Fueled in part by pent-up demand, pent-up savings and government stimulus, U.S. consumers are heading into the holiday season with the desire and means to purchase luxury items, especially fine jewelry, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse™. Jewelry sales from November 1 to December 24 are projected to rise 59% in 2021 vs. 2020. And when comparing […]
An international team of archaeologists believe the 33 shell beads recovered from a cave in western Morocco represent the earliest known evidence of a widespread form of nonverbal communication among humans. Measuring about a half-inch across and drilled to be hung on a necklace, the beads made from sea snail shells have been dated at 142,000 […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today we feature The Band Perry performing “Postcard From Paris,” a song that uses jewelry metaphors to compare a new boyfriend to the one that got away. Frontwoman Kimberly Perry opens the song by […]
Flip or Flop star Christina Haack is rockin' a 5-carat, radiant-cut diamond engagement ring given to her by Austin-based realtor Joshua Hall during their romantic Mexican getaway. The 38-year-old TV personality announced the engagement to her 1.7 Instagram followers on Monday via a series of romantic photos and a minimalist caption comprising five emojis — […]
The 1,175-carat rough diamond unearthed in June at Botswana's Karowe Mine made its Big Apple debut on Monday as the owners of the stone — mining company Lucara Diamond Corp and manufacturer HB Antwerp — revealed it to the press at the Whitby Hotel in upper midtown Manhattan. Billed as the largest uncut diamond to […]
A devastating fire completely destroyed a North Carolina couple's dream house early this month, reducing all their possessions to a pile of ashes. But, despite the heart-breaking tragedy, the couple would have reason to celebrate. Just a short distance from the smoldering rubble, Sean Matthews went down on one knee and proposed to Kellie Stanley […]
Two entirely unique pairs of 17th century spectacles — one with lenses carved from an emerald and the other with lenses carved from a diamond — made their public debuts at Sotheby's New York showroom this past Friday. Believed to have belonged to royals of the Mughal Empire, the eyewear tells the story of royal […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. In 1966's "Colour My World," Petula Clark sings about how much her life has changed since she's finally found her true love. She sings, "You'll never see a dark cloud hanging round me / […]
The third, and final, installment in Gemfields' series of coffee-table books dedicated to the "big three" gemstones, is scheduled to be released on October 5. Titled Sapphire: A Celebration of Color, the lavishly illustrated, 328-page book by Joanna Hardy takes the reader on a journey from early trade along the Silk Route to the jewelry […]
Three stonemasons working on the restoration of an old mansion in northwestern France discovered a cache of 239 gold coins dating back to the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Minted from 1638 to 1692, the coins will hit the auction block at Ivoire Angers/Deloyes in Angers, France, on September 29. The proceeds, which […]