Gemstone lovers rejoiced in the summer of 2016 when two leading jewelry-industry associations recognized spinel as an official birthstone for August. Best known for its vivid red color — but also available in brilliant shades of pink, purple, green and blue — spinel has been called "the great imposter" because of the prevalence of "regal […]
Heather Rae Young told her 932,000 Instagram followers that she is "absolutely obsessed" with her new 8.08-carat emerald-cut diamond and that she can't stop staring at it. The 32-year-old former model and Selling Sunset reality TV star received the gorgeous ring during a romantic beachfront proposal orchestrated by Tarek El Moussa, who is best known […]
The dramatic fourth and final installment in Gemfields' short-film series paints a vivid picture of how rubies — "the rarest of all colored gemstones" — are born deep within the Earth. The 78-second film opens with the narrator describing an ominous place, where atoms become minerals under intense heat and pressure. We learn that when […]
Here's a birthstone riddle for the month of August: What do the world's largest faceted peridot and the Brooklyn Bridge have in common? If you're stumped, a little background may help... About the Peridot The 311-carat faceted peridot (shown in the grouping, above) is currently part of the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection in Washington, DC, […]
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country star Cody Johnson's hands are shaking like a canebrake rattler as he pops the question in his 2011 release, "Diamond In My Pocket." In the song, Johnson portrays a young man who […]
Today's virtual tour of the Smithsonian’s National Gem Collection delivers an up-close-and-personal look at the incomparable “Carmen Lúcia Ruby.” The 23.10-carat specimen has the distinction of being the largest faceted ruby in the collection and one of the finest Burmese rubies ever known. Exhibiting a richly saturated red color known as “pigeon’s blood,” the Carmen […]
In a move that promises to fundamentally change the way diamonds are graded for clarity, the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has joined forces with tech giant IBM to add artificial intelligence (AI) to the process. GIA, the world’s leading independent diamond identification and grading authority, and IBM Research, one of the world’s largest and […]
The emerald-and-diamond engagement ring that billionaire business tycoon Howard Hughes gave to Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn in 1938 was recently purchased for $108,000 at Los Angeles auction house Profiles in History. The anonymous buyer's winning bid exceeded the presale high estimate by $78,000. Hughes and Hepburn never married, but the couple's 18-month romance was chronicled […]
The emerald-and-diamond engagement ring that billionaire business tycoon Howard Hughes gave to Hollywood legend Katherine Hepburn in 1938 was recently purchased for $108,000 at Los Angeles auction house Profiles in History. The anonymous buyer's winning bid exceeded the presale high estimate by $78,000. Hughes and Hepburn never married, but the couple's 18-month romance was chronicled […]
This past Thursday, songstress Demi Lovato thrilled her 88.9 million Instagram followers with romantic pics of her Malibu engagement to actor Max Ehrich, who proposed with a massive emerald-cut diamond ring. Jewelry-industry insiders told various celebrity websites that the center stone appeared to be 8 to 10 carats with a value of $500,000 or more, […]