Music Friday: Gwen Stefani Compares Boyfriend Blake Shelton to a Sapphire in 'Rare'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fresh songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Gwen Stefani compares boyfriend and country star Blake Shelton to a sapphire in her 2016 release, "Rare."

In this song penned by Stefani and three collaborators, the former No Doubt singer uses the September birthstone to symbolize perfection.

She sings, "You're a sapphire, you're a rolling stone / You're a sparkle in a deep black hole / You're like moon shine, when the curtains close / You're my answer, one that no one knows."

USA Today described "Rare" an "outright declaration of love for Shelton" and Entertainment Weekly called the song a "sweetly smitten confessional."

Shelton took to Twitter to affirm that "Rare" was his favorite song on the album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like. Stefani tweeted back: "Wonder who that one is about?"

Music critics pointed out that a recurring line in the song — "You know I would be dumb to give perfection up" — is a not-so-subtle dig at Shelton's ex-wife Miranda Lambert. Shelton and Stefani began dating in 2015 while they were judges on NBC's The Voice.

"Rare," which has been described as an electropop and folk pop-influenced ballad, is the final track on Stefani's third studio album.

Stefani was famously the lead singer of No Doubt, but decided to pursue a solo career in 2004. She has won three Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Brit Award, a World Music Award and two Billboard Music Awards. As a member of No Doubt and as a solo artist, she is credited with having sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Born in Fullerton, Calif., in 1969, Gwen Renée Stefani enjoyed the music of Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris as a child. As a teenager, she was obsessed with The Police and had the privilege of inducting the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. During the ceremony she displayed a signed photo of Sting, which he autographed in 1983, when Stefani was 14 years old.

Please check out the live performance of Stefani performing "Rare." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Rare"
Written by Gwen Stefani, Justin Tranter, Julia Michaels and Greg Kurstin. Performed by Gwen Stefani.

You're a sapphire, you're a rolling stone
You're a sparkle in a deep black hole
You're like moon shine, when the curtains close
You're my answer, one that no one knows

And I can't believe it, that you even exist
You know I would be dumb to give perfection up
How can I accept it, that this is so precious?
You know I would be dumb to give perfection up

You're rare
And I'm loving every second of it, don't you know?
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go
You're so good and you don't even know it
You're so good and you don't even know
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go, don't you know?

I am broken, I am insecure
Complicated, oh yeah that's for sure
I feel worthless, I've been hurt so bad
I get nervous you won't love me back

And I can't believe it, that you even exist
You know I would be dumb to give perfection up
How can I accept it, that this is so precious?
You know I would be dumb to give perfection up

You're rare
And I'm loving every second of it, don't you know?
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go
You're so good and you don't even know it
You're so good and you don't even know
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go, don't you know?

Do you really think you wanna make some new memories?
With me?
Do you really think you wanna make some new memories?
With me?
Do you really think you wanna make some new memories?
With me?
Do you really think you wanna make some new memories?
With me?

You're rare
And I'm loving every second of it, don't you know?
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go
You're so good and you don't even know it
You're so good and you don't even know
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go
You're rare
And only a stupid girl would let you go, don't you know?

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Prehistoric Amber Lovers Traded the Gem Through a Vast Mediterranean Network, Scientists Claim

An international team of researchers has uncovered archaeological evidence suggesting that precious amber — the golden-colored translucent gemstone formed from fossilized tree resin — was prized by our prehistoric ancestors and traded throughout the Mediterranean region.

Researchers used a sophisticated technique known as infrared spectroscopy to analyze amber jewelry and other amber ornaments found at archaeological sites on the Iberian Peninsula. While most of the samples, which dated from 4000 BC to 1000 BC, were determined to be of local origin, other samples were linked to amber that originated from Sicily and the Baltic regions.

Mercedes Murillo-Barroso from the University of Granada, Spain, believes this is evidence that amber was circulated through vast exchange networks across the Mediterranean, with the likely path of Baltic and Sicilian amber routed through North Africa. The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.

“This suggests that amber from the north may have moved south across Central Europe before being shipped to the west by Mediterranean sailors, challenging previous suggestions of direct trade between Scandinavia and Iberia,” co-author of the study Marcos Martinón-Torres said in the statement.

The team reported that the Sicilian amber arrived on the Iberian Peninsula at least 4,000 B.C. Baltic-sourced material was dated from 1,000 B.C.

Rare amber specimens exhibit neatly preserved plant matter and other creatures that became trapped in the resin and then frozen in time.

Today, 90% of the world’s amber comes from Kaliningrad, a Russian territory tucked between Poland and Lithuania on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Due to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kaliningrad Oblast became an exclave, geographically separated from the rest of Russia.

Credit: Amber image by Brocken Inaglory [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons.

330-Carat 'Star of Asia' Sapphire Is a Phenomenal Example of September's Official Birthstone

Today we shine our spotlight on the 330-carat "Star of Asia," one of the world's finest star sapphires and a stunning representation of September's official birthstone.

Originating from the historic Mogok mines of Burma (now Myanmar), the blue-violet sapphire is said to have belonged to India’s Maharajah of Jodhpur and eventually obtained by famed mineral dealer and collector Martin Leo Ehrmann. The impressive gem was acquired for the National Gem Collection in 1961 and continues to be a popular attraction at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, in Washington D.C.

Renowned for its impressive size, intense color and sharp star, the Star of Asia is considered a phenomenal stone.

According to the Smithsonian, the star forms when titanium atoms are trapped within the growing corundum crystal. As the crystal cools, the titanium forms needlelike crystals of the mineral rutile, which orient themselves in three directions. When properly cut, light reflecting off the three sets of needles produces the six-rayed star. This phenomenon is called "asterism," which is derived from the Latin word “astrum,” for “star.”

Internetstones.com points out that the "Star of Asia" reflects the skills of a master cutter, who did an excellent job shaping the cabochon to bring out the maximum asterism and to ensure it would appear precisely in the center of the stone.

Historically, the finest and most vibrant gem-quality sapphires have come from Sri Lanka, Burma and the Kashmir region of India. The historic Mogok tract of Burma has been producing museum-quality rubies and sapphires since the 15th century.

All sapphires are made of the mineral corundum (crystalline aluminum oxide). In its pure state, the corundum is colorless, but when trace elements are naturally introduced to the chemical composition, all the magic happens. Blue sapphires occur, for instance, when aluminum atoms are displaced with those of titanium and iron in the gem’s crystal lattice structure. The blue-violet color is achieved when the element vanadium is added to the mix. Corundum has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, compared to a diamond, which has a hardness of 10.

Sapphires are seen in a wide spectrum of colors, including pink, purple, green, orange and yellow. Ruby is the red variety of corundum.

Credit: Images by Chip Clark/Smithsonian.