Four hundred years ago, a galleon named Nuestra Señora de Atocha was making a return trip to Spain from the New World when it was hit by a squall and sank along the reefs near the Florida Keys. This was no ordinary ship. It was packed to the rafters with treasures collected from Bolivia, Mexico, […]
For more than 130 years, the sunken steamer known as the Ship of Gold, rested undisturbed in the Atlantic Ocean 7,200 feet beneath the surface, about 200 miles off the coast of South Carolina. The side-wheeler, also known as the SS Central America, met its watery demise in 1857 when it got torn up by […]
The colossal cushion-cut specimen you see here is the American Golden Topaz, a 22,892-carat Smithsonian resident that's widely recognized as one of the largest faceted gems of any type in the world. It's also a great example of November's official birthstone. Despite its impressive address, life was not all glitz and glamor for this famous […]
Hey, it's Halloween, so let's take a deep dive into the curious, otherworldly origins of black diamonds — the spookiest variety of the world's hardest material. Black diamonds are also known as “carbonado diamonds,” and gemologists believe that they likely formed in outer space and were brought to earth by meteorites. Earth-formed diamonds often display […]
Here's a fun quiz. What do this beautiful sunstone from the Smithsonian National Gem Collection and Bon Ami's original formula cleanser have in common? The answer is feldspar. Sunstone — along with moonstone, amazonite and labradorite — are the members of the feldspar family most familiar to the jewelry-buying public. The mineral in its common […]
Here's the story behind how one of the world's most accomplished female guitarists earned a Super Bowl LVI championship ring. Los Angeles born guitarist Nita Strauss has become a force to be reckoned with in the music world, dazzling audiences across six continents. She was Alice Cooper’s touring guitarist from 2014 to 2022 and is […]
A new study published in the Journal of Family Psychology takes a deep dive into the dynamics of rejected marriage proposals and concludes that most failed proposals violate the "proposal script." Lead author Lisa Hoplock told therapytips.org that the typical Western proposal involves kneeling, offering a ring and asking some variant of "Will you marry me?" […]
The reimagined “Incomparable Diamond," now sporting a classic pear shape and slimmed down to 303.10 carats to reveal a deeper color, brighter hue and improved profile, will be introduced as "The Golden Canary" when it hits the auction block at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels event in New York on December 7. In a bold move, the […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Malcolm Kelly and Tony Oller (better known as MKTO) perform “Classic,” a 2013 feel-good anthem that pays tribute to "old school chic." In the song, the duo serenades a girl who is way […]
A first-of-its-kind secret panel slides open to reveal a case of Larry O'Brien Trophies in the 2022 edition of the Golden State Warriors' NBA Championship rings. Each bespoke ring is adorned with 16 carats of yellow and white diamonds (mostly yellow) and features the precise number of Larry O'Brien Trophies won by each player during […]