Month: August 2019

Welcome to a Music Friday when we bring you classic hits with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we present Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons singing the original 1965 version of “Bye, Bye, Baby,” a tune that includes a very important line about a wedding ring.

In this song, Valli tells his love interest that she’s the one girl in town that he would want to marry — except for the fact that he’s not “free.” In the last verse, we learn that he’s already married. Yikes.

The last verse goes like this: “Should have told her that I can’t linger. There’s a wedding ring on my finger. She’s got me but I’m not free. Bye bye baby, baby goodbye / Bye baby, baby bye bye.”

Written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, the keyboardist for The Four Seasons, “Bye, Bye, Baby” topped out at #12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. Ten years later, the Bay City Rollers released their version, which charted in 11 countries, Including a #1 spot in the UK. It was Britain’s top-selling single of 1975.

Trivia: “Bye, Bye, Baby” is played twice during the 2003 film Love Actually — once by Daniel (Liam Neeson) at his wife’s funeral, and again by the DJ (Junior Simpson) at the wedding reception of Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

Born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in Newark, N.J., Valli became the frontman for The Four Seasons in 1960. Amazingly, Valli is still touring at the age of 85. He will be appearing in Hawaii, Minnesota and Illinois in September.

With an estimated 100 million records sold, The Four Seasons is one of the best-selling musical acts of all time. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

We hope you enjoy the audio clip of Valli and The Four Seasons performing “Bye, Bye, Baby.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

“Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye)”
Written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. Performed by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons

If you hate me after what I say
Can’t put it off any longer
I just gotta tell you anyway

[Chorus]
Bye bye baby, baby goodbye
Bye baby, baby bye bye
Bye bye baby, don’t make me cry
Bye baby, baby bye bye

You’re the one girl in town I’d marry
Girl, I’d marry you now if I were free
I wish it could be

I could love you but why begin it
Cause there ain’t any future in it
She’s got me and I’m not free so

[Chorus]

Yes I never will know you better
Wish I knew you before I met her
Gee, how good it would be for me

Should have told her that I can’t linger
There’s a wedding ring on my finger
She’s got me and I’m not free so

[Chorus]

Credit: Photo by East Ham Bull [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

The 7,777-diamond "Lotus Temple Ring" recently earned a Guinness World Record for the most diamonds set in a single ring, overtaking the 6,690-diamond "Lotus Ring," which had earned the same honor in July of 2018.

Valued at $4.9 million, the amazing bauble was designed by Mumbai-based Lakshikaa Jewels and inspired by the famous Lotus Temple in Delhi. The lotus flower is a sacred symbol in several of India’s religions, imbuing the design with a sense of unity. A team of 12 crafters and one jeweler/designer worked 18 months to complete the project.

The Lotus Temple Ring features brilliant-cut, natural diamonds set in 18-karat white and rose gold.

“I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to celebrate human ingenuity and spirituality than this temple,” said Lakshikaa Jewels founder Naveen “Prince” Bhandari, who headed up the ambitious, multimillion-dollar endeavor.

“India has a long and rich history of jewelry-making,” Bhandari added. “Our Maharajas and Maharanis would hire the best artists of their time to create jewelry worthy of their stature. Since then, Indians have inherited a fondness for jewelry and an eye for craftsmanship, which is unparalleled in the world.”

A little more than a year ago, the “Lotus Ring” was in the news for smashing the same Guinness World Record for the most diamonds set in a single ring. By employing a design featuring 48 individual diamond-encrusted “petals,” Indian jewelers Vishal and Khushbu Agarwal were able to set 6,690 diamonds into an 18-karat rose gold structure.

Their intricately detailed ring took more than six months to craft and was valued at $4.1 million.

The Lotus Ring had dethroned Savio Jewellery’s “Peacock Ring,” which established its own record in 2015, with 3,827 ideal-cut diamonds set in 18-karat gold. That ring had an estimated value of $2.7 million.

Credits: The Lotus Temple Ring and Lotus Ring images courtesy of Guinness World Records. Peacock Ring by Savio Jewellery.

In 2016, with more than eight million fans watching, Jordan Rodgers proposed to JoJo Fletcher during the Season 12 finale of The Bachelorette. Now, three years later, Fletcher is sporting a brand new 5-carat oval diamond engagement ring after Rodgers decided to get down on one knee all over again.

Rodgers turned to Instagram on Sunday to explain his motivation behind the second proposal.

Accompanying a silly-faced Instagram selfie of him and his fiancée, Rodgers wrote, “I love @joelle_fletcher with all my heart!! I always wanted to re-propose, with no cameras, no producers, no drama… just us. Our first engagement was so real, and meant so much to us both, but as we start to actually plan our wedding for next year I wanted to do it all over again, OUR WAY!”

On her Instagram, Fletcher posted a similar photo and wrote, "Three years ago we got engaged in a way that some, if not all, would say is crazy and totally unconventional, and they were right. It was. But it was also very real. We took a leap of faith that day and hoped/prayed things would work out how we wanted them to. Times were not always easy, but we stuck by each other and worked every day towards our relationship.”

As most fans of The Bachelorette know, the male contestants get to choose from a curated selection of five rings provided by the show. This time around, Rodgers got to design a ring that matched Fletcher's personality.

When viewed from the top, Fletcher's new ring seems to be floating above her finger, secured in a six-prong setting on a delicate 14-karat yellow gold band. However, a hidden halo of white diamonds is revealed when the ring is viewed from the side.

"The show brought us together and set us up for a truly amazing proposal the first time around," Fletcher wrote to Rodgers in a continuation of her original Instagram post, "but this time was all YOU. And that means everything and more to me. I can't wait to marry you!"

The couple has a busy year ahead as they plan a wedding and produce new episodes of their CNBC series called Cash Pad. The show follows Rodgers and Fletcher as they transform ordinary properties into lucrative vacation rentals.

Credits: Images via Instagram/joelle_fletcher; Instagram/JRodgers11.

The awesome beauty of gemstone inclusions is brought to life in a new multi-sensory spatial installation by designer Dan Tobin Smith, The Experience Machine and Gemfields.

Taking place at the Collins Music Hall as part of London Design Festival 2019, the VOID installation focuses on — as singer John Legend might say — the "perfect imperfections" found in Mozambican rubies and Zambian emeralds. Microscopically captured and then projected throughout the installation, the gems' tiny inclusions become abstract, galaxy-like structures frozen in time.

The rubies and emeralds featured in the installation were sourced by Gemfields, a leading purveyor of responsibly sourced gemstones.

Visitors will become part of an immersive experience, as the large-scale projections reveal the rarely seen formations hidden within gemstones. The images blur the boundaries between nature and design.

On Tuesday, September 17, gemologist and jewelry specialist Joanna Hardy and VOID designer Smith will host a master class, which will include an intimate group walk through the VOID installation. The class will cover the history of gemstones and the attributes that make them unique. Smith will discuss his passion for inclusions and explain in detail the process of filming and projecting the gems within the installation.

The installation considers the concept of containment and relative scale, employing spatial design to explore the natural borders formed within these unique mineral arrangements. By translating moving image into a contained physical form and scoring the experience with harmonized layers of the human voice by female electronic drone choir NYX, visitors are invited to enter within the portrait of a gemstone’s natural inclusion.

The installation will run from September 14 – 22, 2019. There is no entry fee and no advanced booking is required.

Credits: Images courtesy of Gemfields 2019.

Sunday marked the 80th anniversary of the release of "The Wizard of Oz," and to celebrate the occasion, Google unveiled a special animated search results page complete with dream-sequence rotating screens, clicking ruby slippers and a flying farmhouse.

Those who Googled the term "The Wizard of Oz" saw a results page that, at first glance, looked pretty standard. It including the movie title, the year/category/runtime of the production, related images and an illustration of a pair of ruby slippers.

Google had tweeted on Friday, "We're off to search the wizard, the wonderful 'Wizard of Oz.'" That phrase, combined with the flashing pink starbursts above the ruby slippers on the search results page, hinted that Google had something special up its sleeve.

By touching the ruby slippers on the search results page, users were treated to an animation that began with the slippers clicking three times and an audio clip of Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) saying, "There's no place like home." (Fans of the movie will remember that Dorothy clicked her heels three times when she wished to return to Kansas during her fanciful visit to Oz.)

Google then programmed users' screens to spin five rotations counter-clockwise as if a dream sequence was taking place. When the screen came to rest, all the text and graphics were in black and white.

In the 1939 film, the story begins in black and white and then transitions to brilliant Technicolor after Dorothy and her dog Toto are transported by a tornado to the magical Land of Oz.

Google users then noticed that the position on the results page once occupied by the sparkling ruby red slippers was replaced with a spinning grey tornado.

When they touched the tornado, the animation started again, with Dorothy's farmhouse emerging from the tornado and zooming out of frame. Garland was heard yelling, "Aunty Em!" as the screen rotated five times clockwise and returned to its normal color presentation.

Google added this search page surprise to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the still-beloved movie classic, whose lovable characters, such as the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) and the Tin Man (Jack Haley) won the hearts of viewers worldwide. Google did not announce how long the special search results page would remain active, but you can try it today.

Regular readers of this blog know that the iconic slippers worn by Garland in the 1939 film returned to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., in October 2018 after an 18-month hiatus and rejuvenating facelift.

Since they were first exhibited in 1979, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers had been a top attraction, but environmental factors, such as light and moisture, had taken their toll.

So, exactly two years ago, conservationists at the National Museum of American History launched a Kickstarter campaign to generate the funds to provide Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers with conservation treatment and a new display case. Within 30 days, the campaign exceeded its $300,000 goal with support from more than 6,000 donors.

The Ruby Slippers are now on view in a state-of-the-art display, along with a prop wand used by Billie Burke in her role as Glinda the Good Witch. The wand is on special loan to the museum through November 2019.

Despite their name, Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers are not adorned with rubies. In fact, the bugle beads that prop designers used to simulate rubies proved to be too heavy. The solution was to replace most of the bugle beads with sequins, 2,300 on each slipper. The butterfly-shaped bow on the front of each shoe features red bugle beads outlined in red glass rhinestones in silver settings.

Credits: Google's illustration of ruby slippers via Twitter; Search results screen captures via Google; The Wizard of Oz movie scene by CBS Television Network [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Ruby slippers by Richard Strauss, Smithsonian.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Swedish singer-songwriter Sophia Somajo navigates a toxic love affair in “Diamond Heart,” her 2018 collaboration with Norwegian DJ Alan Walker.

In the song, the 34-year-old Somajo tells her boyfriend that only a diamond heart can protect her from the “sweet grief” he brings to the relationship.

She sings, “Yeah if I was bulletproof / I’d love you black and blue / If I was solid like a jewel / If I had a diamond heart / oh oh / I’d give you all my love / If I was unbreakable.”

In the end, she acknowledges that her heart will never be as solid as a precious stone so she will have to let him go: “Goodbye my love / you are everything my dreams are made of / you’ll be Prince and I’m the crying dove / If I only were unbreakable.”

Somajo, who is also known as Soso, delivers a powerful performance, with a range and vocal style reminiscent of Aussie superstar Sia. The official video for the song has been viewed on YouTube more than 153 million times.

“Diamond Heart” appears as the 13th track from Different World, Walker’s debut studio album. The song, which is the third and final chapter of the DJ’s trilogy called the “World of Walker,” went to #1 in Norway and charted in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden.

The official video for “Diamond Heart” depicts fantastical landscapes in a dystopian world. The video was actually shot on location in Iceland and the United Arab Emirates.

Walker, who will turn 22 tomorrow, is best known for his 2015 breakout hit, “Faded,” which earned diamond and multi-platinum certifications in more than 10 countries, including the US and the UK.

Please check out the video of Somajo’s memorable performance of “Diamond Heart.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Diamond Heart”
Written by Alan Walker, Thomas Troelsen, Kristoffer Haugen, Edward Normann, Anders Freen, Gunnar Pettersen, Yann Bargain, Victor Verpillat, Fredrik Olsen and Sophia Somajo. Performed by Sophia Somajo.

Hello sweet grief
I know you will be the death of me
feel like the morning after ecstasy
I am drowning in an endless sea

Hello old friend
here’s the misery that knows no end
so I am doing everything I can
to make sure I never love again

I wish that I did not know
where all broken lovers go
I wish that my heart was made of stone

Yeah if I was bulletproof
I’d love you black and blue
If I was solid like a jewel

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
I’d give you all my love
If I was unbreakable

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
You could shoot me with a gun of gold
If I was unbreakable

I’d walk straight through the bullet
bendin’ like a tulip
blue-eyed and foolish
never mind the bruises
into the fire
breakin’ through the wires
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart

I’d walk straight through the dagger
never break the pattern
diamonds don’t shatter
beautiful and battered
into the poison
cry you an ocean
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart

Goodbye, so long
I don’t know if this is right or wrong
am I giving up where I belong?
’cause every station is playing our song

Goodbye my love
you are everything my dreams are made of
you’ll be Prince and I’m the crying dove
If I only were unbreakable

I wish that I did not know
where all broken lovers go
I wish that my heart was made of stone

Yeah if I was bulletproof
I’d love you black and blue
If I was solid like a jewel

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
I’d give you all my love
If I was unbreakable

If I had a diamond heart
oh oh
You could shoot me with a gun of gold
If I was unbreakable

I’d walk straight through the bullet
bendin’ like a tulip
blue-eyed and foolish
never mind the bruises
into the fire
breakin’ through the wires
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart
I’d walk straight through the dagger
never break the pattern
diamonds don’t shatter
beautiful and battered
into the poison
cry you an ocean
give you all I’ve got

If I had a diamond heart

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

As she wiped the dirt from a sparkling, metallic yellow stone no larger than a pencil eraser, Miranda Hollingshead was pretty sure she had just scored the find of a lifetime at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Ark.

"I think I got one!" the 27-year-old Texan screamed.

And her hunch was right.

What Hollingshead had plucked from a hill on the northeast side of the search area was a 3.72-carat yellow diamond, the largest gem found at the park since March 2017.

The 37½-acre search field is actually the eroded surface of an ancient diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe. Treasure hunters visit year round to test their luck at the only diamond site in the world that's open to the general public.

Park officials are not diamond appraisers, so they could not estimate the value of Hollingshead's gem, but history tells us that diamonds found at the park can sometimes yield a pretty penny.

In 1990, Shirley Strawn discovered a 3.03-carat diamond near the East Drain section of the park. That rough gem was transformed into a world-class, 1.09-carat round brilliant-cut sparkler, and became the first diamond from the Arkansas state park to earn a perfect grade of “Triple Zero” (Ideal cut/D color/Flawless) from the American Gem Society.

The find was so momentous that the State of Arkansas purchased the gem — now known as the “Strawn-Wagner” diamond — for $34,700 and made it the centerpiece of the park’s special exhibit. There’s even a prominent marker in the East Drain section of the park to show exactly where it was found.

Hollingshead told park officials that she originally had no intention of visiting the site on August 16. She was supposed to pick up a transmission for her car, but decided to change her plans at the last minute because her siblings were in town.

She had known about Crater of Diamonds State Park for years, but wasn't aware it was only 120 miles from her home in Bogata, Texas.

“When I realized it was only a couple hours away, I knew we had to go,” she told park officials.

The temperature reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) the day Hollingshead and her family visited the park. After an hour of searching, the young mom took a break and sought out some shade. While she was cooling off, she took out her phone and starting watching Youtube videos about how to find precious gemstones.

She looked away for a moment to make sure her young son was OK and then she looked down on the ground and noticed the glistening yellow stone mixed in with some other rocks.

“Every diamond found at the park is beautiful in its own way, and this one is certainly no exception," said Park Interpreter Waymon Cox. "It’s about the size of a pencil eraser, with a light yellow color and a sparkling, metallic luster. Ms. Hollingshead said her gem’s unique shape reminded her of a rounded molar, with a small indentation in one end.”

Cox explained that a recent rainfall likely played a role in Hollingshead finding her diamond.

“Much of the ground where Ms. Hollingshead found her diamond is made of unweathered volcanic rock," he said. "When it rains, flowing runoff often leaves loose gravel — and sometimes diamonds — on the surface in these areas. Diamonds have a brilliant, adamantine luster that makes them easy to spot, and Ms. Hollingshead happened to be sitting in just the right place to see the diamond sparkle in the sun.”

Hollingshead and her son earned the privilege of naming the yellow diamond. They called it the "Caro Avenger." Her son picked the name "Caro" and she picked "Avenger" because she's a fan of superheroes.

So far this year, 319 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park, weighing a total of 63.49 carats. Thirteen of those diamonds weighed more than 1 carat.

Credits: Images courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.

One block from London's River Thames, the chic Bankside Hotel is famous for its art, innovation, sustainability — and touch-screen vending machines that dispense surprising items, such as champagne, Tom Ford sunglasses and "placeholder" engagement rings.

Supplied by ROKUS, a London-based jeweler, the gold-plated brass rings feature a cabochon-cut labradorite secured in a classic six-prong setting. The brass is soft and adjustable, so one size fits all.

Labradorite was discovered by Moravian missionaries on the Isle of Paul in Labrador, Canada, in 1770. The missionaries brought the stones back to England and France, where they were fashioned into bracelets, brooches, necklaces and pins.

Labradorite displays a flashy iridescence and comes in many color variations — from grey and brown to green and yellow. But, due to its relative softness (6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale), it is not really intended for engagement rings.

Certainly, it has a place as the center stone of a novelty engagement ring — a cheeky, spontaneous expression of a couple's commitment until they can pick out a more precious and permanent keepsake.

“We didn’t want to fill our vending machines with just run-of-the-mill items,” Douglas McHugh, general manager of Bankside, told Lonely Planet News. “We wanted to include the fun and playful, as our guests tend to be comfortable in their own skin and don’t take themselves too seriously. We’ve had a few guests who have bought the ring and we’ve even had a spontaneous proposal in our restaurant.”

The six-story, 161-room hotel caters to artsy clientele. Guests enjoy an on-site artist studio and each room is equipped with an easel and paint kit. Works of art are displayed throughout the property, which happens to be a stone's throw from the Tate Modern, Britain's national gallery of international modern art.

The hotel proprietors decided to abandon the concept of in-room minibars. Instead, each floor is equipped with a touch-screen vending machine that can deliver a multitude of handy, quality items.

In addition to champagne, sunglasses and engagement rings, the "Bankside Boutique" vending machines dispense Patrón tequila, S'well water bottles, Polaroid "Snap" cameras, reading glasses, face masks, luxury shaving kits and much more.

Credits: Images courtesy of Bankside Hotel.

Five contemporary works by jewelry artist Anna Hu, including a show-stopping diamond necklace, will headline Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Autumn Sale in Hong Kong on October 7.

Sotheby's provided Hu with the 100.02-carat fancy intense yellow diamond that is the colorful focal point of the Dunhuang Pipa necklace. The impressive piece, which resembles a four-stringed Chinese lute, is expected to fetch $5 million to $6.25 million.

Titled the "Silk Road Music Collection," Hu's latest designs were inspired by the musical and cultural exchanges that took place on the Silk Road, an ancient trade route that connected China with the Mediterranean Sea. The route was active from the 2nd century BC until the 18th century AD.

“It is absolutely a pleasure to collaborate with Sotheby’s on this project and be given the opportunity to work with the 100.02-carat yellow diamond, which is a true gift from nature," Hu said. "I want this collection to speak to my Chinese roots, and I thought the beauty of jewels could be enhanced with a touch of the traditional, yet exotic, music that once flowed through the Silk Road.”

Here's a review of the five-piece collection:

• The Dunhuang Pipa Necklace. Designed and mounted by Hu, the convertible necklace has a silhouette inspired by Dunhuang murals depicting women playing the pipa (a Chinese lute). The necklace can be transformed into a brooch and earring ensemble for the modern-day woman who appreciates intricate designs with a versatile twist. Estimate: $5 million to $6.25 million.

• Cello: Jadeite, Diamond and Pink Sapphire Brooch. This cello brooch takes inspiration from Picasso’s "Violin Hanging on the Wall," which is housed in Switzerland’s Museum of Fine Arts Bern and is composed of jadeites ranging from 1.43 carats to 34.93 carats. The largest green stones are outlined with white and yellow diamonds. Estimate: $280,000 to $350,000.

• Blue Magpie: Conch Pearl, Gem and Diamond Brooch. Inspired by the works of Giuseppe Castiglione, the Jesuit missionary and painter at the imperial court of China, Hu extracted the essence of Eastern arts and applied it in the design of the Blue Magpie Brooch. Rendered with 500 gems, two blue magpies perch on delicate tree branches, resulting in a colorful creation that combines Chinese aesthetics and Western aristocracy. Estimate: $190,000 to $225,000.

• Ellington: Pair of Conch Pearl, Sapphire and Diamond Earrings. Combining the two loves of her life – music and jewelry — Hu visualizes an enchanting jazz melody through the creation of Ellington Earrings. Composed of blue sapphires, baguette-cut and modified-cut diamonds, each of the earrings is highlighted with a conch pearl that connotes a musical note. Estimate: $280,000 to $350,000.

• Appassionata: Ruby and Diamond Ring. Hu uses five rare rubies to represent the black piano keys in this three-finger ring. The piece is outlined with white diamonds and represents a whimsical interpretation of a classical jazz riff. Estimate: $80,000 to $100,000.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's.

It's becoming clearer that Alrosa's 14.83-carat fancy vivid purple-pink diamond, which was recently named "The Spirit of the Rose," has a very good chance of setting a world record when it goes on sale some time in November.

Alrosa has yet to estimate the stone's value, but gem expert Eden Rachminov, chairman of the Fancy Color Research Foundation, thinks it could be worth a small fortune. He examined the oval-cut sparkler first-hand and estimated it will sell for more than $60 million.

"A large fancy vivid purple-pink, internally flawless, with perfect visual characteristics such as this one, enters the market literally, once in a generation," Rachminov told diamondworld.net. "The stone has the most desirable pink undertone dispersed perfectly, and looks much bigger in relation to its actual weight. As of today, it is the most important vivid purplish pink ever unearthed in Russia and it will enter the books of history as an iconic Russian gem. Its beauty overcomes the important pink diamonds sold at auction in the last decade and its retail price should exceed $60 million. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hold this pink wonder in my hands."

If The Spirit of the Rose sells for $60 million ($4.04 million per carat), it will narrowly edge out the current price-per-carat record holder, “Blue Moon of Josephine,” which sold in November 2015 for $48.5 million, or $4.03 million per carat. With a $60 million+ price tag, the The Spirit of the Rose would also join an elite club of the most expensive gems known to man.

In 2017, Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group paid a record $71 million for the 59.6-carat Pink Star. The previous record holder was the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue, which sold in 2016 for $58 million.

The Gemological Institute of America graded The Spirit of the Rose as internally flawless with excellent polish and very good symmetry. It's the largest vivid purple-pink diamond ever graded by the GIA.

“In the world of colored diamonds, pink diamonds are some of the most treasured, especially at larger sizes,” John King, GIA chief quality officer, said in a video that appears on a special website created for The Spirit of the Rose. “It’s unusual to see pink diamonds in the market over one carat today. Weighing more than 14 carats is exceptional. The color is an amazing specimen. Being also internally flawless makes it truly a unique stone.”

Sourced in 2017 at Alrosa's Ebelyakh deposit in Yakutia, Russia, the rough stone weighed 27.85 carats and remains the largest pink diamond ever mined in Russia. The smooth-surfaced alluvial stone measured 22.47 mm x 15.69 mm x 10.9 mm (photo above). Russia's previous record holder was much smaller at 3.86 carats.

The rough diamond was named "Nijinsky," after Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.

In keeping with the same these, Alrosa chose the name "The Spirit of the Rose" for the finished stone to honor the famous 1911 ballet of the same name. In French, it was called “Le Spectre de la Rose,” and its primary dancers were Tamara Karsavina and Nijinsky.

Already the world’s biggest diamond producer in terms of sheer output, Russian mining company Alrosa is looking to become a major player in a segment of the industry now dominated by Rio Tinto and Anglo American’s De Beers — gem-quality colored diamonds. Alrosa's push is coming at a time when Rio Tinto’s Argyle Mine in Western Australia — the world’s primary source for pink, red and blue diamonds — is nearly tapped out. The mine is scheduled to close in 2020.

Credits: Images courtesy of Alrosa.