On Monday, August 21, skygazers from Salem, Ore., to Charleston, S.C., will see a rare total solar eclipse and — for just a brief moment — a fantastical celestial display that looks remarkably like a diamond ring. The “Diamond Ring Effect,” which was first explained by Francis Baily in 1836, occurs when the moon completely masks out the sun during …

It was exactly 50 years ago when a prospector named Manuel d’Souza got his first look at a cluster of intense blue crystals that had been discovered by a Maasai tribesman in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. At first glance, the crystals appeared to be sapphires. But a hardness test quickly ruled that out. According to one published …

With a nod to the Maquech Brooch — a live beetle jewelry accessory famous on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula — students at MIT have invented tiny robot crawlers that can move across garments as “shape-changing and pattern-changing jewelry.” Developed by the MIT Media Lab, “Project Kino” employs palm-sized robots that affix to clothing using magnets. The robots ride on wheels and …

Welcome to Music Friday when we often bring you throwback tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, country legend Emmylou Harris pledges eternal devotion to a noncommittal beau in her 1975 hit, “If I Could Only Win Your Love.” In the song, Harris focuses on a very significant piece of jewelry while making the …

Russian mining giant Alrosa trumpeted its big-diamond cutting prowess with the unveiling of The Dynasty, a 51.38-carat round brilliant-cut sparkler. The 57-facet, D-color, VVS1 gem is the largest of five polished diamonds all culled from The Romanovs, a 179-carat rough stone recovered from the Nyurbinskaya kimberlite pipe in the Russian Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 2015. The cutting and polishing …

Fourteen months ago, the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America (JA) announced that spinel — the great imposter — would be joining peridot as an official birthstone for the month of August. It was only the third time in the past 105 years that the modern birthstone list had been amended. The industry associations noted at the …

Imagine walking barefoot on a blanket of sparkling green sand that owes its astounding color to olivine crystals eroded from an ancient volcanic formation and delivered to the shore by ocean waves. Mahana Beach on Hawaii’s Papakolea coast is one of only three green sand beaches in the world. The beach sand on the Big Island’s undeveloped southern tip is …

An ultra-rare, 2.11-carat, fancy red diamond known as the Argyle Everglow headlines the 2017 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender – an annual showcase of the rarest diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia. The Argyle Everglow, which earned a grade of fancy red VS2 from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), is the largest fancy red diamond ever to …

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you hit songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we feature superstar Tim McGraw singing Billboard‘s #1 country hit of 1998, “Just to See You Smile.” In this song about selflessness, unconditional love and heartbreak, McGraw portrays a hard-working Texas miner who is willing to do just …

So, you thought finding a needle in a haystack was tough. How about finding a diamond engagement ring at the bottom of a cascading — and very cold — waterfall? That was the challenge for Maine resident Evan Nadeau, whose fiancée, Erin Helfen, had lost her solitaire ring while swimming under the Buttermilk Falls in scenic central Maine. The couple …