Gold, silver and bronze medals created entirely from recycled mobile phones and other electronic devices were unveiled by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games organizers. This is the first Olympic committee to create medals from 100% recycled material. By contrast, less than one-third of the material used to create the medals of the 2016 Rio Games were recycled. The gold and …
Music Friday: Reba McEntire Has a ‘Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands’
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you hit songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country legend Reba McEntire assumes the role of a heartbroken newlywed in her 1995 hit, “Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands.” Often referred to as the “Queen of Country Music,” McEntire tells the story of a …
Everybody’s Buzzing About Scarlett Johansson’s Over-the-Top 11-Carat Stunner
The internet is buzzing about Scarlett Johansson's unusual engagement ring, an over-the-top statement piece featuring an 11-carat, light brown, modified pear-shaped diamond that seems to float on her finger adjacent to a brown ceramic band. Jewelry experts have placed the ring's value in the range of $200,000 to $450,000. The world's highest-paid actress was officially engaged to Saturday Night Live's …
Gold-Coated Visors Protected Apollo 11 Astronauts During First Moon Walk
Fifty years ago today, the three-man crew of Apollo 11 returned triumphantly from their historic trip to the moon, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, 812 miles southwest of Hawaii. For the past week, much has been written and broadcast about the first lunar landing, but what most people still don't know is how much scientists at NASA depended on …
Botswana’s Newly Named 1,758-Carat ‘SewelĂ´’ Diamond Is Indeed a ‘Rare Find’
The second-largest rough diamond ever discovered finally has a name. The 1,758-carat grey-black diamond recovered in April at Lucara's Karowe mine in Botswana will be known as "Sewelô," which means "rare find" in the native Setswana language. A panel of judges picked Sewelô from more than 22,000 entries in a naming competition that was open to all the citizens of …
‘Moon Rock’ Engagement Ring Comment Nearly Stings Astronaut Buzz Aldrin
With the whole world celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing, we present an unusual story about how astronaut Buzz Aldrin almost got into trouble with the federal government for claiming that he used a moon rock for the center stone of his third wife's engagement ring. The year was 1995 and Aldrin, who is famously the second man …
Music Friday: Dwight Yoakam Uses Gems to Illustrate the Magnitude of His Heartache
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you terrific tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country star Dwight Yoakam performs “If Teardrops Were Diamonds,” a song that uses precious gemstones to illustrate the magnitude of his heartache. Written by Yoakam and sung as a duet with music-industry legend Willie Nelson, the song paints …
Actress Sarah Hyland Shows Off Her New Oval-Cut Diamond Engagement Ring on Instagram
Modern Family star Sarah Hyland took to Instagram Tuesday afternoon to post a series of photos affirming her engagement to Bachelor in Paradise personality Wells Adams. Hyland’s eye-catching oval-cut diamond engagement ring is front-and-center in a number of the shots taken during the couple’s romantic beach vacation. Celebrity and style websites are reporting that the oval-cut stone weighs somewhere in …
Retiree Is Reunited With Class Ring Lost in a Pond Nearly 60 Years Ago
Bill Wadel, now retired and living in Spotsylvania County, Va., was spectacularly reunited with his high school class ring — a ring that had been lost at the bottom of a pond for nearly 60 years. "What are the odds?" he said. When Wadel was a student at Gate of Heaven High School in South Boston, he had purchased a …
Japanese Firm Preserves Memory of Deceased Pets by Turning Them Into Pearls
A Japanese cosmetics firm is preserving the memory of deceased pets by turning them into pearls. The loss of a pet can be overwhelming for bereaved owners, but now the Nagasaki-based WBE company is offering a way to immortalize furry companions in a very unusual way. For about $4,000, the firm will take a bone fragment from a deceased pet …