Music Friday: 'One Day You’re a Diamond and Then You're a Stone,' Sings Mark Knopfler

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Frontman Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits sing about life’s ups and downs (“one day you’re a diamond and then you’re a stone”) in the comical 1991 tune called “The Bug.”

Written by Knopfler, “The Bug” is a clever commentary on how “everything can change in the blink of an eye, so let the good times roll before we say goodbye.”

In the song’s famous reprise, Knopfler sings, “Sometimes you’re the windshield / Sometimes you’re the bug / Sometimes it all comes together baby / Sometimes you’re just a fool in love.”

“The Bug” was released as the fourth single from Dire Straits’ sixth and final studio album On Every Street. The album sold 15 million copies worldwide and served as a fitting punctuation mark to the band’s wildly successful 15-year run, during which Dire Straits sold more than 120 million records.

Dire Straits was a formed in London in 1977 and its name reflected the the group’s shaky financial condition in the early days. Founding members Knopfler, younger brother David, John Illsley and Pick Withers honed their unique sound with inspiration from the worlds of jazz, folk and blues.

The group split for the first time in 1988, but then reformed in 1991. The final breakup was in 1995 when Mark Knopfler pursued a solo career.

The 73-year-old Knopfler was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in Northumberland, England. A four-time Grammy Award winner, Knopfler is ranked 27th on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Dire Straits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Fun trivia: Dire Straits was Princess Diana’s favorite rock group.

More fun trivia: Lead singer and guitarist Mark Knopfler is left-handed but plays right-handed.

Please check out the video of Dire Straits’ live performance of “The Bug.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“The Bug”
Written by Mark Knopfler. Performed by Dire Straits.

Well it’s a strange old game you learn it slow
One step forward and it’s back you go
You’re standing on the throttle
You’re standing on the brake
In the groove ’til you make a mistake

Sometimes you’re the windshield
Sometimes you’re the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you’re just a fool in love
Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger
Sometimes you’re the ball
Sometimes it all comes together
Sometimes you’re gonna lose it all

You gotta know happy – you gotta know glad
Because you’re gonna know lonely
And you’re gonna know sad
When you’re rippin’ and you’re ridin’
And you’re coming on strong
You start slippin’ and slidin’
And it all goes wrong because

Sometimes you’re the windshield
Sometimes you’re the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you’re just a fool in love
Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger
Sometimes you’re the ball
Sometimes it all comes together
Sometimes you’re gonna lose it all

One day you got the glory and then you got none
One day you’re a diamond and then you’re a stone
Everything can change in the blink of an eye
So let the good times roll before we say goodbye because

Sometimes you’re the windshield
Sometimes you’re the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you’re just a fool in love
Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger
Sometimes you’re the ball
Sometimes it all comes together
Sometimes you’re gonna lose it all

Sometimes you’re the windshield
Sometimes you’re the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you’re just a fool in love

Sometimes you’re the windshield
Sometimes you’re the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you’re just a fool in love

Credit: Dire Straits by Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Extraordinary 'Bulgari Laguna Blu' to Headline Sotheby's Geneva Auction in May

The "Bulgari Laguna Blu," an 11.16-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, is expected to fetch upwards of $28 million at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction in Geneva on May 16.

The auction's pear-shaped headliner ranks among the finest blue diamonds to have hit the auction scene over the past two decades, and joins an elite club that includes the 15.1-carat “De Beers Cullinan Blue” ($57.5 million, Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2022), the 14.6-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” ($57.5 million, Christie’s Geneva, 2016) and the 12.03-carat “Blue Moon of Josephine” ($48.5 million, Sotheby's Geneva, 2015).

Boasting a VS1 clarity and a color intensity that's been described by Sotheby's as “extraordinary” and “mesmerizing,” the Bulgari Laguna Blu was originally set in a ring by the Italian designer in the early 1970s and sold to a prestigious European collection later that same decade. It remained largely out of the spotlight for the next 44+ years.

All that changed when it was worn by Indian actress and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra for the Met Gala fashion show in New York on Monday. Instead of being set as a ring, the blue diamond became the centerpiece of a lavish diamond necklace, also designed by Bulgari.

Blue diamonds are considered one of the rarest colors of all diamonds. A fabulous fluke of nature, a blue diamond owes its color to the random presence of boron within the diamond’s carbon structure.

Scientists believe that blue diamonds form about 400 miles below the surface, four times deeper than about 99 percent of all other diamonds.

The extreme rarity of the Bulgari Laguna Blu is apparent on many levels.

First, this gem earned the highest color grade ever assigned to a blue diamond by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The organization graded it fancy vivid blue with no secondary color present. Fewer than 1% of blue diamonds earn the "vivid" rating.

Next, while blue diamonds make up less than 0.02% of mined diamonds, those weighing more than 10 carats are among the rarest of the rare.

According to Olivier Wagner, head of jewelry at Sotheby’s Geneva, the Bulgari Laguna Blu ranks as the third-largest pear-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond to come to auction. It's also reported to be the most valuable piece ever sold by Bulgari.

Sotheby's emphasized that the Bulgari Laguna Blu has remained in the same family ever since its acquisition in the 1970s and that the stone has been unmodified, even though modern diamond cutting technology could have been employed to enhance the diamond's characteristics and increase its value.

After making its New York debut at the Met Gala, the Bulgari Laguna Blu will be heading to the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva, where it will be on exhibit, starting May 11 in the lead-up to the main event five days later.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's.

Jewelry Category to Smash Another Mother's Day Sales Record, Predicts NRF

Mother’s Day 2023 jewelry sales are expected to climb to $7.8 billion, outpacing last year's tally by 11.4% and outperforming all other retail categories by a wide margin. According to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF), Special Outings should come in second at $5.6 billion in sales, while Electronics should rank third at $4 billion.

A look at historical data shows Jewelry on a 16-year tear from $2.1 billion in 2007 to $7.8 billion today. That reflects a total increase of 271%, or nearly 17% per year.

Back in 2007, Special Outings ($3.1 billion) had held first place, with Flowers ($2.3 billion) second. Now, Special Outings ranks second (up 80% since 2007, or 5% per year) and Flowers ranks sixth (up 39% since 2007, or 2.4% per year).

Exactly 44% of respondents said they will be buying jewelry for their moms this year. That’s a 3 percentage point gain over 2020 and an impressive 10 percentage point increase over 2021.

Overall Mother’s Day spending is expected to total $35.7 billion this year, up $4 billion from a record-setting 2022. The average spend will be $274.02 per person, the highest in the history of the survey and up from the previous record high of $245.76 in 2022. The top spenders are those in the 35-to-44 age range ($382.26).

According to the NRF, consumers continue to prioritize thoughtful gifts. Respondents said the most important factors in purchasing a Mother’s Day gift were finding items that are unique or different (47%) or those that create a special memory (42%).

Eighty-four percent of U.S. adults are expected to celebrate Mother's Day this year. Of that group, most (57%) will be purchasing gifts for a mother or stepmother, followed by a wife (23%) or daughter (12%).

As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF provides data on consumer behavior and spending for key periods, such as holidays, throughout the year. The survey of 8,164 US adult consumers was conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics from April 3 to 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

Credit: Image by Bigstockphoto.com.