Since biblical times, ruby has been one of the most revered and coveted gemstones on Earth. According to the Book of Exodus, July's official birthstone was one of the 12 gem varieties affixed to the Priestly Breastplate worn by Aaron (1396 BC - 1273 BC), elder brother of Moses. Each gem represented one of the 12 tribes of Israel.



In Indian culture, rubies have been mentioned in literature for more than 2,000 years. The Sanskrit word for ruby is "ratnaraj," which means "the king of gemstones." According to The International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA), whenever a particularly beautiful ruby crystal was discovered, the Indian ruler would order high-level dignitaries to meet the precious gemstone and welcome it in appropriate style.

The ICA also noted that in the fascinating world of gemstones, the ruby is the undisputed ruler. This is because it has everything a precious stone should have: magnificent color, excellent hardness, outstanding brilliance and extreme rarity.

The ruby's rich, vibrant red color is an important part of its appeal, as it conveys love, romance and passion. On the mystical side, a ruby is said to promote health, wealth, wisdom, creativity, loyalty and courage.

The International Gem Society, wrote about how the ancient Burmese soldiers took rubies to battle because they believed the blood-red gem bestowed invulnerability. There was one proviso, however. Wearing a ruby as a piece of jewelry wasn’t good enough. The gems had to be physically inserted into their flesh to protect them from physical harm.

Ruby is a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Gemstone-quality corundum in all shades of red are generally called rubies. Corundum in other colors are called sapphires.

The word “ruby” comes from “ruber,” Latin for red. Pure corundum is colorless, but rubies get their color from slight traces of the element chromium in the gem's chemical composition. Ruby boasts a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale. Only diamonds are rated higher at 10.0.

The value of a ruby increases based on its color, cut, clarity and carat weight.

Since the late 15th century, Burma, particularly the region around Mogok, has been a vital source for high-quality rubies. The area, known as the “Valley of Rubies,” is regarded as the original source of pigeon’s blood rubies.

While Myanmar (formerly Burma) has earned the reputation for producing the finest rubies, the coveted red gems have also been mined in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In the U.S., rubies have been found in Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wyoming.

Credit: Photo by NMNH Photo Services / Smithsonian.

In Anderson Cooper's bestselling book, Vanderbilt, about the unfathomable rags-to-riches-to-rags saga of one of the most famous families of America's Gilded Age, the journalist describes the extraordinary opulence of The Breakers, the 70-room, 138,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance-style palazzo that served as the Newport, RI, cliffside summer home for Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his family. Cornelius is Cooper's great-great grandfather.



In the book's Prologue, we learn that as one of the richest men in the world, Vanderbilt spared no expense in building what Cooper described as a "temple to Vanderbilt money and ambition." The $7 million Cornelius spent on the project from 1893 to 1895 was equivalent to $220 million in today's dollars.



In one passage that sparked our curiosity, Cooper — whose mom is the late Gloria Vanderbilt — described The Breakers' morning room walls as "paneled in platinum."

After a little digging, we learned via an excellent January 2007 article in the journal AIArchitect that within The Breakers' elegant morning room there are eight gleaming, distinctive leaf panels accenting all four corners of the room. The platinum decorations, which feature elements of Classical mythology, also overlap onto the ceiling panels.



Back in 2006, the chief conservator of The Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island, which now operates The Breakers, was curious to learn why the silvery metallic surfaces adorning the morning room hadn't tarnished in more than a century. Originally, the leaf was believed to be either silver, aluminum or tin.

The Society worked with the Delaware-based Winterthur Museum, which employed a non-invasive, state-of-the-art conservation technique to determine that the silver-colored leaf was, in fact, made of platinum. This noble metal, like gold, will not tarnish or oxidize.

“Silver-colored metals usually tarnish and degrade,” said Jeff Moore, chief conservator for The Preservation Society of Newport County, at the time. “I often wondered about this particular leaf and suspected it was not silver. I expected to discover it was aluminum."

Moore went on to describe how designers of that era would use tin or aluminum leaf and add a yellow varnish on top to make it look like gold.

"To find platinum up there in thin leaf form was really interesting," Moore added. "Even in the Modern Era you would be hard-pressed to find a platinum surface of any kind in favor of more inexpensive aluminum, copper or tin. Platinum is even more expensive than gold.”

(In January of 2007, platinum was priced at $1,130/ounce, compared to gold at $625/ounce.)

Moore explained that the use of platinum leaf during that period was virtually unheard of.

"There is almost no documentation of its use in architecture during the Gilded Age," he said.

When The Breakers was completed in 1895, Vanderbilt was president and chairman of the New York Central Railroad, the company his grandfather, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt had founded after making his first fortune in shipping.

The home remained in the Vanderbilt family through 1948, but the ever-increasing expenses related to maintaining an aging structure and 13 acres of landscaped grounds proved to be too overwhelming for a family that squandered its riches. They worked out a deal to lease the home to The Preservation Society of Newport County for $1 per year.

Today, the vision of Cornelius Vanderbilt II remains one of Rhode Island's most popular tourist destinations, with nearly 400,000 visitors each year. Tour tickets cost $24.

Credits: The Breakers image by UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Morning room images by Renata3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons and Renata3, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On the Fourth of July, the venerable New York Times dedicated more than 1,000 words to a unique rough diamond crystal that's making its mark as a fashion-forward favorite of the tony elite.



A "macle" is a twinned diamond crystal that presents as a flat triangle instead of the more dimensional octahedron. The crystal looks like it's been naturally cut so designers will often set the diamond macle in its raw state.

“They are for an inherently sophisticated customer,” Sally Morrison, director of public relations for natural diamonds in the De Beers Group, told freelance journalist Kathleen Beckett, writing for The Times. “It’s a quiet, understated luxury. People may not know what they are, but you know it.”

Although the use of macles is a relatively new phenomenon in today's fashion circles, these twinned diamond crystals have been part of the jewelry landscape for thousands of years.

“They were probably first used in jewelry in India about 2,500 years ago when diamonds were first discovered in Golconda,” Andrew Coxon, president of the London-based De Beers Institute of Diamonds, told Beckett.

Morrison said that she is seeing more designs using rough diamonds in their natural state — a trend identified in a recent article at brides.com.

"Raw diamond rings are a stunning option, especially if you’re completely uninterested in a blingy, cookie-cutter ring," noted fashion writer Laura Lajiness Kaupke. "While raw diamonds don’t twinkle in the traditional sense, many have a more subdued shimmer that catches the light at various angles of the stone's uneven surface — the ultimate effect for low-key brides craving a one-of-a-kind diamond."

Gemologists explain that "macle twinning" is more common in spinels, but very rarely seen in other gem species. That's why diamond macles, especially in large sizes are very rare. The specimen shown, above, was sourced in South Africa and weighs 9.94 carats.

Because they lack depth, macles present an ongoing challenge to diamond cutters. So when they are not left in their natural state, macles will generally end up as a pear, triangle or heart-shaped finished stone.

Credit: Image by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun, new songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Disney heroine Luisa Madrigal — voiced by Jessica Darrow — is so tough she can flatten not only the world's hardest substance, but also its most durable precious metal in "Surface Pressure," a big hit from the studio's animated musical film, Encanto.



Luisa sings, "I don’t ask how hard the work is / Got a rough, indestructible surface / Diamonds and platinum. I find them, I flatten them / I take what I’m handed, I break what’s demanded."

Encanto, which features a soundtrack penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, tells the story of the magical Madrigal family, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia.

Luisa and all but one Madrigal child — the film's protagonist, Mirabel — are bestowed with special powers. In the case of Luisa, her super-human strength is both a blessing and a curse. She's had to shoulder such heavy burdens for so long that she's now suffering an emotional meltdown.

In the song, the overtly confident character lets down her guard and admits that she's really not sure how long she will be able to hold it together.

She sings, "Pressure like a drip, drip, drip / That’ll never stop, whoa-oh! / Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip / ’Til you just go pop, whoa-oh! Oh!"

Miranda, who is best known for creating the Broadway musical Hamilton (2015), said in an interview with Variety magazine that he wrote "Surface Pressure" as a tribute to his older sister, Luz Miranda-Crespo.

"That song is my love letter and apology to my sister. I watched my sister deal with the pressure of being the oldest and carrying burdens I never had to carry," he said. "I put all of that angst and all of those moments into Luisa."

In Encanto, the superpowers of the special Madrigal children become depleted and it's up to Mirabel, the only "ordinary" child, to save the day.

"Surface Pressure" was released November of 2021 as the third track of the Encanto soundtrack. The song charted in nine countries, including a #8 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #12 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Surface Pressure" was the second song from the soundtrack to hit the Top 10 on the US chart. The other was "We Don't Talk About Bruno."

The 27-year-old Darrow got her big break when she was cast as Sarah in the 2018 film, Feast of the Seven Fishes. Darrow fans can see her performing a jazzy version of "Surface Pressure" on her YouTube channel.

Please check out the animated video of Luisa, voiced by Darrow, singing "Surface Pressure." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Surface Pressure"
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Performed by Jessica Darrow.

I’m the strong one. I’m not nervous
I’m as tough as the crust of the Earth is
I move mountains. I move churches
And I glow, ‘cause I know what my worth is

I don’t ask how hard the work is
Got a rough, indestructible surface
Diamonds and platinum. I find them, I flatten them
I take what I’m handed, I break what’s demanded. But…

Under the surface
I feel berserk as a tightrope walker
In a three-ring circus

Under the surface
Was Hercules ever like
“Yo, I don’t wanna fight Cerberus”?

Under the surface
I’m pretty sure I’m worthless
If I can’t be of service

A flaw or a crack, the straw in the stack
That breaks the camel’s back
What breaks the camel’s back? It’s…

Pressure like a drip, drip, drip
That’ll never stop, whoa-oh!
Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip
’Til you just go pop, whoa-oh! Oh!

Give it to your sister
Your sister’s older
Give her all the heavy things we can’t shoulder
Who am I if I can’t run with the ball?

If I fall to
Pressure like a grip, grip, grip
And it won’t let go, whoa-oh
Pressure like a tick, tick, tick
’Til it’s ready to blow, whoa-oh oh! oh

Give it to your sister
Your sister’s stronger
See if she can hang on a little longer
Who am I if I can’t carry it all?
If I falter

Under the surface
I hide my nerves and it worsens
I worry something is gonna hurt us

Under the surface
The ship doesn’t swerve
Has it heard how big the iceberg is?

Under the surface
I think about my purpose
Can I somehow preserve this?
Line up the dominoes, a light wind blows
You try to stop it toppling
But on and on it goes

But, wait.
If I could shake the crushing weight of expectations
Would that free some room up for joy
Or relaxation or simple pleasure?
Instead, we measure this growing pressure
Keeps growing, keep going
‘Cause all we know is…

Pressure like a drip, drip, drip
That’ll never stop, whoa
Pressure that’ll tip, tip, tip
’til you just go pop, whoa-oh oh oh

Give it to your sister. It doesn’t hurt and
See if she can handle every family burden
Watch as she buckles and bends but never breaks
No mistakes, just…

Pressure like a grip, grip, grip
And it won’t let go, whoa-oh
Pressure like a tick, tick, tick
’Til it’s ready to blow, whoa-oh oh oh

Give it to your sister and never wonder
If the same pressure would’ve pulled you under
Who am I if I don’t have what it takes?
No cracks. No breaks
No mistakes
No pressure



Credit: Screen capture via Youtube.com / Jessica Darrow Official.

Members of the Cambridge Fire Department Dive Team needed only a minute to rescue a diamond engagement ring and gold wedding band from a watery doom at the bottom of the Charles River near Boston.



Lynn Andrews had removed her cherished rings while enjoying a Fourth of July weekend outing on board their friend's boat, Rebecca Rose, docked at the Charlesgate Yacht Club. She didn't want to get sunscreen on her rings, so she tucked them in the pocket of her husband's shirt.



"We're going about our day and it was awfully hot out there, and [Ninos] decides to take his shirt off to go for a swim. And as he took his shirt off, the rings went flying out of his pocket," Andrews told local ABC TV affiliate WCVB.

Lynn Andrews “was obviously quite distraught,” the fire department noted on its Facebook page. She told cbsnews.com that she didn't think she would ever see the rings again.

Ninos Andrews was confident that everything would be alright.

The couple contacted the Cambridge Fire Department Dive Team, which happened to be patrolling the river on Sunday, July 3. Lynn and Ninos described exactly where the rings had entered the water and firefighter Jeremy Marrache was able use those coordinates to quickly locate the precious heirlooms.

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"Things in the river are usually pretty hard to find, so didn't really have a lot of confidence in finding it," Marrache told cbsnews.com. "But we figured we would at least give it a shot."

By a stroke of good luck, the engagement ring had settled onto the silty bottom on its side. When Marrache shined his flashlight at the bottom, the light reflected brilliantly off the diamond about 12 feet below the surface.

"Truly within a minute, Jeremy comes up with it, screams 'I've got it! I've got it!' and blew me a kiss, and I blew him a kiss," Lynn Andrews said.

“This is an amazing example of using our training for public service and a terrific opportunity for the dive team and marine unit members to practice working together,” fire Lt. Stephen Capuccio said in a statement posted to the Cambridge Fire Department's Facebook page.

Credits: Ring and rescue photos via Facebook / Cambridge MA Fire Department. Charlesgate Yacht Club photo by User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

It's not every day that a rare solid gold artifact from the Late Iron Age turns up in a package of costume jewelry, but that's the exact scenario a young Norwegian woman faced when she got a lot more than she paid for at an online auction site.



After previewing pics of the site's offerings, Mari Ingelin Heskestad honed in on a bold, twist-motif gold-colored ring.

“It was really heavy, and shiny. It looked very special,” Heskestad told Bergensavisen, BA, a Norwegian newspaper.



Heskestad wasn't allowed to purchase the single ring, which was part of a grouping of 50-plus items. Instead, she had to bid on the complete lot — a mixed bag of low-value, non-precious earrings, bracelets, pendants, brooches and rings. Also thrown into the lot was a pocket-knife, pill box, pipe and other trinkets.

When the package arrived, the gold ring turned out to be even more special than Heskestad expected.



Her father-in-law, who has some experience with historical artifacts, suspected that the ring might be from the Scandinavian Viking Age and advised Heskestad to contact the Vestland County archaeological team.

Karoline Hareide Breivik, acting section leader for cultural heritage in Vestland County, was able to quickly confirm that Heskestad's gold ring was, indeed, from the Late Iron Age/Viking Age, which dates between 400 AD and 800 AD.

Breivik said that rings with this twist motif have been found in Norway in the past, but they were mostly made from silver.

“Gold was rare during the Viking Age," Unn Pedersen, an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Oslo, told Science Norway. "So this would have been reserved for the richest and most powerful people in society.”

Based on its size and weight (11 grams or 0.4 ounces), the gold ring was likely worn by a male of high social and economic status, perhaps a Viking chief, reported Science Norway.

Archeologists are often frustrated when there is no way to track the precise origin of an artifact. The Viking ring couldn't be tracked to a particular place or person because it was one of many jewelry items from an unnamed estate that had been randomly packed into banana crates and shipped to the auction site for liquidation.

Heskestad wasn't permitted to keep the ring because of its historical nature. Instead, it will have a new home at Norway's University Museum in Bergen, where it will make its public debut in the fall of 2022.

Credits: Images courtesy of Vestland County Municipality.

The jewelry sales juggernaut soared to new heights in June 2022, as consumer spending increased by 16.2% compared to June of 2021 (YOY) and an incredible 86.6% versus the pre-pandemic figures of June of 2019 (YO3Y).



The jewelry segment's three-year gain outpaced every other retail category.

Jewelry's sales performance in June 2022 mirrored May 2022's stellar numbers when YOY sales were up 22.3% and YO3Y sales soared 65.4%.



These statistics were reported by Mastercard SpendingPulse™, which measures in-store and online sales across all forms of payment.

The credit card company emphasized that discretionary spending in June 2022 continued to drive growth across the fashion-forward sectors.

In addition to the impressive gains in jewelry sales, luxury items (excluding jewelry) saw a June 2022 increase of 4% YOY, and a 54% YO3Y.

And with summer in full swing, consumers continued to break out from pandemic restrictions and spend more on travel experiences: Lodging registered strong gains of 33.7% YOY and 30.4% YO3Y, while Airlines followed a similar, albeit less impressive, trend line of 18.2% YOY and 7.3% YO3Y.

Overall consumer spending in June (excluding auto and gas) was up 6.1% YOY and 17.1% YO3Y.

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse™, e-commerce grew at a slower pace in June (1.1% YOY) but were roughly double June 2019 levels. By comparison, in-store sales in June 2022 were up 11.7% YOY and 10.7% YO3Y.

Mastercard SpendingPulse™ findings are based on aggregate sales activity in the Mastercard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for certain other payment forms, such as cash and check.

Credits: Shopper image by Bigstockphoto.com. Table courtesy of Mastercard SpendingPulse™.

Bekah Martinez, a fan favorite on Season 22 of The Bachelor back in 2018, couldn't be more thrilled with the heart-shaped diamond engagement ring she accepted from longtime boyfriend Grayston Leonard this past weekend.



"I CAN FINALLY STOP CALLING THIS MAN MY BOYFRIEND!!!!! she wrote on her Instagram page. "Also SO in love with my ring, it's more beautiful than I could have ever imagined."

Martinez revealed that she and her fiancé picked out the ring last year from an online store that specializes in ethically sourced diamonds, but she didn't get to see the finished piece until the actual proposal.



"Can't get over this ring!!!!!!" she exclaimed in a post punctuated with three heart-eyed smiley faces and seen by her 716,000 Instagram followers.

Martinez, who is the founder of eco-conscious clothing company Good Alma, told People magazine that she had wanted a heart-shaped diamond since 2015. That's when Lady Gaga received an 8-carat, heart-shaped diamond engagement ring from actor Taylor Kinney on Valentine's Day.



While Martinez and Gaga's rings both featured heart-shaped stones, the settings couldn't have been more different. Martinez has her diamond mounted on a thick gold band, while Gaga's diamond was set on a thin, white-metal band adorned with diamond pavé.

Gaga's band also had a surprise detail that the singer called her "favorite part" of the ring. “T [heart] S” was spelled out in pavé diamonds at the base of the band. “S” is for Stefani, Gaga’s birth name.

Sadly, Gaga's engagement to Kinney lasted 17 months. They broke up in July of 2016.



Martinez, 27, and Leonard, 33, have been a couple since 2018 — just after she returned home from filming Season 22 of The Bachelor. She had made it through Week 8 and finished 5th among 29 contestants.

The newly engaged couple share two children, daughter Ruth Ray De La Luz, 3½, and son Franklin James, 2. Grayston, the founder of the Long Beach Rising rock climbing gym, had popped the question very early in their relationship, but Martinez said she wasn't ready to make a commitment at that time.

Credits: Images via Instagram / Bekah.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we recount the story of how country music legend Lynn Anderson nearly lost an opportunity to record what would become her signature song — "Rose Garden" — due to the "diamond ring" lyrics in the second verse.



Anderson was a big fan of "Rose Garden," a tune penned in 1967 by Joe South and recorded by South and two other male artists from 1967 through 1969. She wanted to cover it for an upcoming album, but her producer (and husband) Glenn Sutton was adamant that "Rose Garden" was not a "girl's song" because of a key line that went like this: “I could promise you things like big diamond rings / But you don’t find roses growin’ on stalks of clover / So you better think it over.”

"I had objected to it because it was a man's song and I didn't wanna do it, but she kept bringin' it in with her – she loved it," Sutton told author Michael Kosser in the book, How Nashville Became Music City U.S.A (2006).

As luck would have it, Anderson had some extra time left in one of her studio sessions, and Sutton finally relented — with a few conditions. He insisted on adding an up-tempo arrangement accompanied by a mandolin player and a full string section.

Columbia Records executive Clive Davis was so impressed with the recording that he insisted the song be released as a single in October of 1970 for the country and pop markets.

The song not only topped the U.S. Billboard Country chart, but it also reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and became a major hit internationally. It went to #1 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Norway. “Rose Garden” is considered one of the most successful country crossover songs of all time.

Anderson told the Associated Press in 1987 that “Rose Garden” was perfectly timed to appeal to the youth of 1970.

“It was popular because it touched on emotions,” Anderson said. “It was [released] just as we came out of the Vietnam years and a lot of people were trying to recover. This song stated that you can make something out of nothing. You take it and go ahead.”

The song’s reprise, “I never promised you a rose garden,” essentially means “I never told you it was going to be easy.”

In 2019, Rolling Stone magazine included "Rose Garden" on its list of the "20 Songs That Defined the Early Seventies."

“Rose Garden” netted Anderson a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1971, while South picked up two Grammy nominations, one for “Best Country Song” and the other for “Song of the Year.”

Born in Grand Forks, N.D., Lynn Rene Anderson generated crossover hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and continued to tour until her death in July 2015 at the age of 67.

Singer Dolly Parton said at the time, “Lynn is blooming in God’s Rose Garden now. We will miss her and remember her fondly.”

Check out the video of Anderson's terrific live performance of “Rose Garden” in 2011. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along. Enjoy!

“Rose Garden”
Written by Joe South. Performed by Lynn Anderson.

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There’s gotta be a little rain some time
When you take you gotta give so live and let live
Or let go oh-whoa-whoa-whoa
I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden

I could promise you things like big diamond rings
But you don’t find roses growin’ on stalks of clover
So you better think it over
Well if sweet-talkin’ you could make it come true
I would give you the world right now on a silver platter
But what would it matter
So smile for a while and let’s be jolly
Love shouldn’t be so melancholy
Come along and share the good times while we can

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There’s gotta be a little rain some time

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden

I could sing you a tune and promise you the moon
But if that’s what it takes to hold you
I’d just as soon let you go
But there’s one thing I want you to know
You better look before you leap, still waters run deep
And there won’t always be someone there to pull you out
And you know what I’m talkin’ about
So smile for a while and let’s be jolly
Love shouldn’t be so melancholy
Come along and share the good times while we can

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There’s gotta be a little rain some time,
I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden



Credit: Photo by Mikiesmonkey, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

India-based jewelry manufacturer SWA Diamonds just obliterated the Guinness World Record for the "Most Diamonds Set in One Ring" with its head-turning creation — "The Touch of Ami" — which sparkles with an astonishing 24,679 gems.



Inspired by the graceful, undulating layers of the pink oyster mushroom, SWA's design nearly doubled the number of natural diamonds employed by the previous record holder.

Indian jeweler Harshit Bansal had held the Guinness Record in this category since December 2020. His piece, dubbed “The Marigold – The Ring of Prosperity," turned heads with an eight-layer floral ring set with 12,638 diamonds.



SWA noted that the pink oyster mushroom symbolizes immortality, longevity and eternity. "Ami" is the Sanskrit word for immortality.

Rijisha TV, a post graduate in lifestyle accessory design from the National Institute of Design, is credited with conceiving "The Touch of Ami," a grueling process that took 90 days to achieve, according to SWA.



A five-minute video provided by SWA shows how "The Touch of Ami" came to be, from conception to completion. The manufacturer shares behind-the-scenes footage of how the origin sketches evolved into computer-aided designs. And then SWA takes the viewer through model making, casting, assembly, polishing and plating processes.

"Most Diamonds Set in One Ring" is a popular category for Guinness World Records. There have been five title holders since July of 2018. Just when you think you can't possibly fit any more diamonds onto a single ring, these designers have continued to push the boundaries.

Ranked 3rd - "The Divine – 7801 Brahma Vajra Kamalam" (October 2020). India-based jeweler Kotti Srikanth designs a 7,801-diamond ring inspired by the rare Brahma Kamalam flower, which is native to the Himalayas.

Ranked 4th - “Lotus Temple Ring” (August 2019). Lakshikaa Jewels of Mumbai fabricates the 7,777-diamond “Lotus Temple Ring,” which takes its inspiration from the famous Lotus Temple in Delhi.

Ranked 5th - "Lotus Ring" (July 2018). Indian jewelers Vishal and Khushbu Agarwal set 6,690 diamonds into an 18-karat rose gold ring that resembles a lotus flower.

SWA Diamonds is a brand owned by Capestone, one of South India's largest manufacturers of gold, diamond, and platinum ornaments based out of Karathode, Kerala, India.

Check out SWA's video below…



Credits: "The Touch of Ami Ring" pics courtesy of SWA Diamonds. Pink oyster mushroom photo by transcendancing, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nick Cannon's Instagram post from this past Thursday sent the Internet into a frenzy as his 5.9 million followers and countless fans wondered if he was really engaged to model Bre Tiesi, or if the post was just a clever publicity stunt.



The Wild 'n Out host shared a photo of the couple embracing along with a closeup image of him opening a ring box containing a massive pear-shaped diamond. The caption read, "I said I would never do it again but… Finally doing what the world wants me to do…" He punctuated his sentiments with an engagement ring emoji.



By Friday evening, Cannon had come clean on Entertainment Tonight, admitting that he and Tiesi were not engaged. The teaser was intended to promote the official music video for his new release, "Eyes Closed." He told the viewers of ET that the song about “just going in with your eyes closed and being a hopeless romantic.”



In the video, Cannon and Tiesi are enjoying a romantic getaway in a luxury suite. He has the ring box hidden behind a potted plant on the dresser. The scene starts in the morning, but he doesn't get the courage to pop the question until that evening. The large pear-shaped stone is prominently shown as the couple embraces on the balcony with the city lights in the background. (In real life, Cannon and Tiesi are in a relationship and she is pregnant with his eighth child.)

Cannon confessed to BET that filming a video about getting engaged was "very scary" and that tying the knot again wasn't part of his near-term plans.

"That's a big step, especially [with] all that I got going on in my life. Just the hint of it shocked the world," he told BET. "If imma do that, I got to be really ready and prepared."



The "Eyes Closed" video ends with Cannon dressed in a white suit, playing a white grand piano. Eagle-eyed fans will notice that he seems to wearing his famous $2 million diamond-encrusted shoes — the same patent leather Tom Fords that he donned for the season finale of NBC's America's Got Talent in September of 2014.

Valued at $2 million and dripping with 14,000 full-cut diamonds set in white gold, the slip-ons were ordered by Cannon to deliver a “wow factor” to the Season 9 finale.

At the time, Beverly Hills jeweler Jason Arasheben told Matt Lauer of the Today Show that the shoes took 2,000 man-hours to create and feature 340 carats in diamonds. Lauer, who modeled the diamond loafers during the broadcast, joked that his calves were getting a workout.

“They are heavy,” Lauer said.

Cannon has publicly stated the shoes will eventually be sold, with he proceeds going to charity. For now, they seem to remain part of his extensive shoe collection.

In June 2017, Cannon showed off his diamond footwear for an online episode of Complex Closets. He revealed that he owns stunt-double shoes decorated with Swarovski crystals. They look similar to the diamond shoes, except for a thin strip of black leather that wraps the heel. The stunt-double shoes allow him to walk around freely without having to worry about extra security.

Credits: Nick Cannon "Eyes Closed" images via Instagram / Nick Cannon. Cannon at the piano screen capture via Youtube.com / Nick Cannon. Diamond shoes image via Instagram / jasonofbeverlyhills.

Snuggled under the covers and wearing a simple platinum band on her left hand, a makeup-free Jennifer Lopez proclaimed herself a married lady Monday morning with a casual pic and one-word Instagram caption that read "Sadie!"



Following their high-profile April engagement, Lopez and long-time love Ben Affleck tied the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel late Saturday night in Las Vegas.

"Sadie, Sadie" is a song from the 1960s musical Funny Girl. After marrying Nick Arnstein, Fanny Brice (wonderfully portrayed by Barbra Streisand) sings, "Mrs. Arnstein, Mrs. Arnstein what a beautiful, beautiful name / Sadie, Sadie, married lady / See what's on my hand / There's nothing quite as touching / as a simple wedding band."

Dishing to the fans of her On the JLo newsletter, Lopez offered some details about her unpretentious wedding and what she called "the best night ever."

"We read our own vows in the little chapel and gave one another the rings we'll wear for the rest of our lives," she wrote.

We're assuming that the couple opted for matching platinum bands.



While her off-the-charts, 8.5-carat natural green diamond engagement ring is said to be worth somewhere between $5 million and $10 million, Lopez's platinum band probably carried a price tag of $1,000, according to Jenny Luker, president of Platinum Guild International USA.

"Jennifer's wedding ring is a classic and timeless style! It looks like a wide, domed platinum band," she told hellomagazine.com. "Jennifer's ring is a beautiful symbol of her love and commitment to Ben because platinum is precious, rare and lasts a lifetime."

The A-listers rekindled their romance in early 2021 and got engaged in early April 2022, nearly 20 years after the 52-year-old singer/actress accepted the 49-year-old Affleck’s first proposal in November of 2002. At that time, the actor and filmmaker presented Lopez with a 6.1-carat pink diamond from Harry Winston. Lopez returned the ring when the couple broke up in 2004.

In a 13-second video shared with the fans of her On the JLo newsletter in April, a teary-eyed Jennifer Lopez gazed down at her cushion modified brilliant-cut green diamond flanked by two colorless trapezoid diamonds and whispered, “You’re perfect.”

Affleck had chosen a green diamond because the color holds a special place in Lopez’s heart.

“I always say the color green is my lucky color,” Lopez affirmed in an earlier newsletter item. “Maybe you can remember a certain green dress (Versace, 2000 Grammys). I’ve realized there are many moments in my life where amazing things happened when I was wearing green. It may be a coincidence, maybe not. But as I took a better look, I realized there are no coincidences.”

Credits: Wedding band image via Instagram / jlo. Engagement ring images via onthejlo.com.

A 15-second commercial for Lucky Charms breakfast cereal reveals the magical story behind the new rainbow-speckled, diamond-shaped marshmallow charms that have been added to the limited-edition summertime rollout.



The "Magic Gems" commercial opens with two young explorers looking for Lucky the Leprechaun in a dense jungle.

"Where's Lucky," asks the boy.

"I know he's around here somewhere," answers the girl as he she peers down the void of a hollowed out tree stump.

The camera's point of view dives deep underground, where we see Lucky collecting a gleaming white Magic Gem to help him navigate a goblin's den.



Lucky says, "Rainbow Gems, you are the spark with your rainbow sparkles. I can see in the dark."

The back of the cereal box explains the fantastical backstory, that "Magic Gems have been stowed away in the goblin's den for centuries and hold the power of rainbow vision to see in the dark, helping whoever finds them navigate their way through the darkest of places."

As generations of Lucky Charms fans already know, the cereal contains colorful marshmallow charms, each of which bestow upon Lucky their own special powers: hearts (power to bring things to life), shooting stars (power to fly), horseshoes (power to speed things up), clovers (luck, but you never know what kind of luck you’ll get), blue moons (power of invisibility), rainbows (instantaneous travel from place to place), balloons (power to make things float) and unicorns (power to bring color to the world).

Food reviewers have generally given the "Magic Gems" edition of Lucky Charms a collective thumbs up, although they agreed that the taste of the rainbow-speckled, diamond-shaped "gem" was indistinguishable from the other marshmallow charms.

It's hard to imagine that Lucky Charms is celebrating its 58th year in the General Mills lineup.

The sweet treat was a conceived by product developer John Holahan, whose prototype was a mixture of Cheerios cereal pieces mixed with chopped up fragments of his favorite candy — Circus Peanuts.

According to General Mills, Lucky Charms debuted in 1964 with oat cereal in the shapes of bells, fish, arrowheads, clovers and X’s, complemented by marshmallows in the shapes of green clovers, pink hearts, orange stars and yellow moons.

Today, the marshmallow pieces in Lucky Charms are officially called “marbits.” Of the original marbits, only the pink hearts remain.

Trivia: Lucky the Leprechaun was replaced in 1975 by a character named Waldo the Wizard. Waldo's gig didn't last long. Lucky reclaimed his spot less than a year later.

Credits: Lucky Charms box photo via luckycharms.com. Lucky Charms commercial screen capture via Youtube / 325 Entertainment.

Welcome to Music Friday when we frequently feature throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, music legend Willie Nelson sings his rendition of the haunting love song, “Golden Earrings.”



Originally performed by Murvyn Vye in the romantic 1947 spy film of the same name, “Golden Earrings” tells the story of how golden earrings take on mystical qualities when they are worn by a man.

The song begins like this: “There’s a story the gypsies know is true / That when your love wears golden earrings / He belongs to you.”

The next verse states: “An old love story that’s known to very few / But if you wear these golden earrings / Love will come to you.”

Now, if you’re wondering why a guy is wearing golden earrings, the answer lies in the plot of the movie… On the eve of World War II, a British colonel, played by Ray Milland, escapes from the Gestapo to the Black Forest and poses as the beau of a beautiful gypsy (Marlene Dietrich) to elude his captors.

As Les Adams outlined for IMDB.com: “She pierces his ears for dazzling golden earrings, stains his skin, dresses him in [gypsy] clothes and teaches him to read palms. His disguise is perfect and he emerges unharmed from several encounters with Nazi patrols.”

Over the past 69 years, “Golden Earrings” has been covered by no fewer than 50 artists, including Peggy Lee (who scored a hit in 1947), Bobby Darin (1964) and Nelson (1983).

In Nelson’s rendition, the line “He belongs to you” is changed to “She belongs to you.”

“Golden Earrings” was the sixth track on Nelson’s album Without a Song, a release that ascended to #3 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album also ranked #54 on the U.S Billboard 200.

Willie Hugh Nelson was born in Abbott, TX, in 1933, and during his 66-year career has demonstrated a wide range of talents. The American icon is a musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor and activist. He has recorded 97 studio albums and appeared in more than 30 films and television shows. At 89 years old, he still has an active touring schedule.

This summer, he will be appearing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and California.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, won the lifetime award of the Library of Congress in 2015 and was honored by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Singers” and “100 Greatest Guitarists” of all time.

Please check out the video of Nelson performing “Golden Earrings.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Golden Earrings”
Written by Victor Young, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston. Performed by Willie Nelson.

There is a story the gypsies know is true
That when your love wears golden earrings,
She belongs to you.

An old love story that’s known to very few,
But if you wear these golden earrings,
Love will come to you.

By the burning fire, they will glow with ev’ry coal.
And you feel desire whisper low inside your soul.

So be my gypsy,
Make love your guiding light,
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight.

By the burning fire, they will glow with ev’ry coal.
And you will hear desire whisper low inside your soul.

So be my gypsy,
Make love your guiding light,
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight.

So be my gypsy,
Make love your guiding light,
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight.



Credits: Willie Nelson photo by Flickr user @giovanni, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Super Bowl LVI rings presented to the Los Angeles Rams' players, coaches and staff on Thursday set a record for the highest diamond carat weight in the history of NFL championship rings while pushing the envelope of conventional design.



Certainly, each ring pops with 20 carats of white diamonds, along with custom-cut blue and yellow sapphires set in white and yellow gold. But what really stands out is a top that spins off to reveal a miniature SoFi stadium complete with remnants of actual field turf and a snippet of game ball leather.



Jason Arasheben, CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills, described how he and Rams' team members immersed themselves in the design process. It was important for Arasheben to really understand the dynamics of the team, the season and the city.

Arasheben explained, "We spent an entire day at SoFi Stadium. The first thing I said was, 'What can you get me from the game? The field? Ball? What else?" I didn't just want it to be historical in design, but have physical elements from the event as well. It all adds value and authenticity, creating a one-of-a-kind piece of memorabilia."

The ring commemorates the Rams' historic 23-20 Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, the stunning $5 billion state-of-the-art complex that officially opened in September of 2020. The ring's 20-carat total weight is a nod to the 2020 grand opening. It was only the second time in NFL history that a team has won the Super Bowl in their home stadium. (NFL fans know that Super Bowl locations are planned many years in advance.)

The face of the ring features the Vince Lombardi Trophy, comprised of one marquise stone and a trophy base rendered in .12 carats of round diamonds to represent the team's 12 regular season wins. The palm trees on either side of the Trophy celebrate Los Angeles and consist of .26 carats of diamonds representing the franchise's 26 total postseason wins. The Rams' LA logo features special-cut blue and yellow sapphires.

Given the significance of SoFi Stadium to the Rams and the story of the entire 2021 NFL season, the shape of the Super Bowl LVI ring mimics architectural and design elements of the stadium, including the tall columns that support the translucent canopy roof. The .23 carats of diamonds on the stadium columns represent the 23 points scored in the Super Bowl to secure a Rams victory.

With a simple twist, the removable top opens to reveal a miniature of SoFi Stadium's bowl, complete with the Infinity Screen. The green turf is rendered with paint infused with pulverized remnants of the actual turf used during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The underside of the removable top features an interpretation of SoFi Stadium's translucent, new-generation plastic roof surrounded by a piece of a Super Bowl LVI game ball.



With their rings turned sideways, players can look right through to the other side, as well as peek in on the inner bowl of the stadium and check out the messaging on the Infinity Screen. The actual Infinity Screen by Samsung is suspended 122 feet above the field and boasts the largest LED content playback system ever deployed. The 70,000 square-foot, dual-sided video board comes to life with nearly 80 million pixels spaced 8 millimeters from center to center.

One side of the ring features the player's name with their number adorned in diamonds. The name is featured on a plate that mimics the extreme horizontal shape of the Infinity Screen. Below the player's number is the team’s “We Not Me” motto.



The other side of the ring shows the Super Bowl LVI final score of 23-20, as well as the NFL Shield and Super Bowl LVI logo. "WORLD CHAMPIONS" is featured on a plate that also mimics the shape of the Infinity Screen.

The 1.12 carats of round diamonds on the top of the ring represent January 12, honoring a key recurring date in Rams history: On January 12, 2016, the Rams were approved to move back to Los Angeles; on January 12, 2017, the Rams hired Head Coach Sean McVay, and on January 12, 2019, the Rams beat the Cowboys for their first playoff victory after returning to LA.

The underside of the ring features all the final scores of all the playoff games of the 2021 season, including Super Bowl LVI.

The team just released a four-minute video that presents an insider's look at the design and fabrication of the Rams' Super Bowl LVI Ring. You can see it here…



Credits: Images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills.

Many of the most notable and recognizable items from Queen Elizabeth II's jewelry collection — including the breathtaking and historic Diamond Diadem — are now on public display in Buckingham Palace as part of a 10-week exhibition.



The special presentation titled "Platinum Jubilee: The Queen’s Accession" celebrates the start of the 96-year-old monarch's historic reign and centers upon 24 official portraits of The Queen taken by the photographer Dorothy Wilding, alongside items of jewelry worn by Her Majesty for the portrait sittings. Some of the items are on public display for the first time.

Wilding began taking photographs of members of the Royal Family in the 1920s. In May 1937, she became the first official female royal photographer when she was appointed to take the portraits at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

Ten years later, in July 1947, Wilding was called upon to capture the official engagement portraits for Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, and in February 1952 she was commissioned to take the first official photographs of the new Queen Elizabeth, just 20 days after the Accession.



The series of photographs that Wilding took during two sessions in 1952 have become some of the most enduring images of Queen Elizabeth II and many have formed the basis for the profiles and silhouettes that we see on stamps and coins to this day.



Among the amazing jewelry items on display is a sapphire and diamond Cartier bracelet, which was given to Elizabeth by her father, King George VI, on her 18th birthday in 1944.



Another birthday gift was the South Africa necklace, given to Princess Elizabeth for her 21st birthday by the Government and Union of South Africa. The necklace originally consisted of 21 brilliant-cut diamonds, but in 1952 it was shortened. The six removed stones were made into a matching bracelet, which is also be on display.



One of Her Majesty’s most recognizable jewels is The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. The diamond tiara was a gift to the future Queen Mary, on the occasion of her marriage to the future King George V in 1893.



Queen Mary, in turn, gave the tiara as a wedding present to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, in November 1947, along with the Dorset Bow Brooch and a pair of diamond bangles. The bangles, which are on display for the first time, are thought to have been made in India, where traditionally one would be worn on each wrist to signify matrimony.



Another wedding gift was the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace. The Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad had instructed Cartier in London to allow Princess Elizabeth to select a wedding gift herself. This platinum necklace set with approximately 300 diamonds was what she chose. The Queen wore the necklace for her second sitting with Dorothy Wilding in April 1952, and it was these photographs that were chosen to form the basis of Her Majesty’s image on postage stamps from 1953 until 1971.

According to The Royal Collection Trust, the second sitting was coordinated so that additional portraits could be taken of The Queen wearing a coronet, as this was deemed to be more appropriate for official use on coins and postage stamps.

A crown could not be worn because the official Coronation was not to take place until June 2, 1953, so the Diamond Diadem (top photo) was selected. Originally created for George IV’s extravagant coronation in 1821 and set with 1,333 brilliant-cut diamonds, the Diamond Diadem was worn by The Queen on the day of her Coronation and has been worn by Her Majesty on her journey to and from the State Opening of Parliament since the first year of her reign.



The Queen’s final sitting with Dorothy Wilding took place in May 1956, shortly before Wilding retired. The Queen is shown wearing the Vladimir Tiara, which was made for Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia around 1874 and sold by her daughter to Queen Mary in 1921.

Inherited by The Queen in 1953, the tiara is unusual in that it can be worn in a variety of ways, as its pendant emeralds can be removed or substituted for pearls.

“The Platinum Jubilee: The Queen’s Accession” runs through October 2, 2022.

Credits: Images courtesy of Royal Collection Trust / © All Rights Reserved.

The Infinity Gauntlet featuring the Six Infinity Stones from the Marvel Universe is now a real-life collectible, thanks to a collaboration between Marvel and East Continental Gems. The six precious stones boast a combined total weight of more than 150 carats and are valued at $25 million.



The one-of-a-kind collectible was unveiled last week at the Marvel booth at San Diego Comic-Con.

Worn by Thanos, one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, the gauntlet is embedded with colorful gems, each imbued with a unique special power related to Time, Space, Reality, Mind, Power and Soul.

“There has never been anything as exciting and interesting in the Marvel Universe than the prized Infinity Stones, and as a fourth-generation jeweler and fan, I am honored that Marvel entrusted us with the monumental task of curating the Infinity Gem Collection for our universe,” said Adam Mirzoeff, President of East Continental Gems.

Mirzoeff told The Hollywood Reporter that as he watched Avengers: Endgame with his kids he became intrigued by how the gemstones of the gauntlet played such a critical role in the plot line.

“When I saw the Time Stone onscreen and how meaningful it is to the entire narrative of the Marvel universe, for me, it was very meaningful to be watching that with my children,” Mirzoeff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Then he wondered if Marvel had an actual set of Infinity Stones.

When he learned the answer was "No," Mirzoeff got to work assembling the gems that would make up the Infinity Collection, assigning a specific stone to each special power.

He told The Hollywood Reporter, “I had to reach into my safe and our collection and think, ‘Which stone is worthy of the title?'”



To represent The Time Stone, Mirzoeff selected a Colombian emerald weighing just under 23 carats. The untreated, emerald-cut gem carries documentation from four gem laboratories and was unearthed at the turn of the last century. In the Marvel Universe, The Time Stone has the ability to manipulate time, even in places beyond time.

The Space Stone is a cushion-cut, 30-plus-carat sapphire that was sourced on the island of Madagascar. The Space Stone allows its user to exist in any location, move throughout different realities, warp or rearrange space and teleport across planes regardless of the laws of physics or magical barriers.

The Reality Stone is an oval-shaped, natural ruby from Mozambique that weighs more than 15 carats. Marvel explains that tasks, realities, concepts, visions — things that would normally be impossible to realize — are made possible with the Reality Stone. And they can be done on a universal scale. In other words, aside from the power to will anything in or out of existence, it can retroactively create alternate realities around those changes.

The Power Stone is an oval-shaped, natural amethyst weighing more than 35 carats. The Power Stone allows its users to access and manipulate all forms of energy as well as enhance their own physical strength and durability. This jewel also boosts the effects of the five other stones. The ultimate power behind the Power Stone — and why it sits at a place of honor on the Infinity Gauntlet — does not necessarily come from the stone itself, but from how the it interacts with the others.

The Soul Stone is a cushion-cut spessartite weighing more than 35 carats. The first of all the stones to appear in Marvel lore, The Soul Stone served as inspiration for all the rest. It can manipulate the soul and essence of a person, control life and death and contains a pocket dimension called the Soul World.

The Mind Stone is a high-clarity, intense-color, rectangular brilliant-cut yellow diamond weighing nearly 35 carats. The Mind Stone allows its user to heighten abilities, such as telepathy and telekinesis, and — when combined with the Power Stone — access all minds in existence concurrently.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel teased the fact that East Continental Gems will be issuing a limited-edition Reality Stone in September 2022 as part of a future collection. More details will be announced at a later date.

Credits: Images courtesy of Marvel / East Continental Gems.

A little more than seven months after capturing their first-ever MLS Cup with a thrilling 4-2 shootout win over the Portland Timbers, members of the New York City Football Club finally received their 2021 championship rings during a ceremony last Thursday night.



Designed by Baron, the rings incorporate gemstone representations of the official team colors — light blue, dark blue and orange.

The ring top features the club’s “NYC” monogram logo — rendered in bezel-set, custom-cut dark blue gems — surrounded by round colorless diamonds and the "MLS Cup Champions" wordmark.



The right side of the ring pays homage to the team’s “UNDENYABLE” (the NY purposely outlined) slogan in yellow gold. Positioned above the slogan are the iconic NYCFC smokestacks, which are set off after every goal at home games to animate the crowd. Below the slogan is the date of the championship win — 12-11-21. Along the shoulder of the ring is a row of light blue gems.



The left side of the ring shows the player's name in raised white gold above the historic MLS Cup trophy embellished in yellow gold and accented with colorless diamonds. Within the trophy is the player's number, also in raised white gold. As with the other side, the shoulder of the ring is adorned with a row of light blue gems.



On the inside of the ring, an engraving shows the names of NYCFC’s playoff opponents along with the score of each game. The shank is set with seven stones representing the years the club has been in the league. Six are colorless diamonds, but the seventh is an orange stone representing the team's first-ever MLS Cup title.

During the championship game, the Portland Timbers evened the score at 1-1 with a dramatic 94th-minute equalizer at their home field, Providence Park. After a scoreless overtime session, the outcome was finally decided by a suspenseful shootout that saw NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson stopping two Timbers attempts.

Prior to receiving their rings on Thursday, representatives of the team got to ring the Closing Bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square.

The 2021 MLS championship marked the first title for a New York sports franchise since the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season. What's more, no New York team had won a soccer championship since the New York Cosmos pulled off the feat in 1982.

Credits: Images courtesy of Baron Championship Rings 2022.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring new brand new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher laments his recent separation from a long-time love in the 2022 release, "Diamond in the Dark."



In the song he co-wrote with Michael Tighe and Andrew Wyatt, Gallagher uses gemstone imagery to paint a picture of a forlorn romantic suffering from loneliness, confusion and depression.

He sings, "I’m shining like a diamond in the dark / I’m floating like a lion in the ark / I’m walking round in circles through the park / And no tough talk will erase you."

The diamond in the dark represents something that could be beautiful and brilliant, but has failed to reach its potential. In fact, a diamond in the dark doesn't shine at all, because diamonds can only sparkle in the presence of light.

Released as the fourth single from Gallagher's third solo album, C'mon You Know, "Diamond in the Dark" has met with critical acclaim. Faroutmagazine.co.uk called the song "a top-down, driving anthem while basking in the summer sun with a slice of psychedelia thrown in for good measure." The album charted in 17 countries, including the coveted #1 spot on the UK Albums chart and #16 position on the Billboard US Top Album Sales chart.

Gallagher rose to fame during his successful 18-year run (1991 to 2009) as the frontman for the British rock band, Oasis. The group's biggest hit, "Wonderwall" (1995), sold 2.4 million copies.

The 49-year-old native of Manchester, England, launched his solo career in 2017 and received the MTV Europe Music Award for "Rock Icon" in 2019.

Please check out the video of Gallagher's live performance of "Diamond in the Dark." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Diamond in the Dark"
Written by Liam Gallagher, Michael Tighe and Andrew Wyatt. Performed by Liam Gallagher.

I left LA today
I’m on another plane
I spent too much time on the dark side of your door
I spent the night awake
Had all that I could take
I might not see those baby blue eyes anymore

Come on
I’m shining like a diamond in the dark
I’m floating like a lion in the ark
I’m walking round in circles through the park
And no tough talk will erase you
Now I know how many holes it takes, too
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

And there’s a fire in the sky
And baby there’s red dawn in my eyes
And all the meanings got so twisted since you're gone
And I guess I’ll hope you fine
But really you know I hope you’re crying
And there’s a million things to say since you been gone

Come on
I’m shining like a diamond in the dark
I’m floating like a lion in the ark
I’m walking round in circles through the park
And no tough talk will erase you
Now I know how many holes it takes, too
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

Desperate eyes
Don’t recognize the warning signs
Alibis
They won’t keep you warm at night

So come on
I’m shining like a diamond in the dark
I’m floating like a lion in the ark
I’m walking round in circles through the park
And no tough talk will erase you
Now I know how many holes it takes, too
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

Now I know how many holes it takes to
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories



Credit: Photo by Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.