The modern birthstone list has been amended only three times in the past 106 years, so when the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America (JA) announced in 2016 that spinel would be joining peridot as an official birthstone for the month of August, the news surprised jewelers and gem fans alike. Available […]
Back in January, Gem Diamonds announced the discovery of a gem-quality, 910-carat diamond at its Letšeng Mine. The D-color, Type IIa stone — which was later named the Lesotho Legend — was billed as the fifth-largest gem-quality diamond ever recovered. The rough gem sold in March for a whopping $40 million. Since then, Lesotho's Letšeng […]
In 1964, a 22-year-old Aretha Franklin declared in a song called "One Room Paradise" that she didn't need to live in a castle or be showered with diamonds and pearls in order to be happy. A little one-room apartment would be totally fine as long as she could be with the man she loved. But, […]
Despite being one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski says he lives an "easy" and "normal" life. Gronk is famously frugal and claims he has never treated himself to a guilty pleasure — until now. While appearing on the internet show Kneading Dough, the 6' 6" 265-pound […]
San Diego city workers helped a couple rescue an accidentally trashed $30,000 engagement ring from the Miramar Landfill — and the whole operation took just four minutes. Typically, the nasty process of digging through mountains of stinky trash bags in a hazmat suit could take many hours, and there's never a guarantee that the jewelry […]
With their family's home reduced to ashes in the aftermath of the deadly Carr wildfire, Jerry Ogle and his dad returned to their property off Iron Mountain Road in Redding, Calif., with the hopes of finding a very special heirloom amidst the devastation. It was Ogle's grandmother's engagement ring — a precious gift given to […]
A team of archeologists from Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority unearthed an elaborately worked 2,200-year-old golden earring bearing the likeness of a horned animal. The hoop earring was discovered during excavations just outside Jerusalem's walled Old City and was likely worn by a member of the elite class during a period of […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you exceptional songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, the talented members of the One Voice Children's Choir will dazzle you with their interpretation of Rihanna's "Diamonds." Their video at the end of this post has been viewed on YouTube nearly 24 […]
A Memphis plumbing crew required a high-tech camera and a little bit of luck to successfully rescue a diamond engagement ring that a bride-to-be accidentally flushed down a second-floor toilet. The ring had traveled 21 feet through the waste line and was just 12 inches from dropping into what plumbers call "The Abyss" when it […]
Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly said it was one of the "funniest, coolest and randomest" baseball stories he's ever been part of. It all went down at Boston's Fenway Park last week, and this is what happened... Tony La Russa, who owns three World Series rings and happened to be wearing one of them during Thursday […]