Music Friday: Elvis Costello Describes ‘The Element Within Her’ as ‘Two Sapphires and a Couple of Rows of Pearls’

Welcome to Music Friday when we love to revitalize long-forgotten tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. In Elvis Costello’s “The Element Within Her,” the singer-songwriter-poet uses precious gems to describe a girl who is radiant on the inside and out.

He sings, “It's the element within her / Something under her skin / That is shining out through the face of the girl / Two sapphires and couple of rows of pearls.”

Taken literally, the two sapphires could represent sparkling blues eyes, while the rows of pearls might symbolize the brilliant white teeth of a dazzling smile. (Yes, the timing of this song is perfect because September's official birthstone is sapphire.)

Elvis Costello and the Attractions released “The Element Within Her” in 1983 as the fourth track of their album, Punch the Clock. The album met with moderate success as it reached #24 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums chart.

Even though “The Element Within Her” never charted as a single, the song has been included on many of Costello’s set lists. According to a Costello fan site, “Element” was first performed live in London in 1983, and the last time fans enjoyed it live was in Chicago in 2011.

Born in London in 1954, Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus became Elvis Costello when his manager, Jake Riviera, suggested that he merge Elvis Presley’s first name with Costello, which was his dad’s stage name.

Costello is credited with being a pioneer of the British punk and new wave movements in the mid-to-late 1970s. Costello and The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Costello #80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

We hope you enjoy Costello’s performance of “The Element Within Her.” The video and lyrics are below. Please note that the length of the song is actually 2:50, not 12:25 as seen on the video's timeline.

“The Element Within Her”
Written and performed by Elvis Costello.

It's the element within her
Something under her skin
That is shining out through the face of the girl
Two sapphires and couple of rows of pearls
It's just a part of it
Like your fine tresses
You know what my guess is
La la la la la la la la la la la

It's the element within her
Something under her skin
That is shining out through the face of the girl
Two sapphires and couple of rows of pearls

And he was a playboy
Could charm the birds right out of the trees
Now he says, “What do I do with these?”
La la la la la la la la la la la

This love in my heart
Let no one set asunder
Sometimes I wonder
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

But back in the bedroom
With her electric heater
He says, “Are you cold?”
She says, “No, but you are la…”
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la
It's the element within her
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
It's the element within her
La la la la la la la la la
It's the element within her
La la la la la la la la la
It's the element within her
La la la la la la la la la
Oh, it’s the element within…

Super-Slim Ring Box With Pirouetting Display Called 'Genius' and a ‘Game Changer’ by The Huffington Post

Slowly open the super-slim “Clifton” ring box by Canadian packaging designer Andrew Zo and watch the engagement ring pirouette like a ballet dancer.

Just one centimeter thick and smaller than a wallet, the “Clifton” leather-bound box is cleverly designed with a special ring-shaped inset that protects the jewelry when the box is closed and an origami-inspired holder that twirls the ring a quarter turn when the box is opened.

A Huffington Post reviewer called the design “genius” and a headline writer noted that this fresh take on the traditional ring box was a “game changer.”

The bulbous shape of a traditional ring box has challenged men for generations. When planning to pop the question, there was no hiding the telltale ring-box bulge in their shirt or pants pocket.

Zo decided to solve the problem as a student of Emily Carr University, an art and design school in Vancouver, B.C. Not only was Zo able to come up with a way to make the box much thinner, but he was also able to translate his love of origami into an animated display.

While his student project earned accolades, the product was not commercially viable. Zo has worked for the past three years to refine the “Clifton” and prepare it for market.

Starting at $90, Zo’s ring box might seem pricey to some. He reasons, however, that for anyone spending $5,000, $10,000 or more on an engagement ring, the additional cost is negligible — and worth it.

The Vancouver-based Zo currently sells the “Clifton” on his website, but it seems as if all his recent publicity has compromised his site’s ability to process online orders. A “thank you” message at clifton.andrewzo.com explains that the site is experiencing overwhelming demand and that online ordering capabilities will return in October.

For now, purchase inquiries should be directed to Zo at this email address: hello@andrewzo.com.

'Purple Orchid’ Diamond Set to Make Its World Debut; Rare 3.37-Carat Gem Is Worth $4 Million

Dubbed the “Purple Orchid,” the 3.37-carat fancy intense pinkish-purple cushion-cut gem in your gaze is an extraordinarily rare natural diamond.

Purple diamonds of this clarity, size and color intensity rarely appear in nature. They come along once in a generation and demand the highest premiums. This stone is valued at $4 million, or about $1.18 million per carat.

Israeli diamond company Leibish & Co. will introduce the Purple Orchid to the world during the September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair. The gem, which has a clarity rating of VS2, was cut from a 4-plus-carat rough diamond sourced from the Kimberley Mine in South Africa. The diamond was carefully polished over a three-month period.

Leibish reports that purple diamonds can be found in only three locations worldwide — South Africa, Russia and Brazil. While Russia’s purple diamonds have overtones of blue and Brazil’s purple diamonds tend to have a hint of orange, the purples and intense pinkish purples from South Africa display the absolute best brilliance and purple sparkle, according to Leibish.

Appropriately, the Purple Orchid’s 2014 debut coincides neatly with Radiant Orchid’s reign as Pantone’s 2014 Color of the Year. The global color authority described Radiant Orchid as “a captivating harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones.”

What makes purple diamonds purple is still a scientific mystery. It's been established that a yellow diamond gets its dazzling color from minute traces of nitrogen in the diamond’s chemical composition and a blue diamond gets its color from boron. When it comes to purple, scientists suspect hydrogen as the stray element, but they're not so sure.

“The cause of purple in diamonds remains a mystery, which only adds to the glamour and attractiveness of diamonds like these,” said Leibish Polnauer, the president of Leibish & Co.

Retired Firefighter Pulls Bridal Jewelry From the Sand at Long Island Beach, Posts to Facebook and Finds the Owner the Same Day

Retired firefighter and metal-detector enthusiast Mike Cogan made the “find of a lifetime” when he scooped up two platinum-and-diamond rings from the beach at Robert Moses State Park on Long Island on August 6.

The first was a three-stone engagement ring with a 1.3-carat round center diamond, and the other was a wedding band adorned with small round diamonds all the way around. A local jeweler told Cogan that the engagement ring alone was worth more than $13,000.

But, instead of keeping the bounty for himself, he decided to do the right thing and attempt to find the owner.

Two days earlier, mom-of-three Erin Carrozzo was enjoying an outing with her little ones on the same beach when she removed her rings to apply sunscreen.

She got distracted when she had to run down her three-year-old boy, and didn’t realize her rings were missing until they all got back to the car later in the day. Carrozzo went back to the beach to search the sand, but her rings were nowhere to be found.

The 41-year-old mom reported the rings lost to beach authorities and cried on the ride home to Flushing, NY.

"I felt like all the blood drained out of my head," she told Newsday. "That's the only way I could describe it."

On August 7, accepting harsh reality that she would probably never see her rings again, Carrozzo used Facebook to express her anguish. She bid farewell to her engagement ring. "You were a part of me all day every day for 11 years," she wrote, adding that she hoped that the ring would eventually be found by some lovestruck couple who could use it to begin their lives together.

She also made an ironic comment about "some broke metal detector dude" making a "couple of bucks off of you." Fortunately, her description did not define the fine character of Mr. Cogan.

The 66-year-old Cogan told NBC 4 New York that he noticed immediately how precious the rings were. “This isn't a kid's ring,” he said. “This is platinum and these have to be real diamonds. I knew how empty she had to feel. I don't want anybody to feel like that, so I started my search."

His first strategy was to create a lost-and-found item on Craigslist. When that didn’t work, the resident of East Northport, NY, turned to Facebook.

On August 21, he posted a photo of the wedding band (but not the engagement ring) with a caption that read: “I found this ring on a Long Island beach. It is real. There is an inscription on the inside. If all my L.I. friends share this picture with their L.I. friends, then maybe I can find the owner.”

Cogan’s initial post was shared more than 19,000 times, especially among the Long Island-based mommy groups.

Later that same day, a Facebook friend alerted Carrozzo to a photo of the wedding band. "I was like, oh my God, that does look like my ring!" Carrozzo told Newsday.

Carrozzo phoned Cogan and explained that she had lost two rings, but was happy to get the band back. Then Cogan revealed he had found the engagement ring, too.

Cogan triumphantly posted this message on his Facebook page: “RING OWNER HAS BEEN FOUND! Not only did she give a positive ID and location but she said she also lost her engagement ring. I didn't post about the ER but I will be returning it also. She is a happy camper. Thanks everyone who shared and posted on Long Island Moms and then to Modern Families.”

On Thursday, August 28, Cogan and Carrozzo got to meet in person at the same beach where the rings were lost. With an NBC television crew on hand, Cogan returned the rings to their rightful owner. The retired firefighter asked Carrozzo to close her eyes as he placed both the engagement ring and the wedding band in her hands.

“Doesn’t that feel good?” he asked.

The two exchanged an emotional hug, and Carrozzo told an NBC reporter that she was “amazed how much good there is in the world.”

"This man hit the jackpot, and he chose to hunt me down," she told Newsday. "And I can't thank him enough."

Screen captures: NBC 4 New York