Take 2: Jordan Rodgers Re-Proposes to 'Bachelorette' JoJo Fletcher With 5-Carat Ring

In 2016, with more than eight million fans watching, Jordan Rodgers proposed to JoJo Fletcher during the Season 12 finale of The Bachelorette. Now, three years later, Fletcher is sporting a brand new 5-carat oval diamond engagement ring after Rodgers decided to get down on one knee all over again.

Rodgers turned to Instagram on Sunday to explain his motivation behind the second proposal.

Accompanying a silly-faced Instagram selfie of him and his fiancée, Rodgers wrote, “I love @joelle_fletcher with all my heart!! I always wanted to re-propose, with no cameras, no producers, no drama… just us. Our first engagement was so real, and meant so much to us both, but as we start to actually plan our wedding for next year I wanted to do it all over again, OUR WAY!”

On her Instagram, Fletcher posted a similar photo and wrote, "Three years ago we got engaged in a way that some, if not all, would say is crazy and totally unconventional, and they were right. It was. But it was also very real. We took a leap of faith that day and hoped/prayed things would work out how we wanted them to. Times were not always easy, but we stuck by each other and worked every day towards our relationship.”

As most fans of The Bachelorette know, the male contestants get to choose from a curated selection of five rings provided by the show. This time around, Rodgers got to design a ring that matched Fletcher's personality.

When viewed from the top, Fletcher's new ring seems to be floating above her finger, secured in a six-prong setting on a delicate 14-karat yellow gold band. However, a hidden halo of white diamonds is revealed when the ring is viewed from the side.

"The show brought us together and set us up for a truly amazing proposal the first time around," Fletcher wrote to Rodgers in a continuation of her original Instagram post, "but this time was all YOU. And that means everything and more to me. I can't wait to marry you!"

The couple has a busy year ahead as they plan a wedding and produce new episodes of their CNBC series called Cash Pad. The show follows Rodgers and Fletcher as they transform ordinary properties into lucrative vacation rentals.

Credits: Images via Instagram/joelle_fletcher; Instagram/JRodgers11.

Google Celebrates 80th Anniv. of 'The Wizard of Oz' With Ruby Slipper Surprise

Sunday marked the 80th anniversary of the release of "The Wizard of Oz," and to celebrate the occasion, Google unveiled a special animated search results page complete with dream-sequence rotating screens, clicking ruby slippers and a flying farmhouse.

Those who Googled the term "The Wizard of Oz" saw a results page that, at first glance, looked pretty standard. It including the movie title, the year/category/runtime of the production, related images and an illustration of a pair of ruby slippers.

Google had tweeted on Friday, "We're off to search the wizard, the wonderful 'Wizard of Oz.'" That phrase, combined with the flashing pink starbursts above the ruby slippers on the search results page, hinted that Google had something special up its sleeve.

By touching the ruby slippers on the search results page, users were treated to an animation that began with the slippers clicking three times and an audio clip of Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) saying, "There's no place like home." (Fans of the movie will remember that Dorothy clicked her heels three times when she wished to return to Kansas during her fanciful visit to Oz.)

Google then programmed users' screens to spin five rotations counter-clockwise as if a dream sequence was taking place. When the screen came to rest, all the text and graphics were in black and white.

In the 1939 film, the story begins in black and white and then transitions to brilliant Technicolor after Dorothy and her dog Toto are transported by a tornado to the magical Land of Oz.

Google users then noticed that the position on the results page once occupied by the sparkling ruby red slippers was replaced with a spinning grey tornado.

When they touched the tornado, the animation started again, with Dorothy's farmhouse emerging from the tornado and zooming out of frame. Garland was heard yelling, "Aunty Em!" as the screen rotated five times clockwise and returned to its normal color presentation.

Google added this search page surprise to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the still-beloved movie classic, whose lovable characters, such as the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) and the Tin Man (Jack Haley) won the hearts of viewers worldwide. Google did not announce how long the special search results page would remain active, but you can try it today.

Regular readers of this blog know that the iconic slippers worn by Garland in the 1939 film returned to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., in October 2018 after an 18-month hiatus and rejuvenating facelift.

Since they were first exhibited in 1979, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers had been a top attraction, but environmental factors, such as light and moisture, had taken their toll.

So, exactly two years ago, conservationists at the National Museum of American History launched a Kickstarter campaign to generate the funds to provide Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers with conservation treatment and a new display case. Within 30 days, the campaign exceeded its $300,000 goal with support from more than 6,000 donors.

The Ruby Slippers are now on view in a state-of-the-art display, along with a prop wand used by Billie Burke in her role as Glinda the Good Witch. The wand is on special loan to the museum through November 2019.

Despite their name, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers are not adorned with rubies. In fact, the bugle beads that prop designers used to simulate rubies proved to be too heavy. The solution was to replace most of the bugle beads with sequins, 2,300 on each slipper. The butterfly-shaped bow on the front of each shoe features red bugle beads outlined in red glass rhinestones in silver settings.

Credits: Google's illustration of ruby slippers via Twitter; Search results screen captures via Google; The Wizard of Oz movie scene by CBS Television Network [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Ruby slippers by Richard Strauss, Smithsonian.

Music Friday: Sophia Somajo Wishes for a Bulletproof, Unbreakable 'Diamond Heart'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Swedish singer-songwriter Sophia Somajo navigates a toxic love affair in "Diamond Heart," her 2018 collaboration with Norwegian DJ Alan Walker.

In the song, the 34-year-old Somajo tells her boyfriend that only a diamond heart can protect her from the "sweet grief" he brings to the relationship.

She sings, "Yeah if I was bulletproof / I’d love you black and blue / If I was solid like a jewel / If I had a diamond heart / oh oh / I’d give you all my love / If I was unbreakable."

In the end, she acknowledges that her heart will never be as solid as a precious stone so she will have to let him go: "Goodbye my love / you are everything my dreams are made of / you’ll be Prince and I’m the crying dove / If I only were unbreakable."

Somajo, who is also known as Soso, delivers a powerful performance, with a range and vocal style reminiscent of Aussie superstar Sia. The official video for the song has been viewed on YouTube more than 153 million times.

"Diamond Heart" appears as the 13th track from Different World, Walker's debut studio album. The song, which is the third and final chapter of the DJ's trilogy called the "World of Walker," went to #1 in Norway and charted in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden.

The official video for "Diamond Heart" depicts fantastical landscapes in a dystopian world. The video was actually shot on location in Iceland and the United Arab Emirates.

Walker, who will turn 22 tomorrow, is best known for his 2015 breakout hit, "Faded," which earned diamond and multi-platinum certifications in more than 10 countries, including the US and the UK.

Please check out the video of Somajo's memorable performance of "Diamond Heart." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Diamond Heart"
Written by Alan Walker, Thomas Troelsen, Kristoffer Haugen, Edward Normann, Anders Freen, Gunnar Pettersen, Yann Bargain, Victor Verpillat, Fredrik Olsen and Sophia Somajo. Performed by Sophia Somajo.

Hello sweet grief
I know you will be the death of me
feel like the morning after ecstasy
I am drowning in an endless sea

Hello old friend
here’s the misery that knows no end
so I am doing everything I can
to make sure I never love again

I wish that I did not know
where all broken lovers go
I wish that my heart was made of stone

Yeah if I was bulletproof
I’d love you black and blue
If I was solid like a jewel

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
I’d give you all my love
If I was unbreakable

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
You could shoot me with a gun of gold
If I was unbreakable

I’d walk straight through the bullet
bendin’ like a tulip
blue-eyed and foolish
never mind the bruises
into the fire
breakin’ through the wires
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart
I’d walk straight through the dagger
never break the pattern
diamonds don’t shatter
beautiful and battered
into the poison
cry you an ocean
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart

Goodbye, so long
I don’t know if this is right or wrong
am I giving up where I belong?
’cause every station is playing our song

Goodbye my love
you are everything my dreams are made of
you’ll be Prince and I’m the crying dove
If I only were unbreakable

I wish that I did not know
where all broken lovers go
I wish that my heart was made of stone

Yeah if I was bulletproof
I’d love you black and blue
If I was solid like a jewel

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
I’d give you all my love
If I was unbreakable

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
You could shoot me with a gun of gold
If I was unbreakable

I’d walk straight through the bullet
bendin’ like a tulip
blue-eyed and foolish
never mind the bruises
into the fire
breakin’ through the wires
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart
I’d walk straight through the dagger
never break the pattern
diamonds don’t shatter
beautiful and battered
into the poison
cry you an ocean
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Vending Machine at London's Bankside Hotel Dispenses Engagement Rings

One block from London's River Thames, the chic Bankside Hotel is famous for its art, innovation, sustainability — and touch-screen vending machines that dispense surprising items, such as champagne, Tom Ford sunglasses and "placeholder" engagement rings.

Supplied by ROKUS, a London-based jeweler, the gold-plated brass rings feature a cabochon-cut labradorite secured in a classic six-prong setting. The brass is soft and adjustable, so one size fits all.

Labradorite was discovered by Moravian missionaries on the Isle of Paul in Labrador, Canada, in 1770. The missionaries brought the stones back to England and France, where they were fashioned into bracelets, brooches, necklaces and pins.

Labradorite displays a flashy iridescence and comes in many color variations — from grey and brown to green and yellow. But, due to its relative softness (6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale), it is not really intended for engagement rings.

Certainly, it has a place as the center stone of a novelty engagement ring — a cheeky, spontaneous expression of a couple's commitment until they can pick out a more precious and permanent keepsake.

“We didn’t want to fill our vending machines with just run-of-the-mill items,” Douglas McHugh, general manager of Bankside, told Lonely Planet News. “We wanted to include the fun and playful, as our guests tend to be comfortable in their own skin and don’t take themselves too seriously. We’ve had a few guests who have bought the ring and we’ve even had a spontaneous proposal in our restaurant.”

The six-story, 161-room hotel caters to artsy clientele. Guests enjoy an on-site artist studio and each room is equipped with an easel and paint kit. Works of art are displayed throughout the property, which happens to be a stone's throw from the Tate Modern, Britain's national gallery of international modern art.

The hotel proprietors decided to abandon the concept of in-room minibars. Instead, each floor is equipped with a touch-screen vending machine that can deliver a multitude of handy, quality items.

In addition to champagne, sunglasses and engagement rings, the "Bankside Boutique" vending machines dispense Patrón tequila, S'well water bottles, Polaroid "Snap" cameras, reading glasses, face masks, luxury shaving kits and much more.

Credits: Images courtesy of Bankside Hotel.

Alrosa's 14.83-Carat Pink Diamond — 'The Spirit of the Rose' — Could Be a Record Setter

It's becoming clearer that Alrosa's 14.83-carat fancy vivid purple-pink diamond, which was recently named "The Spirit of the Rose," has a very good chance of setting a world record when it goes on sale some time in November.

Alrosa has yet to estimate the stone's value, but gem expert Eden Rachminov, chairman of the Fancy Color Research Foundation, thinks it could be worth a small fortune. He examined the oval-cut sparkler first-hand and estimated it will sell for more than $60 million.

"A large fancy vivid purple-pink, internally flawless, with perfect visual characteristics such as this one, enters the market literally, once in a generation," Rachminov told diamondworld.net. "The stone has the most desirable pink undertone dispersed perfectly, and looks much bigger in relation to its actual weight. As of today, it is the most important vivid purplish pink ever unearthed in Russia and it will enter the books of history as an iconic Russian gem. Its beauty overcomes the important pink diamonds sold at auction in the last decade and its retail price should exceed $60 million. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hold this pink wonder in my hands."

If The Spirit of the Rose sells for $60 million ($4.04 million per carat), it will narrowly edge out the current price-per-carat record holder, “Blue Moon of Josephine,” which sold in November 2015 for $48.5 million, or $4.03 million per carat. With a $60 million+ price tag, the The Spirit of the Rose would also join an elite club of the most expensive gems known to man.

In 2017, Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group paid a record $71 million for the 59.6-carat Pink Star. The previous record holder was the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue, which sold in 2016 for $58 million.

The Gemological Institute of America graded The Spirit of the Rose as internally flawless with excellent polish and very good symmetry. It's the largest vivid purple-pink diamond ever graded by the GIA.

“In the world of colored diamonds, pink diamonds are some of the most treasured, especially at larger sizes,” John King, GIA chief quality officer, said in a video that appears on a special website created for The Spirit of the Rose. “It’s unusual to see pink diamonds in the market over one carat today. Weighing more than 14 carats is exceptional. The color is an amazing specimen. Being also internally flawless makes it truly a unique stone.”

Sourced in 2017 at Alrosa's Ebelyakh deposit in Yakutia, Russia, the rough stone weighed 27.85 carats and remains the largest pink diamond ever mined in Russia. The smooth-surfaced alluvial stone measured 22.47 mm x 15.69 mm x 10.9 mm (photo above). Russia's previous record holder was much smaller at 3.86 carats.

The rough diamond was named "Nijinsky," after Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.

In keeping with the same these, Alrosa chose the name "The Spirit of the Rose" for the finished stone to honor the famous 1911 ballet of the same name. In French, it was called “Le Spectre de la Rose,” and its primary dancers were Tamara Karsavina and Nijinsky.

Already the world’s biggest diamond producer in terms of sheer output, Russian mining company Alrosa is looking to become a major player in a segment of the industry now dominated by Rio Tinto and Anglo American’s De Beers — gem-quality colored diamonds. Alrosa's push is coming at a time when Rio Tinto’s Argyle Mine in Western Australia — the world’s primary source for pink, red and blue diamonds — is nearly tapped out. The mine is scheduled to close in 2020.

Credits: Images courtesy of Alrosa.