A British piano tuner is about to share a six-figure reward for discovering a stash of 913 gold coins hidden beneath the keyboard of an upright that had been donated to a community college. The gold sovereigns, which date from 1847 to 1915, have a face value of £773, which is equivalent to £500,000 ($640,000) […]
The 34.40-carat Stotesbury Emerald, a six-sided gem with a famed history that spans more than 100 years, headlines a cavalcade of magnificent jewels at Sotheby's New York on Tuesday. The Colombian-mined emerald was previously in the collections of three high-profile American jewelry collectors: Evalyn Walsh McLean (1908), Eva Stotesbury (1926) and May Bonfils Stanton (1947). […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In his signature "Stable Song," singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov uses gemstone and precious-metal metaphors to describe an artist who struggles to find his muse and ultimately returns to his roots. He sings, "Ring like crazy, […]
A 2,000-foot-wide platinum-rich asteroid zipped within 1.09 million miles of the Earth yesterday, prompting renewed speculation about the feasibility of space mining. Roughly the size of the Rock of Gibraltar, the asteroid, at its nearest point, was only 4.6 times the distance from the Earth to the moon. In celestial terms, this was a very close encounter. […]
Comedian Jon Crist's video spoofing millennials' obsession with social media in an era of engagement ring selfies and viral proposals has earned more than 11 million views on Facebook. In the 3-minute-long vignette, Crist co-stars as a young suitor who takes his girlfriend (played by Megan Batoon) to a scenic overlook, where he's about to surprise […]
The organizers of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are imploring environmentally conscious citizens to unload their old cell phones in an effort to amass enough precious metal to create 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals. “Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made out of people’s thoughts and appreciation for avoiding waste,” Japanese […]
You can say that the Chicago Cubs' 2016 World Series rings were 108 years in the making. That's because the last time the Cubs won baseball's Fall Classic — in 1908 — the average wage was 22 cents per hour, 8% of homes had a telephone and the White House was occupied by President Theodore […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis sings about having the courage to pull the plug on a failing relationship in the 2007 release, "Silver Lining." Penned by Lewis, the song explores the moment when […]
The largest D-flawless heart-shaped diamond ever to be offered at auction will be the headliner of Christie's Magnificent Jewels event in Geneva on May 17. Dubbed "La Légende" ("The Legend"), the 92.15-carat gem is the centerpiece of a cultured pearl sautoir signed by Parisian jewelers Boehmer and Bassenge. The diamond is described as having perfect polish […]
Named after two of the most revered and powerful Olympian deities, Apollo and Artemis, this exquisite pair of diamond earrings — one blue, one pink — could fetch upwards of $68 million at Sotheby's Geneva on May 16. Although Sotheby's is promoting the pear-shaped diamond earrings as a pair, they will be sold as individual lots. "The […]