Music Friday: Her Face Shines Like ‘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 a couple of rows of pearls.”

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

Elvis Costello and the Attractions released “The Elements 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 Elements 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, “Elements” 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 (Day Costello).

Elvis 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 the audio track of Costello and the Attractions performing “The Elements Within Her.” The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

“The Element Within Her”
Written by Elvis Costello. Performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions.

It’s the element within her
Something under her skin
That is shining out through the face of the girl
Two sapphires and a 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 a 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… 

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

'Star of Bombay' Sapphire Was Gifted by Douglas Fairbanks to Mary Pickford in the 1920s

About a century ago, the swashbuckling silent film star Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., gifted a 182-carat star sapphire to his equally famous wife, Mary Pickford. The violet-blue sapphire was a prized possession of "America's Sweetheart" until her death in 1979 at the age of 87.

Upon her passing, a representative of the Smithsonian was invited by the Mary Pickford Foundation to examine the stone. According the Los Angeles Times, the rep was immediately impressed, stating, “We want this sapphire. It is much brighter than our others.”

This impressive example of September's official birthstone was soon bequeathed to the Smithsonian and became a permanent resident of the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals.

Pickford and Fairbanks were motion picture pioneers. They formed Pickford–Fairbanks Studios in 1919, which was renamed United Artists Studio in 1928. The power couple tied the knot in 1920, a marriage that would last 16 years. Pickford is also credited with being one of the 36 founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the first actress to sign a $1 million contract.

Displaying an impressive six-rayed asterism when viewed under direct light, Pickford's cabochon-cut star sapphire owes its intense color to trace amounts of titanium, iron and vanadium in its chemical composition. The vanadium provides the violet undertones. 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.

Interestingly, the "Star of Bombay" was not from Bombay at all. It originated in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). Jewelry-industry scholars have a few thoughts on how the gem was misnamed. The most plausible is that the stone was mined in Sri Lanka, but then sold to a western buyer through the trading center of Bombay (now called Mumbai). The 563-carat "Star of India" is another famous star sapphire that was misnamed. It, too, originated in Sri Lanka.

Historically, the finest and most vibrant gem-quality sapphires have come from Sri Lanka, Burma and the Kashmir region of India. According to the Smithsonian, sapphires from Sri Lanka are typically light to medium blue and are commonly referred to as “Ceylon Sapphires.”

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

Credits: "Star of Bombay" photo by Chip Clark / Smithsonian, and digitally enhanced by SquareMoose. Mary Pickford photo by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

New Ad Campaign Spotlights a Natural Diamond's Positive Impact on Vulnerable Communities

The Natural Diamond Council's new ad campaign titled, "Thank You, By the Way," communicates the massive socioeconomic benefits generated by the diamond mining industry. The campaign targets jewelry consumers, who now more than ever before want to know where their products come from, and the impact their purchases have on the producing countries and local communities.

Via the campaign, consumers learn that by choosing a natural diamond, they’ll make a positive impact on the lives of millions of people in the most remote corners of the earth. In the example, above, consumers learn that their marriage proposal with a natural diamond protects endangered rhinos and safeguards 200,000 hectares across Southern Africa.

Created with the support of the Responsible Jewellery Council, the series of nine creative executions can been seen across the NDC’s social media channels, with a dedicated page on Only Natural Diamonds.

“This isn’t a new topic for the diamond industry,” said David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council. “For the last two decades the industry has been doing this work, putting sustainability at the forefront of everything they do. But now more than ever, consumers have an appetite for it, they want to know the impact of what they are buying, and how their purchases are contributing to the regions and communities producing them. Through this campaign, we would like to thank our consumers for their trust and support in doing good around us.”

On the NDC website, consumers learn that their natural diamond purchase has far-reaching positive effects, building healthier, more prosperous futures for people in vulnerable communities.

A natural diamond purchase will do the following:

• Contribute $16 billion of annual benefits for our world. That includes healthcare, jobs, education, biodiversity and infrastructure.
• Support the livelihood of 10 million people around the world.
• Help provide access to healthcare for more than 4 million people.
• Help provide access to education for children around the world, including more than a half million children in rural communities.
• Benefit the indigenous communities of Canada’s Northwest Territories with investments aimed at all age groups, from preschoolers to elders.
• Invest in livelihoods at the source – from nurturing local business start-ups, to building new schools, roads and hospitals.
• Help fund more than 400 women-owned businesses across Africa.
• Help protect biodiversity over an area of land the size of Paris, London and New York City.
• Help protect the lives of millions of wild animals globally, saving threatened species from extinction.

Credit: Image courtesy of The Natural Diamond Council.