Billed as the world's largest flawless Paraiba tourmaline, the 181.61-carat "Kat Florence Lumina" is expected to make a splash at Bonhams' auction on May 22 in Hong Kong.

The journey of the Lumina began more than two decades ago in the rugged terrains of Mozambique’s Mavuco district, where famed gem hunter Don Kogen unearthed an extraordinary 830-carat crystal. From the moment of its discovery in 2003, the stone radiated promise — intense neon blue-green hues, rich with the copper signature that distinguishes true Paraiba tourmalines.

Kogen estimated that the huge crystal might one day yield a clean 300-carat gem, an almost mythical prospect in the world of Paraibas.

For years, the stone lay untouched. Then in 2025, spurred by his wife — jewelry designer Kat Florence — Kogen finally decided to cut the gem. The result? A massive, but not quite perfect, 315-carat Paraiba tourmaline.

Despite its size, it suffered from the common fate of large tourmalines: windowing. This optical flatness muted its inner fire.

The designer wasn’t content to let the story end there. Instead, she led her elite team of artisans in a painstaking reimagining of the gem. Through months of precision cutting, analysis and refinement, the stone was reborn — this time as the Kat Florence Lumina, a gem perfectly proportioned to unleash its brilliance from every angle.

The final masterpiece weighed in at 181.61 carats. Though smaller than its earlier iteration, it gained immeasurably in life and luminosity. Unheated and vividly saturated, the Kat Florence Lumina is now the largest flawless Paraiba tourmaline of its kind — a gem that unites size, color, clarity and cut.

Certified by three of the industry’s top gemological labs — Bellerophon, AGL and Gübelin — the Kat Florence Lumina is expected to earn international acclaim as a once-in-a-generation stone. Its exceptional qualities recall the legendary "Ethereal Carolina Divine Paraiba," a 191.87-carat brilliant-cut oval recognized for its size by Guinness World Records in 2009.

The term "Paraiba" represents the most coveted variety of tourmaline. Originally unearthed in Paraiba, Brazil, in 1987, the neon blue crystals sparked a mining frenzy in Brazil, and within five years, the supply was largely tapped out, according to the Smithsonian.

In 2001 and again in 2002, new Paraiba-like tourmalines were discovered in Nigeria and Mozambique. Interestingly, the vivid blue-green gems boasted a similar color and chemistry as the Brazilian-sourced goods.

Gemologists learned that Paraiba tourmalines were distinctly different from the rest because they owed their intense blue color to trace impurities of copper. Other tourmalines got their color from the presence of iron, manganese, chromium and vanadium.

Today, gem dealers refer to neon blue or green, copper-infused tourmalines as “Paraiba,” regardless of their origin.

Now completing its final exhibition tour — with stops in Taipei, Singapore and Hong Kong — the Kat Florence Lumina is poised to become one of the most talked-about gems of the season. On May 22, the world will watch as this reimagined wonder goes under the hammer at Bonham's Hong Kong Jewels and Jadeite sale.

Credits: Photos of The Kat Florence Lumina courtesy of CNW Group/Kat Florence.

In a twist of geological poetry, Rio Tinto’s Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories has delivered one of its most exceptional finds yet — a 158.20-carat gem-quality yellow diamond — just as the mine prepares to shutter its operations.

The discovery of this rare stone, one of the largest yellow diamonds ever found in Canada, and only the fifth yellow diamond over 100 carats unearthed at Diavik, underscores the mine’s uncanny ability to surprise even in its final chapter.

With production expected to wrap by early 2026, the timing of this discovery is as bittersweet as it is brilliant — a final encore from a mine that’s been rewriting North America’s diamond story for over two decades.

Situated 200 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, the Diavik mine has operated since 2003 under some of the harshest conditions on Earth. While it’s long been known for producing high-quality white diamonds, yellow diamonds have remained an elusive rarity, making up less than 1% of its total output.

The mine’s sub-Arctic setting, surrounded by frozen lakes and permafrost, has added layers of complexity to every operation — making each gem pulled from its ancient kimberlite pipes a triumph of both nature and engineering.

This isn’t the first time Diavik has stunned the world with a yellow gem of staggering proportions. In 2018, the mine unearthed the legendary 552.74-carat yellow diamond — the largest ever found in North America. Roughly the size of a chicken egg and bearing a unique bi-color transition from vibrant yellow to near white, the diamond was a showstopper even in its rough form.

After nearly a year of precision mapping and cutting, the 552 gave birth to “The Dancing Sun” — a 204.36-carat, fancy intense yellow cushion-cut diamond with VVS2 clarity. The finished gem dazzled its way to the auction block at Christie’s in New York, ultimately selling for nearly $5 million in June 2021. It remains the largest polished yellow diamond ever cut in North America and a shining emblem of Diavik’s surprising legacy.

That such a rare gem — the 158.20-carat yellow — would be found as the mine winds down feels like a fitting curtain call. It’s a quiet irony not lost on those who have worked in the frozen north to pull beauty from the bedrock.

“This two billion year old, natural Canadian diamond is a miracle of nature and testament to the skill and fortitude of all the men and women who work in Diavik’s challenging sub-Arctic environment,” said Matt Breen, Chief Operating Officer at Diavik.

Though the mine’s future may be measured in months, its legacy will be measured in carats (140 million since commercial production began in 2003) and moments like these. Diavik may be entering its twilight, but it’s not going quietly.

Credits: Photo of 158.20-carat yellow diamond courtesy of Rio Tinto. Photo of "552" diamond by The Jeweler Blog. Photo of "The Dancing Sun" diamond courtesy of Christie’s.

In 1964, a 22-year-old Aretha Franklin declared in a song called “One Room Paradise” that she didn’t need to live in the lap of luxury or be draped in diamonds to be happy. A little one-room apartment would be totally fine as long as she could be with the man she loved.

Halfway through the tune, however, Franklin seems to be open to other possibilities: “Now, if one day he lucked up on a magic pot of gold (Pot of gold) / I wouldn’t mind a little diamond ring or a fur coat for the cold (Oooh!).”

Welcome to Music Friday when we often bring you throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics.

Written by John Leslie McFarland, “One Room Paradise” first appeared as the final track of Runnin’ Out Of Fools, Franklin's seventh studio album.

While the song’s protagonist aspires to own something precious, Franklin — the star — had a penchant for regal jewelry. Throughout her nearly six-decade career, she was photographed wearing long strands of cultured pearls, jeweled earrings and ornate diamond rings.

The first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987), Franklin earned 18 Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. She scored 17 top-10 pop singles and 20 #1 R&B hits. She’s sold more than 75 million records worldwide and performed at the inaugurations of three presidents: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

Some of her most memorable hits include "Respect" (1967), "Chain of Fools" (1967), "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968), "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (1968) and "Think" (1968). In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Franklin #1 on its list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.

Singer Mary J. Blige once commented, “Aretha is a gift from God. When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing. Aretha has everything — the power, the technique. She is honest with everything she says.”

Born in Memphis, TN, Aretha Louise Franklin honed her singing talent in the choir of her father’s New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit. At age 18, in 1960, she was signed by Columbia Records. By the end of that decade, she had cemented her status as the “Queen of Soul.” Franklin passed away in 2018 at the age of 76.

Please check out the audio track of Franklin’s “One Room Paradise.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“One Room Paradise”
Written by John Leslie McFarland. Performed by Aretha Franklin.

I don’t need no diamonds (She don’t need)
And I don’t need no money (She don’t need, she don’t)
Some people live in castles with 60 or 70 rooms (She don’t)
Some people dream about a penthouse tall or a mansion on the moon

But I got me a little one room paradise
And the man I love (And the man I love)
And that’s all I need now
And the man I love (And the man I love)

Some girls are crazy about diamonds (Diamonds)
Some go wild about furs (Go wild)
Some girls go for a lot of loot from a check book that ain’t hers (Sho’ ain’t hers)

But I got me a little one room to paradise
And the man I love (And the man I love)
And that’s all I need now
And the man I love (And the man I love)

Now, if one day he lucked up on a magic pot of gold (Pot of gold)
I wouldn’t mind a little diamond ring or a fur coat for the cold (Oooh!)
But if it meant I had to lose just what I’ve got right now (Right now)
Then I don’t need no gold anyhow (No, no!)

I can’t make love with no diamonds (Diamonds)
Give them all to somebody else (Anybody)
And what good is one hundred rooms if you’re there all by yourself (Yes, you)

So I’ll take me my little one room paradise
And the man I love (And the man I love)
Well, that’s all I need now
And the man I love (And the man I love)

I don’t need no diamonds (She don’t need no diamonds)
Said I don’t need no money (She don’t need no money, she don’t)

Credit: Image by Atlantic Records(Life time: Published before 1978 without a copyright notice), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Love stories come in all shapes and sizes, but few can rival the grand romantic gesture of Denos Vourderis, a hardworking immigrant who made good on a fanciful engagement promise by purchasing one of New York City's most enduring landmarks.

When Denos proposed to his beloved Lula in 1948, he didn't just offer her a traditional diamond ring. Instead, he vowed to give her "a ring so big that everyone in the world would see how much he loved her, a ring that would never be lost."

That ring turned out to be none other than the Wonder Wheel, a towering Ferris wheel in Coney Island that would become both a symbol of their love and a legacy for generations to come.

Denos was a Greek immigrant who arrived in America as a 14-year-old to pursue the American Dream. Denos joined the Merchant Marines and then served during World War II. When he returned from service, he sold hot dogs from pushcarts and ran small eateries, working tirelessly to build a future. Throughout the 1940s, he and Lula would often visit Coney Island, a place of joy, excitement and wonder.

It was there that Denos first laid eyes on the Wonder Wheel, a 150-foot-tall, 400,000-pound Ferris wheel that had been operating since 1920, the same year he was born. He marveled at the 24 colorful cars, 16 of which slid on a serpentine track towards the hub of the Wheel as it rotated. Enchanted by its beauty, he promised Lula that if she accepted his marriage proposal, one day he would buy the Wonder Wheel for her as a wedding present. It was a promise she never forgot.

For decades, Denos worked to make good on his vow. He took every opportunity to grow his business, running restaurants and boardwalk food stands while continuing to dream about the Wonder Wheel.

By the 1970s, he was a fixture in Coney Island, helping manage the kiddie rides at Ward’s Amusement Park. As fate would have it, in 1983, the owners of the Wonder Wheel decided to sell. Though there were higher offers on the table, the Garms family entrusted the historic ride to Denos, recognizing his passion and dedication to preserving its magic.

With his family by his side, Denos, at the age of 63, purchased the Wonder Wheel for $250,000 and restored it to its former glory. It became the centerpiece of what would be known as Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, ensuring that his love for Lula would be immortalized in the heart of Coney Island. The Wonder Wheel was designated a New York City Landmark in 1989.

Denos passed away in 1994, but his love story lives on. Today, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park is still operated by the Vourderis family, who continue to share the magic of the Wheel with millions of visitors. Over its 105 years of continuous operation, the ride has been enjoyed by more than 40 million people. It also has become known as the “Most Romantic Ride in the World,” a place where countless couples have proposed, sealing their love with a spin high above the boardwalk.

In a world where gestures of love are often fleeting, Denos proved that, sometimes, the biggest promises are worth keeping. So next time you visit Coney Island remember that the towering Wonder Wheel is not just an amusement ride — it’s a symbol of devotion, perseverance and a love story for the ages.

Credit: Photo by DangApricot, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In honor of April's official birthstone, we present the fascinating backstory of the historic and well-traveled "Blue Heart Diamond," a 30.62-carat stunner that Smithsonian benefactor Marjorie Merriweather Post described as "prettier than that other one" while escorting guests on a tour of the National Gem Gallery. The object of her snub was the "Hope Diamond."

The origin story of the Blue Heart Diamond can be traced back to October of 1909, when an exceptional 100.5-carat deep blue diamond was unearthed at De Beers' Premier Mine in South Africa. Two months later, the crystal was sold for £3,979 (equivalent of £600,000 or $775,000 today) to a French diamond cutter named Atanik Eknayan.

Eknayan faceted the gem into a 30.62-carat heart-shaped brilliant and sold it in 1910 to famed Fifth Avenue jeweler Pierre Cartier. Cartier placed the impressive stone as the center of a luxurious lily-of-the-valley corsage that included smaller pink and blue diamonds.

In 1911, the corsage caught the eye of the Argentinian heiress and philanthropist Maria Unzué de Alvear, who owned it for the next 25 years.

In 1936, at the age of 74, she presented the piece as a wedding gift to her niece, Angela Gonzales Alzaga. In his book, Unearthed, former Smithsonian National Gem Collection curator Dr. Jeffrey Post noted that the Blue Heart Diamond is sometimes referred to as the "Unzué Heart" due to its close ties to that family.

The Blue Heart Diamond was reset as a pendant after it was acquired by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1953. A member of the Unzué family told Post that the price exceeded that of a very fine house in Buenos Aires at the time.

That pendant, which featured the 30.62-carat Blue Heart Diamond dangling below a 2.05-carat pink diamond and 3.81-carat blue diamond, was sold in 1953 to Swiss industrialist Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. The Baron gifted the pendant to fashion model Nina Sheila Dyer, who he would marry in 1954.

The marriage lasted only 10 months, but Dyer possessed the Blue Heart Diamond until she sold it to New York City luxury jeweler Harry Winston in 1959. Winston reset the stone into a ring and surrounded it with 25 round brilliant, colorless diamonds.

In 1964, Winston sold the ring to Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heiress to the Post cereal fortune and an avid collector of high-profile fine jewelry. As Jeffrey Post tells the story, only two months after the purchase, "Marjorie Merriweather Post arrived at the office of Smithsonian secretary Leonard Carmichael bearing gifts, her bag brimming with jewelry that she was gifting to the Smithsonian Institution."

One of those pieces was the Blue Heart Diamond. Interestingly, her donation included one stipulation: That she be able to borrow the jewelry at her discretion, which she did in 1964, 1968 and 1970.

Although the Blue Heart Diamond is only two-thirds the weight of the far more famous 45.52-carat Hope Diamond, jewelry aficionados generally agree that the Blue Heart Diamond displays a more lively blue color.

Ms. Post clearly agreed.

As Jeffrey Post explains, "Once, when walking through the museum's Gem Gallery, Ms. Post was overheard saying to her guests that 'my blue diamond is prettier than that other one.'"

Marjorie Merriweather Post's donation of the Blue Heart Diamond was one of many notable pieces gifted to the Smithsonian by the Post family. Others included the “Maximilian Emerald Ring,” “Napoleon Diamond Necklace,” “Marie-Louise Diadem” and the “Post Emerald Necklace.” Marjorie Merriweather Post passed away in 1973 at the age of 86.

Credit: Image by Chip Clark, courtesy of the Smithsonian.

"The Regent Kashmir" and "The Regal Ruby" are set to share the spotlight at Christie's Magnificent Jewels live auction in Hong Kong on May 27. Representing the pinnacle of beauty and quality, the 35.09-carat Kashmir sapphire and 13.22-carat Burmese ruby are true rarities.

Christie's classified The Regent Kashmir as a "once-in-a-generation masterpiece" and the most valuable piece of Kashmir sapphire jewelry offered at Christie’s globally in the past five years. Set in a ring, the sapphire is expected to fetch between $8.3 million and $12.2 million.

The Regal Ruby is poised to become the most valuable and largest Burmese ruby sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in a decade. Also set in a ring, the ruby carries a pre-sale estimate of $6.4 million to $10.2 million.

First discovered in the Zanskar mountain range of Kashmir, India, in 1881, sapphires from this region are famous for their intense "cornflower" or velvety blue hue and are considered the finest in the world.

Burmese rubies from the Mogok Valley in Myanmar (formerly Burma) are renowned for their richly saturated red color known as “pigeon’s blood." Top-quality unheated rubies exceeding 5 carats are remarkably rare.

Despite the eight-figure price estimates for the headliner gems, it's likely that the current sapphire and ruby record holders will retain their honors.

The most expensive ruby ever sold at auction was the "Estrela de Fura," a 55.22-carat gem, which fetched $34.8 million at Sotheby's in New York in June 2023. The record for the priciest sapphire to go under the hammer is held by the "Blue Belle of Asia," a 392.52-carat cushion-cut Ceylon sapphire, which earned $17.3 million at Christie's Geneva in November 2014.

Other highlights from Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong include a 10.35-carat Colombian emerald and diamond ring (estimate: $870,000 - $1.2 million) and a pair of Colombian emerald and diamond earrings (estimate: $700,000 - $960,000). The emeralds featured in the earrings weigh 7.03 carats and 6.92 carats, respectively.

The auction will take place on May 27 during Hong Kong Luxury Week at Christie’s Asia Pacific headquarters at The Henderson, a 36-story state-of-the-art office tower that opened in 2024. The featured jewelry will be exhibited in Taipei, Bangkok, Geneva, Beijing and Shanghai before returning to Hong Kong for the sale.

Credits: Images courtesy of Christie's Images Ltd. 2025.

The Los Angeles Dodgers received their 2024 World Series Champion rings during an on-field ceremony prior to the team's opening day contest against the Detroit Tigers on Friday. Crafted in 14-karat yellow gold and teeming with white diamonds and blue sapphires, the rings also contain an unexpected surprise.

A special hinge mechanism on the top of the rings swings open to reveal a detailed replica of the Dodger Stadium along with an oval swatch harvested from the actual bases used during the 2024 World Series.

The impressive rings honor the team’s historic 98-win regular season, which culminated in a decisive victory over the New York Yankees in five games. It was the Dodgers' eighth title in the storied franchise's 142-year history.

The ring top features the iconic LA logo crafted from 17 custom-cut sapphires and surrounded with 47 diamonds. Encircling the logo is a sunburst shape that represents the sunny climate of Los Angeles and features 34 sapphires.

On both the left and right sides of the ring top are four large round diamonds, symbolizing the team's eight World Championship titles. An additional 20 diamonds are set along the sides.

Adorning the top and bottom of the ring top is the Dodgers 2024 title, WORLD CHAMPIONS, set with 53 white diamonds.

Completing the top and bottom edges of the ring are eight princess-cut sapphires. An additional 108 diamonds cascade from the ring top down the edges of the ring, creating a border around the side panels.

The left side of the ring features the recipient’s name rendered in yellow gold. Below the name, is a row of 14 princess-cut sapphires, and below the sapphires is the iconic Dodger Stadium sign displaying the player jersey number set in diamonds. One palm tree on each side of the sign gives the ring a distinctively LA vibe. Completing the left side of the ring is the Major League Baseball logo.

The right side of the ring displays the words LOS ANGELES, which pays homage to the home of the Dodgers since 1958. Below, a row of 14 princess-cut sapphires sit atop the championship year date, 2024, rendered with 29 white diamonds. More palm trees and the Dodgers logo complete the right side.

The innovative hinge mechanism opens to reveal a representation of the Commissioner’s Trophy emerging from the field at Dodger Stadium. A single diamond at the pinnacle of the trophy represents the 2024 World Series victory. Eight diamonds wrapping the outfield represent each of the team’s World Series titles. Banners for the years 1883 and 2024 mark the franchise’s 142 seasons.

On the opposite side of the hinged interior the oval swatch is embossed with the Dodgers/LA logo. Encircling the swatch are 34 sapphires honoring Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who wore that number and died just days before the 2024 World Series began.

Each player's unique signature is inscribed on the interior palm of the ring. Completing the outer palm is a row of five diamonds, representing the five-run deficit the Dodgers overcame against the Yankees to win the decisive Game 5 of the World Series.

Credits: Images courtesy of Jostens.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Aussie songstress Kylie Minogue explores the themes of ageism, empowerment and self-worth in her single, "Golden."

She sings, "We're not young and we're not old / We're the stories not yet told / Won't be bought and can't be sold / We are golden."

Released on her 50th birthday in May of 2018, "Golden" reflects Minogue's response to reporters' unrelenting questions about her age.

“This year, I’ll be fifty. And I get it. I get the interest, but I don’t know how to answer it," she told muumuse.com just ahead of the single's release. "And that line ["We're not young and we're not old"], for my personal satisfaction, says it as succinctly as possible. We can’t be anyone else; we can’t be younger or older than we are; we can only be ourselves. We’re golden. And the album title, Golden, reflects all of this."

She continued, "I liked the idea of everyone being golden, shining in their own way. The sun shines in daylight, the moon shines in darkness. Wherever we are in life, we are still golden.”

When Minogue sings, "stay golden," she's encouraging her listeners to remain positive and true to themselves while preserving a youthful, kindhearted spirit despite life's hardships.

And Minogue has overcome her share of challenges.

The singer was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2005, resulting in the cancellation of the Australian leg of “Showgirl: The Greatest Hits” tour. She subsequently underwent successful surgery and radiotherapy, and resumed her touring schedule in November 2006 after being declared cancer-free.

Written by Minogue, Lindsay Rimes, Liz Rose and Steve McEwan, "Golden" is the title track of Minogue's 14th studio album. Minogue said the country-tinged song was inspired by her two-week visit to Nashville, a trip that she said has had a "profound" effect on the story-telling approach to her music.

Born Kylie Ann Minogue in 1968, the singer-songwriter began her career as a child actress on an Australian television series. In 1987, her breakout cover of the 1963 hit, “The Loco-Motion,” spent seven weeks at #1 on the Australian singles chart and became the best-selling Aussie single of the 1980s.

To date, Minogue has sold 80 million records worldwide, making her the highest-selling Australian-born solo artist of all time. She has earned numerous awards, including two Grammys, four Brit Awards, 18 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards.

Please check out the video of Minogue’s live performance of “Golden” during her Golden Tour in 2018. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

"Golden"
Written by Kylie Minogue, Lindsay Rimes, Liz Rose and Steve McEwan. Performed by Kylie Minogue.

Your feet move just like a dancer
Your soul beats just like a drum
Tomorrow has all the answers
Today says we've just begun

Don't you feel the sun on your face?
Hopeful hearts of the human race
Shining down from above

We're golden
Burn like the stars
Stay golden
Straight from the heart

We're the voice that'll never give in
Getting knocked down back up again
We're golden
Golden
That's who we are

Live your life like you're stealing
Every little moment in time
Infinity goes on forever
Lay your life on the line

Don't you feel the sun on your face?
Hopeful hearts of the human race
Wrapped in the arms of love

We're golden
Burn like the stars
Stay golden
Straight from the heart yeah

We're the voice that'll never give in
Getting knocked down back up again
We're golden golden
Golden
That's who we are

We're not young and we're not old
We're the stories not yet told
Won't be bought and can't be sold
We are golden

We're golden, golden
Burn like the stars
Stay golden, golden
Straight from the heart, yeah

We're the voice that'll never give in
Getting knocked down back up again
We're golden
Golden
That's who we are

Ahhhhh golden

Credits: Screen capture via YouTube / Kylie Minogue.

Leveraging an environment free from Earth's atmospheric contaminants, British tech company Space Forge aims to develop "perfect" diamond crystals in space.

By operating in space, Space Forge can grow diamonds under optimal conditions. Weightlessness provides for larger, perfect crystal formation, while near-zero temperatures allow for ultra-fast curing and operating in a vacuum eliminates contamination concerns.

A Space Forge spokesman told CBS News London that the growing chamber is essentially a "very fancy microwave."

"We put gases in, turn the microwave on, and we grow a crystal of material. And the crystal that we're growing… is [a diamond]," he said. "The advantage that we have is that, rather than doing that on the ground, we're actually making that material in space, where the conditions of no gravity and no atmosphere are perfect for that material."

Space Forge is promoting its ultra-pure diamonds for high-tech applications, such as heat conductors for electric vehicles and telecommunications. So far, the idea of space diamonds for jewelry is not on the company's radar.

Space Forge is aiming to prove the concept of in-orbit manufacturing as a new economy. The company's cosmic gem mission is set to launch from the US next month.

To ensure that the diamond crystals get back to Earth safely, the engineers at Space Forge designed an origami-style heat shield called Pridwen (named after King Arthur's shield) that intricately unfolds during reentry through the Earth's atmosphere.

Credit: Fanciful depiction of Space Forge diamond-growing operation in space by The Jeweler Blog using using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3.

What do the Uncle Sam Diamond and the Subway sandwich chain have in common? They both owe a world of gratitude to Dr. Peter Buck.

In June of 2022, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History unveiled the “Great American Diamonds” exhibit, highlighting four of the most stunning diamonds ever found in the United States. The headliner of the group was the Uncle Sam Diamond, a 12.4-carat emerald-cut stone fashioned from the largest uncut American diamond ever discovered.

The way the Smithsonian obtained the stone was through the generosity of Buck, who was not only a longstanding member of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Advisory Board, but also the co-founder of 37,000-store Subway chain.

Dr. Jeffrey Post in his book, Unearthed, emphasized how Buck pounced on the opportunity to acquire the Uncle Sam Diamond after it has been out of the public eye for more than 50 years.

"He immediately decided that the Uncle Sam Diamond was a national treasure that should be available for all to see," he wrote, "and he purchased it for the Smithsonian National Gem Collection in 2019."

A nuclear physicist by trade, Buck is famous for making one of the most brilliant investments in US history. In 1965, at the age of 35, Buck loaned $1,000 to his family friend, Fred DeLuca, so he could open a sandwich shop. That shop was intended to help the 18-year-old DeLuca pay for college at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. DeLuca honored his benefactor by naming the shop “Pete’s Super Submarines.” That single store has since grown into the Subway sandwich chain, with worldwide sales reaching nearly $10 billion.

The near-flawless 12.4-carat pinkish-brown Uncle Sam Diamond was cut from a crystal weighing a whopping 40.23 carats. The rough gem was discovered in 1924 at the Prairie Creek mine (now known as Crater of Diamonds State Park), making it the largest faceted diamond ever discovered in the Arkansas mine.

The Uncle Sam Diamond embarked on a 98-year winding path until it finally settled into its display at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals at the National Museum of National History in Washington, DC.

According to Post, the retired Curator of the National Gem and Mineral Collection at the Smithsonian Institute, the Uncle Sam Diamond in its original rough form was acquired from Arkansas Diamond Company shareholder Tomas Cochran by Schenck & Van Haelen of New York, a cutter that specialized in Arkansas diamonds.

Ernest G.H. Schenck cut the 40-plus-carat rough gem into a 14.34-carat parallelogram, and then recut it into a more traditional 12.42-carat emerald-cut gem to improve its overall brilliance. Boston jeweler Sydney DeYoung bought the stone from Schenck's estate in 1955 and then sold it about five years later to B. Beryl Peikin of Peikin Jewelers of Fifth Avenue, NY.

When Peikin passed away in 1988, the famous diamond (now set in a ring with two smaller Arkansas-sourced diamonds) remained in the possession of his wife until she passed at the age of 102. Jeweler DeYoung became the next owner, just briefly, until Buck proposed to take the gem to Washington for all to see.

Although he purchased the Uncle Sam Diamond in 2019, he would never get to see the “Great American Diamonds” exhibit. He passed away in November 2021, just five months ahead of the exhibit's unveiling.

Credit: Photo by James D. Tiller / Smithsonian.