Using only his bare hands and a sieve, pastor and part-time miner Emmanuel Momoh pulled a 706-carat diamond from the sediment of a river bed in Sierra Leone. About the size of a hockey puck, the diamond is the second-largest ever found in this western African nation and ranks as one of the top-10 largest rough diamonds ever recorded.
Momoh possessed a permit to mine for diamonds along the rivers of Kono in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, according to CNN. Kono is the largest diamond-producing region in the country.
While diamonds are usually found within kimberlite pipes, over time, the pipes can be eroded by rivers and the diamonds will be washed down stream. It is extraordinarily rare to find an alluvial diamond that weighs hundreds of carats.
As is required by Sierra Leone law, Momoh handed his lucky find over to the government. He will be entitled to a portion of the final sale, which could tally into the millions of dollars. The Sierra Leone government is currently having the stone appraised and evaluated.
The Star of Sierra Leone, a 969.9-carat diamond discovered in 1972, was purchased by Harry Winston for $2.5 million. The rough diamond resulted in 17 individual finished gems, 13 of which were rated flawless. The largest finished stone of the group was a pear-shaped gem weighing 53.96 carats.
Winston's seemingly modest purchase price shows just how far diamond valuations have come since 1972.
Just last year, "The Constellation," an 813-carat gem-quality rough diamond, was sold for a record-setting $63 million. Also in 2016, bidding for the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona reached $61 million, but failed to meet the reserve price at Sotheby's London.
Sierra Leone's president Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma praised pastor Momoh for his honesty. Miners with less integrity might have been tempted to smuggle the diamond out of the country. Instead, the government will supervise the sale of the stone and distribute the proceeds accordingly.
Said Koroma during a press conference, "I believe a diamond like this should be publicly sold in the country so we know the value of it."
The president wants to be transparent about who will buy the stone, what it will sell for and the amount that is due to the government. Apparently, some of the proceeds are already earmarked to fund development projects nationwide.
Screen captures via YouTube.com. Map by Google Maps.
The Merlin Diamond Mine in Australia's Northern Territory has yielded not one — but five — ultra-rare green diamonds, the largest of which weighs 1.42 carats. The discoveries are noteworthy because barely a handful of green diamonds are introduced to the market each year and the finest-quality ones can fetch upwards of $3 million per carat.
Mining company Merlin Diamonds Ltd. announced that the five diamonds — some described as intense green — were all discovered at the Kaye Pit, about 80km south of Borroloola near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Additional green gems were also pulled from the mine and were being validated as diamonds by independent gemological experts, according to the company.
The green diamond revelations are the latest in a string of good news for the mining operation. Merlin, which was already known for its high-quality, large, super-white gems, discovered a rare blue diamond in December and a 35.26-carat brown diamond in January. Australia's largest diamond, a 104.73-carat stone, also originated at the Merlin Diamond Mine, which was purchased from Rio Tinto in 2004.
When it comes to fancy-colored diamonds, the two rarest colors are red and green. Green diamonds owe their color to the natural radiation present during their formation inside the earth. Green diamonds can range from light mint green to vivid grass green. The value increases with the intensity of the color.
An excellent example of a fancy vivid green diamond is the 5.03-carat "Aurora Green," which sold for $16.82 million at Christie's Hong Kong in May of 2016. It is the most expensive green diamond ever sold at auction and the largest natural fancy, vivid green diamond known to exist.
Credits: Rough diamond image courtesy of Merlin Diamonds Ltd.; Map by Googlemaps; Aurora Green image courtesy of Christie’s.
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, platinum, silver and gold take center stage in Justin Bieber's 2012 hit, "As Long as You Love Me," a song about how true love conquers all.
The 23-year-old Canadian-born superstar uses three noble metals to illustrate the power of love.
He vows, "As long as you love me / We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke / As long as you love me / I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold / As long as you love, love me, love me."
One might wonder why an artist with a net worth estimated at $225 million would co-write a song referencing homelessness and going hungry, but Bieber did, in fact, endure a hardscrabble youth being raised by a single mom in low-income housing.
"As Long as You Love Me" is the third track of Bieber's third studio album, Believe. Both the single and the album were huge commercial successes, with "As Long as You Love Me" charting in 20 countries and Believe making its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.
Born in London, Ontario, Canada, in 1994, Justin Drew Bieber loved to perform as a kid. In early 2007, he placed second in a local singing competition. Bieber's mom, Pattie, posted a video of his performance on YouTube, and then added videos of her precocious son singing covers of various R&B songs. By sheer serendipity, a music executive happened upon one of them.
Music legend states that Scooter Braun accidentally clicked on one of Bieber's videos — thinking he was watching a 20-year-old doing a cover of Aretha Franklin's "Respect." The impressive performer was, in fact, the 12-year-old Bieber.
Braun tracked down the youngster in Canada, and with the permission of Bieber’s mom, introduced him to singer-songwriter Usher, who soon became his mentor. Bieber was then signed by record executive L.A. Reid and the rest is Bieber history.
Despite his young age, Bieber already has amassed an impressive list of accomplishments. He has sold an estimated 100 million records, making him the best-selling male Canadian artist and one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
He is the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, as well as the first artist to surpass 10 billion total video views on Vevo. He has nearly 78.1 million “likes” on Facebook, 92.4 million followers on Twitter and 80.7 million followers on Instagram.
We hope you enjoy the video of Bieber's acoustic version of "As Long As You Love Me." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...
"As Long As You Love Me"
Written by Nasri Atweh, Rodney Jerkins, Sean Anderson, Andre Lindal and Justin Bieber. Performed by Justin Bieber.
As long as you love me (love me, love me)
As long as you love me (love me, love me)
As long as you love me
I'm under pressure,
Seven billion people in the world trying to fit in
Keep it together,
Smile on your face even though your heart is frowning
But hey now, you know girl,
We both know it's a cruel world
But I will take my chances
As long as you love me
We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me
I'll be your soldier, fighting every second of the day for your dreams girl
I'll be your Hova, you can be my Destiny's Child on a stinger
So don't stress, don't cry, we don't need no wings to fly
Just take my hand
As you love me we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me,
I don't know if this makes sense, but you're my hallelujah
Give me a time and place, and I'll rendezvous, and I'll fly you to it,
I'll beat ya there
Girl you know I got you
Us, trust
A couple of things I can't spell without you
Now we are on top of the world, 'cause that's just how we do
Used to tell me sky's the limit, now the sky's our point of view
Man now we stepping out like whoa (oh God)
Camera's point and shoot,
Ask me what's my best side, I stand back and point at you, you
You the one that I argue with, I feel like I need a new girl to be bothered,
But the grass ain't always greener on the other side,
It's green where you water it
So I know we got issues baby true true true
But I'd rather work on this with you
Than to go ahead and start with someone new
As long as you love me
As you love me we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me,
As long as you love, love me
As long as you love me
I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
Love me,
As long as you love, love me,
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love, (love me, love me)
As long as you love me
Nine months ago, Australian landscape photographer Dale Sharpe planned to pop the question to his photographer girlfriend, Karlie Russell, under the Northern Lights in Iceland. Together, they had shot the colorful Aurora borealis more than 30 times, so Sharpe decided that the Lights would be the perfect backdrop for a surprise marriage proposal.
To maintain the element of surprise, Sharpe cleverly hid a $4,000 diamond engagement ring in a lotion bottle on their trip northward. While making a connecting flight from the Faroe Islands, the couple was forced to cut weight and Russell unknowingly discarded the lotion bottle and her engagement ring.
When Russell told her boyfriend that she offloaded the lotion bottle, he didn't let on that the ring was inside.
“I politely said, ‘That’s OK,’ while internally screaming,” Dale told the Huffington Post. “I couldn’t really tell her and ruin my proposal plan.”
On Monday, March 6, Sharpe and Russell, partners at DK Photography on Australia's picturesque Gold Coast in Queensland, were back on the Arctic Circle, not in Iceland, but in the Lofoten Islands of Norway. Sharpe had saved up to purchase a new ring and the Aurora, it seemed, was ready to reward his persistence.
“It was the most amazing display of color in the Aurora that we’ve ever seen,” Sharpe told the Daily Mail Australia.
“I tricked Karlie into believing we were shooting a selfie & used a torch to light us up for the image," Sharpe noted on the DK Photography Facebook page. "Much to her shock, it wasn't any normal selfie, and much to my shock, she said yes!"
The resulting shot of Sharpe on bended knee popping the question to Russell is breathtaking, so much so that it has caught the attention of high-profile websites, such as Huffington Post, Daily Mail, ABC News and Brides.com.
Sharpe and Russell, who have been dating for seven years, have amassed a gorgeous portfolio. They share a strong passion for landscape, seascape and astrophotography. Their adventures have taken them throughout Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, Asia and multiple sites along the Arctic Circle.
Their work — some of it bordering on the surreal — can be seen on Instagram, Facebook, and at their website. The couple has no immediate wedding plans.
Credits: Images via Facebook.com/DK.Photography.com.au; dk-photography.com.au.
Beleaguered actress Nicole Kidman finally revealed why she clapped like a seal at the 89th Academy Awards. It was all about the rings.
In the two weeks since the broadcast, social media has exploded with memes trying to explain Kidman's strange clapping behavior where she essentially slapped the bottom of her palms together while splaying her hands apart. Critics wondered why she had such a hard time bringing her unusually long hands together, sparking comparisons to a seal and The Grinch.
If Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway hadn't incorrectly named La La Land, instead of Moonlight, as the Best Picture winner, the lead story of the night would have been about Kidman's clapping disorder.
But this past Wednesday on the Australian "Kyle and Jackie O" radio show, the actress confirmed that the expensive jewelry she was wearing was to blame.
"It's because of the rings you idiots," Kyle told his radio audience. "That's why she's clapping like that. She doesn't want to damage the jewels!"
Kidman chimed in, "Yes, Yes! I'm so glad you clarified that because it was really awkward! I was like, 'Gosh, I want to clap. I don't want to not be clapping.' Which would be worse. Right? 'Why isn't Nicole clapping?'"
Specifically, Kidman was worried about the safety of a 13.58-carat pear-shaped diamond ring that had been lent to her by Harry Winston. It was part of a larger diamond ensemble that weighed in at 119 carats. Red carpet photos taken before the ceremony showed Kidman wearing two large rings, one on the index finger of her right hand and another on the ring finger of her left hand.
"So, therefore I'm clapping, but it was really difficult because I had a huge ring on that was not my own, but it was absolutely gorgeous, and I was terrified of damaging it!" she said.
Kidman was a little taken aback by the viral reaction to her clapping display.
"It's like, [are] there not more important things to be focused on than the seal clap?" she asked.
Kidman's role in Lion had earned her an Oscar nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role. The Oscar eventually went to Naomie Harris for her role in Moonlight.
See the Entertainment Tonight report below...
Credits: Screen captures via Eonline.com., YouTube.com/Entertainment Tonight.
