twitter to show off his growing collection of Super Bowl bling and captioned his photo, "How it started vs How it’s going."

Now entering his 22nd NFL season, Brady won his first six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots. Brady will turn 44 on August 3.

The most surprising element of the Buccaneers' Super Bowl LV ring is a twist-off top that reveals a hand-engraved, three-dimensional replica of Raymond James Stadium. According to the team, those two features – the removable top and the stadium tableau – have never before been included in a Super Bowl ring. Both are meant to celebrate the 2020 Buccaneers becoming the first team ever to win the Super Bowl at their own home stadium.

(Unlike most other sports, the NFL picks its Super Bowl host cities years in advance. For instance, 2022 Super Bowl will take place at the Rams' home stadium in Inglewood, CA, and the 2023 Super Bowl is set for Cardinals' home stadium in Glendale, AZ)

The twist-off top has a number of neat elements. When the top is flipped upside down, the players can read a laser-etched inscription titled "HISTORIC," along with a description of the unusual home-field Super Bowl victory. In the interior of the ring, a single diamond is set on the handcrafted replica of Raymond James Stadium. That diamond represents the tunnel where Buccaneers players entered during Super Bowl LV. Around the top of the stadium on each of the four sides are displays of the four game scores from Tampa Bay’s postseason run – victories against the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.

“We knew that this ring had to be completely unique and representative of the special journey this team took to the championship,” said Buccaneers Co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz. “We know it will be an emotional touchstone for everyone involved for many, many years to come.”

On the top of the 14-karat yellow and white gold ring are two Lombardi Trophies – representing the franchise’s two Super Bowl Championships – and the team’s signature flag logo, carved from a red stone. The 319 diamonds represent the 31-9 final score in Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV victory. The total weight of the diamonds is 15 carats.

Above and below the trophies are the words “World Champions,” which are diamond encrusted. Those two words are connected along the edge of each side by eight baguette-shaped diamonds, representing the franchise-record eight-game winning streak to end the season.

The Buccaneers chose celebrity jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills to design the Super Bowl rings.

“Super Bowl rings are known for being the biggest and having the most carat weight, but eventually you can’t go bigger, and you have to go better,” said Jason Arasheben, CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills. “Defying NFL tradition, the Buccaneers commissioned us to redefine what an NFL Super Bowl ring looks like. Our team did a tremendous job pushing the limits of design and incorporating several key storylines from the season into this ring. I am beyond proud.”

The left side of the ring displays each individual’s name, the jersey number and the team’s motto, “One Team, One Cause.”

The right side features the Buccaneers logo and the Super Bowl LV logo, flanked by the score of the game, with 2020 – representing the season – listed below. The four diamonds on the Super Bowl Trophy represent the team’s four playoff wins. The final feature is found inside the band, where the phrase “Trust, Loyalty, Respect” is inscribed.

Credits: Ring images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills. Tom Brady image via Twitter / TomBrady.