Former tennis star Maria Sharapova kicked off the new year by finally revealing her stunning, emerald-cut diamond engagement ring from venture capitalist Alexander Gilkes. The couple had announced their engagement in December, but their choice of engagement ring had remained a mystery. The sizable, rectangular-shaped gem seems to be cradled in a bezel setting crafted in yellow gold. Unlike prong …

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, pop star Selena Gomez drives home a message of self-empowerment and self-worth in her Latin-infused 2020 release, "Ring." In the song, the 28-year-old former Disney Channel actress turns up her nose at insincere suitors because she's "one in …

Botswana's Karowe mine, the only mine in history to have yielded two 1,000-plus-carat diamonds, will be turning out high-value rough gems until 2046 under a renewed licensing agreement between Lucara Diamond Corp. and the Government of Botswana. The 25-year deal will pave the way for the underground expansion of the prolific Karowe mine, which has been the world’s foremost source of …

Jessica Amis, an Emmy-winning digital journalist for CBS-affiliate THV11 in Little Rock, recently found herself at the center of a story about a lost diamond, a precocious 7-year-old and the significance of "things" that remind you of stuff you never want to forget. Amis had been enjoying a meal with two co-workers in the outdoor picnic area of Hill Station, …

Entombed with the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, garnets have been coveted by kings and commoners alike for thousands of years. The fabulous and versatile January birthstone comes in a wide array of natural colors, including deep red, purple, orange, yellow, violet, green, black, brown — and a vibrant raspberry pink. This ultra-feminine pink variety of garnet is called "rhodolite." According …

Leibish, the New York-based colored diamond specialist, upped its bids this year by 20% to secure 16 of the 62 gems offered by Rio Tinto at the penultimate 2020 Pink Argyle Diamonds Tender.   The company's biggest prize was "The Argyle Sakura Diamond," a 1.84-carat, pear-shaped fancy vivid purplish-pink stone that had been touted by the mining company as one of …

More than 200 million visitors to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, have marveled at the beauty and majesty of the Hope Diamond since jeweler Harry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. In yesterday's column, we recounted how and why Winston decided to use the US Postal Service to ship the 45.52-carat gem from …

The Hope Diamond may be the most famous gemstone in the world, but when NBC’s Harry Smith recently visited the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, he highlighted the surprising story behind the parcel that ferried the priceless 45.52-carat gem in 1958 from Harry Winston's New York headquarters to its new home in the US capital. In the six-minute piece that aired …

Queensland's resource minister is encouraging residents to pursue a heart-stopping, Eureka moment in the Australian state's hotspots known to bear precious metals and gems. All it takes is a AU$8.65 license, a few tools and a lot of luck. “Whether you’re hunting for gold in Charters Towers and Clermont, searching for sapphires around Emerald or looking for the vibrant and …

Welcome to an unusual edition of Music Monday, as we bend the rules in an unconventional year to present a fabulous video that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and might even make you cry. (We normally feature music on Fridays, but since Christmas Day came out on a Friday this year — and because you need …