NASA’s six-year, 2.2-billion-mile mission to metal-rich “16 Psyche” lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center just after 10 a.m. ET Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. 16 Psyche is a 140-mile-wide asteroid that looks like a potato, but could be made of gold, platinum, iron and nickel — putting its potential precious metal value at $700 quintillion (700 followed …

The Stanley Cup championship rings presented to the Vegas Golden Knights' players, coaches and staff last week during a private ceremony at the Wynn Las Vegas are brimming with surprises, including a twist-off top that can be worn as a pendant. With the top off, the ring resembles the interior of T-Mobile Arena, with nine stars on the "ice" denoting …

The throwback manhole covers marking the Carson Street sidewalk on Pittsburgh's Southside have a unique characteristic that led to a "one in a million shot," according to police officers who responded to a mini-emergency last Thursday at about midnight. You see, the well-worn covers are completely solid, except for six silver-dollar sized ventilation holes spaced evenly around the circular mass …

In 1972, 26-year-old Bill Larson set out on an evening excursion to the Tourmaline Queen Mine in the foothills of northern San Diego County and returned hours later with the "Candelabra," a piece so magnificent that it currently resides at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. The specimen is more than a foot wide and looks like three hot pink candles …

It was already past midnight when Kristen Tunno fiddled with her rings on the drive home from Pittsburgh International Airport. The four-hour flight from Las Vegas was exhausting and she was looking forward to getting some shut-eye. But the promise of rest turned to distress when a sharp edge on one of her rings signaled something wasn't right. She used …

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Oscar- and Grammy-winning artist Glen Hansard ponders whether a simple band of gold has the strength to save his marriage in the 2015 folk song “Wedding Ring.” Written by Hansard, “Wedding Ring” is about a man who loves …

More than 200 luxurious jewelry items linked to the Viennese court life of one of Europe's most famous and influential ruling dynasties — the Habsburgs — will hit the auction block at Sotheby's Geneva on November 6 and 7. The collection, according to Sotheby's, recently resurfaced after being hidden away in a bank vault for nearly a century. Among the …

In a wild cover story for the current issue of Esquire magazine, pop music juggernaut Post Malone recounts how he almost lost a $600,000 diamond tooth down a Roman drain after a near-tragic Chicken McNugget accident. Malone was chomping down on his favorite fast food when one of his two diamond canines (the pointy teeth that look like fangs) sprang …

The Ancient Aztecs used two special names to describe the vibrant and colorful fire opals they discovered in the region that is now Queretaro, Mexico. According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the first was quetza litzle pyolitli, meaning “stone which changes color in movement” and the second was huitzitziltecpatl, which meant “stone like a bird of a thousand …

The massive Russian Federation and tiny country of Botswana share top honors on 2022's list of the most prolific rough diamond producers in the world. The Russian Federation extracted 41.9 million carats of diamonds in 2022, placing it on top of the leaderboard, far ahead of #2 Botswana (24.7 million carats) and #3 Canada (16.2 million carats). The rankings rejigger …