Music Friday: 'Diamond Ring' Tells the World 'I'm Your Only Man,' Sings Jon Bon Jovi

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you outstanding songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora perform a beautiful acoustic version of "Diamond Ring," a ballad they co-wrote with Desmond Child in 1988.

Featuring romantic lyrics, soaring harmonies and a memorable acoustic guitar solo by Sambora, "Diamond Ring" tells the story of a man who is head-over-heels in love and wants the world to know. The song's title symbolizes the ultimate commitment from a man who wants to be her "everything."

They sing, "Diamond ring, wear it on your hand / It's gonna tell the world, I'm your only man / Diamond ring, diamond ring / Baby, you're my everything, diamond ring."

During a 1995 concert, Bon Jovi told fans that "Diamond Ring" was one of his favorite collaborations with Sambora, but also recounted how it was the only song the duo ever "rewrote and rewrote and rewrote." "Diamond Ring" was originally intended to be released on the group's 1988 album New Jersey, but didn't quite make it. Then it was reworked and recorded to appear on 1992's Keep the Faith. Again, it didn't quite make it. Finally, the song was perfected and released as the 14th track of 1995's These Days.

Despite its official release in 1995, "Diamond Ring" was played live six times during Bon Jovi's "New Jersey Syndicate Tour," which ran from October 1988 to February 1990.

Many critics and fans believe These Days is Bon Jovi's best album. It charted in 21 countries, including #1 spots in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The album sold more than one million copies in the U.S., peaking at #9 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Bon Jovi formed the group that bears his name in 1983. Over the past 34-plus years, Bon Jovi has sold more than 100 million records and performed more than 2,700 concerts in 50 countries. Bon Jovi and Sambora were inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.

Please check out Bon Jovi and Sambora wowing a live audience during an inspired performance of "Diamond Ring." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Diamond Ring"
Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child and Richard Sambora. Performed by Jon Bon Jovi and Richard Sambora.

Diamond ring, wear it on your hand
It's gonna tell the world, I'm your only man
Diamond ring, diamond ring
Baby, you're my everything, diamond ring

Red, red rose brought it home to you
Blood red rose, tells me that you're true
Red, red rose, blood-red rose
Like a fire inside that grows, blood-red rose

When you're hungry, I will fill you up
When you're thirsty, drink out of my loving cup
When you're crying, I'll be the tears for you
There's nothing that I wouldn't do for you

When you're hungry, I will fill you up
When you're thirsty, drink out of my loving cup
When you're crying, I'll be the tears for you
There's nothing that I wouldn't do for you

You know, I bleed every night you sleep
'Cause I don't know if I'm in your dreams
I want to be your everything...

Diamond ring, wear it on your hand
It's gonna tell the world, I'm your only man
Diamond ring, diamond ring
Baby, you're my everything, diamond ring
Darling, you're my everything, diamond ring
Now, you've got me on your string... Diamond ring

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Astronomers Witness the Birth of $100 Octillion Worth of Gold as Neutron Stars Collide in Space

Thousands of astronomers from around the globe joined together on Monday to confirm the first-ever sighting of two neutron stars colliding in space. In just one second, the "kilonova" generated the equivalent of 50 Earth masses of silver, 100 Earth masses of gold and 500 Earth masses of platinum.

The gold alone is estimated to be worth more than $100 octillion. That's $100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 followed by 29 zeroes).

The collision, which was detected on August 17, settles the long-standing mystery of how rare precious metals and other “heavy” elements are formed.

“We already knew that iron came from a stellar explosion, the calcium in your bones came from stars, and now we know the gold in your wedding ring came from merging neutron stars,” University of California Santa Cruz’s Ryan Foley told the Associated Press.

Scientists described a scenario in which two ultra-dense neutron stars spiral around each other, moving closer and closer, until they eventually merge in a violent eruption. The material blasted into space contains a variety of heavy elements that are formed through a chain of nuclear reactions know as the "r-process."

After the first detection, astronomers from around the world were alerted and each of them pointed telescopes at the scene to record the visible light, radio waves, X-rays and gamma rays. Their equipment identified massive amounts of platinum, gold and silver.

"You smash these two things together at one-third the speed of light, and that's how you make gold," Duncan Brown, an astronomer at Syracuse University and a member of the research collaboration, told Business Insider.

The smashup took place 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.

Scientists had postulated for years that precious metals were likely forged by the clash of neutron stars, which are the ultra-dense cores of aged stars. A single teaspoon of this neutron-rich material is estimated to weigh roughly one billion tons.

In the two months following the neutron star collision, astronomers from around the world teamed up to make sense of the event, which some have called the "discovery of the century." The resulting research study lists 4,000 authors representing 910 institutions.

Scientists believe that neutron star mergers in our galaxy take place about once every 100,000 years. Because astronomers worldwide are listening to millions of galaxies, they expect to identify a few spectacular collisions per year.

Credit: Image by Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science.

World's Largest Fancy Intense Pink Diamond Hits the Auction Block in Geneva Next Month

All eyes will be on the "Raj Pink," the world's largest known fancy intense pink diamond, when it hits the auction block at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva on November 15. The exceptional 37.30-carat, cushion-modified, brilliant-cut gem is estimated to fetch between $20 million and $30 million — but could yield much more.

The current record holder for a fancy intense pink diamond is the 24.78-carat “Graff Pink,” which sold for more than $46.1 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in November of 2010. The rectangular-cut Graff Pink, which carries a clarity grade of VVS2, netted $1.86 million per carat.

The Raj Pink has a slightly lower clarity grade of VS1, but weighs 12.52 carats more than the Graff Pink. Sotheby's high estimate for the Raj Pink sets the per-carat price at $804,000, or less than half of what the Graff Pink earned per carat.

Auction watchers believe that the Raj Pink has the potential to crush the pre-sale estimates. The owner of the Raj Pink has chosen to remain anonymous.

“The discovery of any pink diamond is exceptional," noted David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division, "but the Raj Pink's remarkable size and intensity of color places it in the rarefied company of the most important pink diamonds known.”

Discovered in 2015, the rough diamond that yielded the Raj Pink was studied for more than a year. It was then entrusted to a master cutter, who crafted it into an exceptional cushion-modified, brilliant-cut polished diamond.

The Gemological Institute of America characterized the Raj Pink as an “astonishing stone” and described its hue as “a very bright and ravishing fancy intense pink color.” The GIA also noted that it is rare for a diamond of such considerable weight to display such a "strong, unmodified pink color."

Of all diamonds submitted to the GIA each year, less than 0.02% are predominantly pink.

The Raj Pink will be on tour — along with other highlighted lots — during the weeks leading up to the November 15 auction. The exhibition will make stops in London (Oct. 13-17), Singapore (Oct. 20-21), Hong Kong (Oct. 23-24), Taiwan (Oct. 26-27), New York (Nov. 3-4) and Geneva (Nov. 11-15).

Credit: Image courtesy of Sotheby's.