Music Friday: Miami Gleams Like Aquamarine in Lana Del Rey's 'Salvatore'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you dreamy songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey takes us on a flyover of Miami and describes the scene as aquamarine in her 2015 love song, "Salvatore."

Del Rey's cinematic singing style is reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, and although the song takes place in contemporary Miami, the artist paints a picture of summer romance in an Old World town on the coast of southern Italy.

March's official birthstone makes a guest appearance in Del Rey's first verse...

She sings, "All the lights in Miami begin to gleam / Ruby, blue and green, neon too / Everything looks better from above, my king / Like aquamarine, oceans blue."

British singer Adele offered the song high praise in an interview with Vogue magazine, stating, "The chorus makes me feel like I'm flying..."

Del Rey told BBC Radio 1, "It's probably the track that's the most different from the other tracks on the record. It has a little bit of an Old World Italian feel. It's kind of a weirder song, but I love the chorus. It's filmic."

"Salvatore" appeared as the 10th track on Del Rey's fourth studio album, Honeymoon. Music critics loved the album and so did the record-buying public. Honeymoon charted in 31 countries, including a #2 spot on the U.S. Billboard 200 and a #3 spot on the Canadian Albums chart.

Born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant in New York City in 1985, Lana Del Rey's stage name is a nod to Lana Turner and the Ford Del Rey sedan. Although she was raised in Upstate New York, she moved back to Manhattan as a 20 year old to pursue a music career. Her preoccupation with glamour, melancholia and post-WWII pop culture placed the young artist in a genre all her own.

Del Rey told Artistdirect, "I wasn't even born in the '50s but I feel like I was there."

Her breakthrough came in 2011 after the viral success of her single "Video Games." Since then, she has produced two #1 albums and earned Grammy and Golden Globe nominations. Her official YouTube channel has netted more than 3.1 billion views. Eleven of her videos have topped 100 million views on Vevo.

Please check out the audio track of Del Rey singing "Salvatore." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Salvatore"
Written by Elizabeth Grant and Lana Del Rey. Performed by Lana Del Rey.

All the lights in Miami begin to gleam
Ruby, blue and green, neon too
Everything looks better from above, my king
Like aquamarine, oceans blue

Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Cacciatore
La-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da
Limousines
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ciao amore
La-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da
Soft ice cream

All the lights are sparkling for you it seems
On the downtown scenes, shady blue
Beatboxing and rapping in the summer rain
Like a boss, you sang jazz and blues

Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Cacciatore
La-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da
Limousine
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ciao amore
La-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da
Soft ice creams

The summer's wild
And I've been waiting for you all this time
I adore you, can't you see, you're meant for me?
Summer's hot but I've been cold without you
I was so wrong not to tell, Medellín, tangerine dreams

Catch me if you can, working on my tan, Salvatore
Dying by the hand of a foreign man happily
Calling out my name in the summer rain, ciao amore
Salvatore can wait
Now it's time to eat soft ice cream

Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Cacciatore
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah
Limousines
La-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da
Ciao amore
La-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da
Soft ice cream

Credit: Image by Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Birthstone Feature: Munsteiner's ‘Dom Pedro’ Is the World's Largest Faceted Aquamarine

Weighing 10,363 carats, the "Dom Pedro" is the largest faceted aquamarine in the world and the masterwork of Bernd Munsteiner, an Idar-Oberstein-based gem cutter, who has been called “The Picasso of Gems” and “The Father of the Fantasy Cut.”

Standing nearly 14 inches tall, the obelisk-shaped Dom Pedro is, arguably, the most beautiful example of March’s official birthstone and one of the few objects in the world that can hold its own in a display case just 30 feet from the Hope Diamond at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology in Washington, D.C.

Back in 1992, when Munsteiner viewed the gem for the first time, “it was love a first sight!” according to an account at Smithsonian.com, and transforming the rough crystal into the Dom Pedro would become the “project of his life.”

Munsteiner spent four months studying a massive 57-pound rough aquamarine crystal before embarking on a grueling six-month adventure to meticulously cut, facet and polish the stone. Munsteiner is famous for his “fantasy cuts,” where he facets a pattern of “negative cuts” into the back of a gem, which reflects the light from within. The finished work weighs 4.57 pounds.

Named after Brazil’s first two emperors, Dom Pedro Primeiro and his son, Dom Pedro Segundo, the aquamarine was originally part of a much larger crystal that was discovered by three Brazilian prospectors — garimperos — in the state of Minas Gerais in the late 1980s. While being transported, the one-meter-long, 100-pound crystal fractured into three pieces. Two were eventually cut into smaller gemstones, but the largest piece had much greater potential. Its exquisite green-blue color and pristine clarity opened a window of opportunity for a cutter with the skill of Munsteiner.

While cutting the gem completely by hand, he was never concerned with the eventual carat weight. His attention was purely on the beauty and the brilliance. “When you focus on the carat weight, it’s only about the money,” he said. “I cannot create when I’m worried about the money.”

Unveiled at the annual gem fair in Basel, Switzerland, in 1993, the gem became a traveling ambassador for the German government, a tangible example of German craftsmanship and ingenuity.

But, by the late 1990s, the gem’s future was in jeopardy. The Brazilian consortium partner wanted the gem to be sold so he could recoup his investment. Gem collector Jane Mitchell and her husband Jeffery S. Bland stepped in to purchase the Dom Pedro in 1999, ensuring that it would remain intact and not sliced up into smaller stones.

The couple generously gifted the Dom Pedro aquamarine to the Smithsonian in 2011. It was made part of the permanent exhibition at the very end of 2012.

Aquamarine is the pretty soft blue variety of the mineral beryl. Other gems in the same family include green emerald, pink morganite and golden yellow heliodore.

Credits: Dom Pedro photos by Donald E. Hurlbert / Smithsonian.

Houston's Museum of Natural Science Reveals Stunning 422-Carat Blue Sapphire

Hollywood’s glamour gals are not the only ones turning heads with their magnificent jewels. The Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) just unveiled the stunning "Siren of Serendip," one of the world’s largest blue sapphires.

Weighing in at an awe-inspiring 422.66 carats, this gorgeous deep blue gem was discovered almost a century ago on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The original rough crystal weighed 2,670 carats before it was cut and polished.

According to HMNS CEO Joel Bartsch, the Siren of Serendip was acquired after an exhaustive chain of events, including calls to the museum, a trip to Sri Lanka, calls to the board, release of the stone to the museum, transport to the U.S., vetting by a top gem laboratory, negotiations, and then outreach to donors.

Several generous Houstonians sponsored the purchase of the rare gemstone and its exceptionally beautiful setting.

Siren of Serendip is set in an elegant necklace designed and created by Ingo Henn of London and Idar-Oberstein, Germany. A master goldsmith and certified gemologist, Henn creates exquisite nature-inspired pieces from beautiful gems. He is the great grandson of a renowned gemstone carver and trader.

The necklace features a cascade of 913 white diamonds (36.30 carats total weight), with the deep blue sapphire juxtaposed against cool white metals – platinum and white gold. According to Henn, only white diamonds and white metals were used to frame the sapphire, making it pop. The necklace was then polished and rhodium-plated.

“It has to be the fitting frame for this superlative stone," says Henn. “I want viewers to be drawn to the piece, to be captivated by this stunning blue sapphire. It’s fittingly set in this very timeless, elegant and harmonious design. A piece like this is made for eternity.”

Siren of Serendip is on temporary display at HMNS's Brown Gallery until March 24.

Credits: Images courtesy of the Houston Museum of Natural Science.