Anschar Diamonds Blog

If you're one of the more than eight million viewers who tune into Wheel of Fortune every night, you witnessed in real time what might be the worst blunder of the syndicated show's 41 seasons. If you did not see the December 22 episode, here's what went down — and, yes, there is a jewelry connection.



During Pat Sajak's introduction of contestant Gwen Hardy, we learned that the US Navy flight surgeon from Yuma, AZ, had recently accepted her now-fiancé's marriage proposal on top of a mountain during a 100-mile hike through the Alps.

Then, moments later, with all the vowels bought up and only three letters remaining in a puzzle that read, “SURPRISE _ARRIA_E PROPOSA_”, Hardy confidently told Sajak that she was ready to solve. Slam dunk? Right?

Without hesitation, she blurted out "Surprise Carriage Proposal."



Sajak was silent, the buzzer sounded, the studio audience groaned and Hardy hung her head in shame, realizing her epic mistake. The correct answer would have earned her $8,250.

“I know," Sajak finally interjected. "Sometimes you get excited and your mouth doesn’t say what your brain intended. I’m sorry.”

Instead, Ron Panner, a therapist and amateur magician from Shorewood, IL, guessed "Surprise Marriage Proposal" and won the round.

Later, Sajak tried to lighten the load of Hardy's emotional trauma on national TV, stating, “Well, you know, you watch the show, and stuff happens like that sometimes. But here’s the rule, and you know this, Gwen, as a flight surgeon, put that behind you. That’s done, nothing you can do.”

Fans of the show weren't as empathetic as the popular host, expressing on X (formerly Twitter) that Hardy's goof-up was one for the ages.

One user commented, “Can anybody recommend a good carriage counselor?” while another wrote, “Can’t wait for my partner to surprise me with a carriage proposal!”

Despite her cringeworthy mistake, Hardy still took home a very respectable $11,150 in winnings.

Host Sajak, 77, is finishing out his final season on Wheel of Fortune, where he's shared the spotlight with letter-turner Vanna White since 1982. White will be working with the new host, Ryan Seacrest.

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.

Imbued with the hues of a summer sunset, spessartine garnets are the fiery orange variety of garnet, January's official birthstone. The wonderfully versatile garnet comes in a wide array of natural colors, including red, yellow, pink, purple, violet, green, black and brown.



The 19.77-carat spessartine garnet shown, above, is part of the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection and is housed in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. A gift from Edward W. Boehm in 2008, the specimen was sourced in Zambia and ranks as the finest spessartine in the collection.

Spessartine's orange color is attributed to its particularly high manganese content. The purest and most intensely orange varieties are often referred to as "mandarin garnets" and are mined primarily in Madagascar.

According to the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA), the first mandarin garnets were discovered along the hilly border between Namibia and Angola back in 1991. Until then, spessartines had been found in other countries, but were favored by collectors and hardly used in jewelry. This is because specimens of excellent color and clarity were extremely rare.

But the crystals found in Namibia were, indeed, jewelry worthy. ICA states that the raw crystals quickly found their way into the cutting centers and onto the market. Within a short time, however, the mine was exhausted and production ground to a halt.



According to the Smithsonian, gem-quality spessartine comes mainly from Sri Lanka and Brazil, while other important localities include Australia, Burma, India, Israel, Madagascar, Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia and the US.

In addition to today’s featured spessartine garnets, other varieties often seen in jewelry include almandine, andradite, demantoid, grossularite, hessonite, rhodolite, tsavorite and uvarovite.

Garnets get their name from the Latin word “granatum,” meaning pomegranate seed. The beautifully red seeds of a pomegranate closely resemble rhodolite garnet.

Credits: Cabochon spessartine by Ken Larsen / Smithsonian. Spessartine crystals by Géry PARENT, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

After nearly four years of dating, actor Michael Trevino and Dutch model Bregje Heinen are engaged. The Vampire Diaries star popped the question on Christmas Eve with an oval-cut solitaire diamond set on a whisper-thin yellow gold band.



The couple turned to Instagram this past Saturday to share the news with a carousel of photos that revealed that the proposal took place against the backdrop of Amsterdam's picturesque canals. The joint Instagram post was simply captioned "12 . 24 . 23," The couple punctuated the date with a white heart and engagement ring emoji.



On Sunday, the 30-year-old print and runway model was back on Instagram sharing another carousel of post-engagement photos, including throwback, black-and-white photo booth shots of her canoodling with Trevino, as well as a closeup of her ring-adorned finger taken as she enjoyed a cup of cappuccino.



Trevino, 38, is best known for his recurring role as Tyler Lockwood on The CW drama The Vampire Diaries. More recently, he's starred as Kyle Valenti on the CW sci-fi series Roswell, New Mexico.

Heinen has modeled for top brands, such as Guess, DKNY, Prada and Versace, and walked the runway for designers Alexander McQueen, Donna Karan, Zac Posen, Fendi, Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld. She's also appeared in the international editions of Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.

Some of the actor’s costars from The Vampire Diaries shared their best wishes. Candice King, who played Caroline Forbes, commented, “YESSSS!!!!. Congratulations you guys!!!!!” She added a red heart emoji for good measure.

Nina Dobrev, who portrayed Elena Gilbert on the show, posted a series of six smiling heart emojis followed with the comment, “…so happy for you both!”

The couple had been dating since January of 2020, but have kept the details of their romance largely under wraps. Heinen and Trevino hinted that the relationship was advancing to the next level when they posted sweet Instagram messages on the occasion of their first anniversary together.

She wrote, “Couldn’t wish for a better partner! Life is more fun with you. Happy anniversary baby.”

He wrote, "It’s been a year of adventures. Thanks for keeping up with me. Happy Anniversary @bregjeheinen."

Credits: Images via Instagram / bregji heinen.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Twenty One Pilots’ frontman Tyler Joseph delivers a heartfelt tribute to his mom in the 2013 release, “House of Gold.”



In this song about the fear of growing old, Joseph’s mom asks her singer/songwriter son if he’ll take care of her in her twilight years. Written as an exchange between Joseph and his mom, he sings, “She asked me, ‘Son, when I grow old / Will you buy me a house of gold? / And when your father turns to stone / Will you take care of me?'”

The devoted son responds that he will not only make her the “Queen of everything you see,” but he’ll also bring her fame and cure her of disease.

Joseph told British Rock Sound magazine that he wrote the song to express his love for his mother, but didn't reveal "exactly" what the song was about because it would leave him "a little too vulnerable."

"But I love my mom very much and I want to always be there for her, like she was for me, and this song is about that," he said.

Initially appearing as a bonus track on Twenty One Pilots’ second studio album, Regional at Best, “House of Gold” became the fourth track of the indie pop group’s third studio album, Vessel. The song, which features Joseph on the ukulele and bandmate Josh Dun on the drums, became a top-10 hit on Billboard‘s US Alternative Songs chart and was certified "platinum" with more than one million digital downloads.

Twenty One Pilots performed "House of Gold" on Conan in their late night debut. The date was August 8, 2013.

The album ascended to #21 on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold more than 500,000 copies. Vessel was re-released as a limited-edition vinyl boxset in early 2023 on the occasion of its 10 anniversary.

The name Twenty One Pilots was derived from an Arthur Miller play called All My Sons, in which a World War II contractor knowingly delivers defective airplane parts, reasoning that fixing the problems would be too costly. The tragic result is the loss of 21 pilots. Apparently, the bandmates were inspired by the lessons of the story — to avoid shortcuts and always act with integrity.

Hailing from Columbus, OH, Twenty One Pilots’ early fan base was made up of Ohio State University students.

The video below was shot in 2013 for The Live Room at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, CA. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“House of Gold”
Written by Tyler Joseph. Performed by Twenty One Pilots.

She asked me, “Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?”

She asked me, “Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?”

I will make you
Queen of everything you see
I’ll put you on the map
I’ll cure you of disease

Let’s say we up and left this town
And turned our future upside down
We’ll make pretend that you and me
Lived ever after, happily

She asked me, “Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?”

I will make you
Queen of everything you see
I’ll put you on the map
I’ll cure you of disease

And since we know that dreams are dead
And life turns plans up on their head
I will plan to be a bum
So I just might become someone

She asked me, “Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?”

I will make you
Queen of everything you see
I’ll put you on the map
I’ll cure you of disease



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube / Songkick.

The surface of Mercury, the tiniest planet in the solar system and the one that orbits closest to the Sun, could be littered with an untold wealth of diamonds, according to researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, China.



NASA’s Messenger was the first spacecraft to orbit the planet back in 2011. It took nearly seven years for the probe to complete the 224-million-mile trip, and one of the important takeaways from the four-year mission was that Mercury's dark grey surface contained a lot of graphite, the same carbon-based material that's in your #2 pencil.

But, in a study published last week in the journal Nature Astronomy, the Chinese scientists argued that there's a strong probability that the Mercury also contains diamonds, which form when the carbon molecules are subjected to immense heat and pressure.

“If the primary crust of Mercury was made of graphite, we can imagine that the continuous evolution in 4.56 billion years — with countless impact events, mixing and destruction — would have seen most of the early graphite undergo phase changes and become other forms, including diamond,” lead author Xiao Zhiyong, a professor with Sun Yat-sen University’s school of atmospheric sciences, told the South China Morning Post.

The Chinese scientists' conclusions align neatly with the theories of Kevin Cannon, a planetary scientist and assistant professor at the Colorado School of Mines, who spoke about the likelihood of Mercury diamonds at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston back in March of 2022.

He explained at the time that since Mercury’s composition is high in carbon, when high-speed foreign objects smash into the surface, the perfect recipe of heat, pressure and carbon results in a diamond byproduct.

“The pressure wave from asteroids or comets striking the surface at tens of kilometers per second could transform that graphite into diamonds,” Cannon noted. “You could have a significant amount of diamonds near the surface.”

According to wired.com, Cannon and his team modeled what was likely to happen to Mercury’s crust after being pummeled for billions of year. Cannon theorized that the graphite on the surface of Mercury could be more than 300 feet thick and that the impact pressure from asteroids would have produced enough energy to transform 30% to 60% of that material into “shock diamonds.”

According to Cannon, there could be 16 quadrillion tons of diamonds on the surface of Mercury.

If you're thinking about the possibility of mining some of those riches, the good news is that Mercury is not that far away. In fact, the BepiColombo mission launched in 2018 will finally arrive at that planet in 2025. A joint effort of the European and Japanese space agencies, BepiColombo is equipped with high-resolution cameras that could provide conclusive evidence of diamonds on that planet's surface.

The bad news about the idea of Mercury-based space mining is that its inhospitable daytime temperatures can reach 800 degrees, higher than the temperature inside a commercial pizza oven.

Credit: Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A FedEx courier rushes bridal jewelry to a beach wedding in the company's newly launched animated ad campaign titled "Tall Tales of True Deliveries."



The 30-second spots created by New York-based agency BBDO position FedEx employees as superheroes in a series that will drive home the theme that their dedicated team will always go the extra mile.

In the first ad of the series, we listen to the first-hand account of a real-life courier named Joe, who became an unconventional ring bearer in this true FedEx story.

As the commercial begins, we see Joe attempting to deliver an important parcel to a home. But, when he arrives at the destination, there's a handwritten note on the door…

Says Joe, "Well, I was on my regular route, when I find this note… Bring rings to beach wedding?"



Dramatic music rises and the announcer proclaims, "FedEx presents Tall Tales of True Deliveries."

"So I grabbed the rings and hustled down the beach," says Joe, who entered one side of his truck wearing his uniform and exited the other side wearing a FedEx-monogrammed tuxedo. A moment later, we see him dashing to the beach, package in hand.



In the next scene, we see the dramatic silhouette of the bride and groom at the beach. The wedding officiant asks the bridal couple, "Who has the rings?" and out of frame, we hear Joe say, "I do.. I mean I do."

Joe presents the box to the couple, they take a look at their rings and they seemed delighted. The FedEx employee has saved the day, just in the nick of time.



The proud Fedex employee walks away from ceremony, checking off "Save Wedding" on his list of daily to-dos, which also included "Deliver Baby" and "Fight Off Gator."

At this point, an animated Joe morphs into the real-life version.

"Just another day on the job," he says.

The Fedex voice-over announcer punctuates the commercial with the tagline, "If this is what we did for love, see what we can do for your business."

A landing page created especially for the campaign explains that not all heroes wear capes. Some wear FedEx uniforms. And the story of the beach wedding is true, according to FedEx.

Notes the global delivery company on the Delivery Stories page, "Meet some of those heroes and hear their stories. And know you can rely on them — and 500,000+ other FedEx team members — to go the distance to deliver for you. Absolutely, Positively FedEx."

Check out FedEx's wedding ring commercial, below.



Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com / FedEx.

The man who pleaded guilty in October to stealing a pair of Ruby Slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005 — and then ditching them when he discovered the footwear's embellishments included no precious gemstones — will be spared prison time due to his fading health.



In May of 2023, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against 76-year-old Minnesota resident Terry Martin for snatching the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz, from the Grand Rapids, MN, museum after closing time in a smash-and-grab event. There was no surveillance video of the crime, and the only clue left behind was a single red sequin amidst a sea of shattered plexiglass.

Martin said he used a sledgehammer to break through the museum doors and smash a case holding the slippers. He also claimed that he transferred the stolen items to a fence after coming to the realization that the famous "Ruby Slippers" contained no actual rubies. Attorney Dane DeKrey reportedly argued in court that Martin's involvement with the slippers spanned just a two-day period in 2005.

MGM’s chief costume designer Gilbert Adrian had created multiple pairs of Ruby Slippers to be worn by the 16-year-old Garland during the filming, but only four pairs are known to still exist. Each of the pairs is believed to be worth $3 million or more if ever offered at auction.

The prop designer's original intention was to use bugle beads to simulate ruby, but they proved to be too heavy. Instead, most of the bugle beads were replaced 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.

The case finally broke in the summer of 2017, when an individual approached the company that had originally insured the slippers for $1 million and said he had information on how they could be returned. After a yearlong investigation coordinated by FBI field offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, the slippers were recovered during an undercover operation in Minneapolis.

In court documents released on January 4, 2024, prosecutors recommended no prison time in the Ruby Slippers heist, citing Martin's fragile condition. The defendant is suffering from chronic COPD, requires oxygen at all times, is homebound and confined to a wheelchair.

“Given that Martin is already immobilized, the United States recommends no detention or house arrest be imposed,” the prosecutors wrote in a presentence investigation report (PSIR).

“The offense is a serious one. As far as thefts go, Martin’s violation was disgraceful. After all, Martin targeted and stole rare and valuable pieces of Americana with the intent to destroy them and liquidate them for their gemstones," reads the PSIR. "Once Martin realized his error, he transferred the ruby slippers to a fence, presumably recognizing the difficulty of selling well-known artwork.”

The stolen Ruby Slippers actually belonged to Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the Judy Garland Museum. The collector reportedly told CBS in 2018 that the shoes were in pristine condition when he got them back.

Before announcing the recovery in 2018, the FBI had sent the sequined shoes to the Smithsonian for verification. A similar pair of Ruby Slippers has been one of the most popular attractions at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

The pair had been pulled from its exhibit in 2016 to undergo conservation care funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Smithsonian objects conservator Dawn Wallace had spent more than 200 hours examining the slippers and was intimately familiar with every detail.

Wallace confirmed that the FBI’s pair was, in fact, authentic, but in a surprising turn of events revealed that the pair that had been donated anonymously to the Smithsonian in 1979 was mismatched. The left and right shoes were of different sizes. The heel caps and bows on each shoe were not identical.

What’s more striking is that the FBI’s recovered pair had the same issues. When the four shoes were laid side by side, two identical pairs were temporarily united.

The Smithsonian believes that the mix-up may have occurred in the run-up to a 1970 auction of MGM costumes and memorabilia. That’s when the Smithsonian’s pair was originally obtained and could have been confused with the other pair because all four shoes had felt bottoms and were intended for dance sequences.

Credit: Image by Chris Evans from same, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

An adorable toddler earned instant fame after a video surfaced of her innocently — and hilariously — photobombing her parents' seaside marriage proposal.



In the video shared by Today show host Hoda Kotb Tuesday for her popular segment called "Hoda's Morning Boost," we see an unnamed couple and their daughter at the beach with a glorious sunset in the background.

Mom is holding the daughter on her hip while Dad asks the youngster, "Is it OK if I ask Mommy a question?"

The dad has already set up a his phone's camera on the sand about 10 feet away to capture the memorable moment.

But, as soon as the mom lowers the toddler to the ground, the curious tike scampers toward the device, effectively blocking mom from the perfectly framed shot.



While down on one knee, the dad looks over toward the camera realizing that his good intensions have seemed to go awry. Still, he embraces the comical moment and goes on with the proposal.

Mom obviously says, "Yes," and jumps into Dad's arms, while junior continues to be totally enthralled with the technology.



Seconds later, the happy couple reunites with the daughter. Both Mom and Dad are wearing ear-to-ear smiles.

Little did they know, their video would soon be the talk of the Today show and its three million daily viewers. Kotb's daily segment is billed as "good news and heartwarming stories that start your day right."

The 51-second video was also featured on the Today show's website and social media channels, as well as the New York Post's website.

Check out the video below…



Credits: Screen captures via Youtube / TODAY.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fantastic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, OneRepublic frontman and songwriter Ryan Tedder emphasizes the importance of overcoming obstacles and enjoying life to the fullest in the international hit, "I Ain't Worried."



He sings, "I don't know what you've been told / But time is running out so spend it like it's gold."

The gold reference advances the idea that Tedder has the confidence of a billionaire ("I'm nine zeroes") and has no regrets even when he's broke.

"I Ain't Worried" was the second single released from the soundtrack of Top Gun: Maverick (2022), the blockbuster sequel to Tom Cruise's Top Gun (1986). The 2022 film grossed $1.496 billion worldwide and was nominated for six Academy Awards. The song was also a tremendous success, charting in 37 countries.

"I Ain't Worried" sets the mood for the memorable beach scene where we see Cruise and his students engaging in dogfight football, a two-ball version of the game where the teams play offense and defense at the same time.

Tedder told Ryan Seacrest that Cruise had already turned down about 30 songs for the movie's soundtrack when a friend at Paramount Pictures invited him to work on the original piece for that transformative scene.

Due to the secrecy surrounding the film's production, Tedder was not given a copy of the scene. Instead, he got to see it for the first time during a Zoom call with Cruise's team. Tedder reportedly viewed the scene on his computer and recorded the screen with his smartphone. Then, he went to work on the whimsical, upbeat song that reflected the mood and length of the scene.

"We edited it, trying to guess what the film editor himself or herself would do," he told Variety. Apparently, Cruise was thrilled with the song and impressed with Tedder's ingenuity.

OneRepublic was established by Tedder and Zach Filkins in Colorado Springs, CO, in 2002. The group earned a dedicated following on Myspace and then attracted the attention of major record labels after playing shows around the Los Angeles area.

The group has sold more than 16 million records worldwide. Separately, Tedder earned 11 Grammy nominations and three Grammy Awards feting his songwriting prowess. He's written for top acts, such as Adele, Taylor Swift, U2, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, One Direction and more.

Please check Tedder and OneRepublic performing "I Ain't Worried" in the videos below. The first is is the official lyric video and the second is a clip of the beach scene from Top Gun: Maverick. The lyrics are here if you'd like to sing along…

"I Ain't Worried"
Written by Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Tyler Spry, John Eriksson, Peter Morén and Björn Yttling. Performed by One Republic.

I don't know what you've been told
But time is running out, no need to take it slow
I'm stepping to you toe to toe
I should be scared honey, maybe so

But I ain't worried 'bout it right now (Right now)
Keeping dreams alive, 1999, heroes
I ain't worried 'bout it right now (Right now)
Swimmin' in the floods, dancing on the clouds below

I ain't worried 'bout it
I ain't worried 'bout it

I don't know what you've been told
But time is running out so spend it like it's gold
I'm living like I'm nine-zeros
Got no regrets even when I am broke (Yeah)

I'm at my best when I got something I'm wanting to steal
Way too busy for them problems and problems to feel (Yeah, yeah)
No stressing, just obsessing with sealing the deal
I'll take it in and let it go

But I ain't worried 'bout it right now (Right now)
Keeping dreams alive, 1999, heroes
I ain't worried about it right now (Right now)
Swimmin' in the floods, dancing on the clouds below

I ain't worried 'bout it
I ain't worried 'bout it

Ooh, oooh, oooh, I ain't worried
Ooh, ooh, oooh, no, no

I ain't worried 'bout it right now (Right now)
Keeping dreams alive, 1999, heroes
I ain't worried 'bout it right now (Right now)
Swimmin' in the floods, dancing on the clouds below

I ain't worried 'bout it (Ooh, ooh)
I ain't worried 'bout it (Ooh, ooh)

I ain't worried 'bout it

Official lyric video



Scene from Top Gun: Maverick



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / OneRepublic.

As a record-breaking Arctic blast blankets the US heartland with ice and snow, it's raining liquid sapphires and rubies on the heavy metal exoplanet called WASP-121b, where temperatures regularly soar to 4,700 degrees Celsius (8,492 degrees Fahrenheit).



A team of astronomers led by European Space Agency research fellow Quentin Changeat analyzed three years of data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope and concluded that WASP-121b's turbulent atmosphere provides a perfect environment for precious stone precipitation.

Located 880 light-years from Earth in the constellation Puppis, the exoplanet WASP-121b is so close to its host star that it can complete its orbit in just 30 hours. Because it is tidally locked, the day side of the exoplanet always faces the blazing hot star and the night side (730 degrees Celsius, 1,346 degrees Fahrenheit) always faces out into space.

The extreme 4,000-degree temperature difference between the two hemispheres gives rise to strong winds that sweep around the entire planet from west to east at 18,000 kilometers per hour. The winds blow vaporized metals from WASP-121b’s torched dayside to its relatively cooler (but still brutally hot) nightside. The temperature change allows the metals to condense into clouds, resulting in rain that might look like liquified iron and gemstones.

The three-year deep dive into the archival weather data enabled Changeat's team to reconstruct WASP-121b's changing atmosphere and weather in a way that had never been accomplished for a planet outside the solar system, according to advancedsciencenews.com.

“Those supercomputer models helped discover a new storm-generation mechanism where multiple cyclones are repeatedly generated and destroyed,” Changeat told the science website.

According to NASA, WASP-121b is a doomed exoplanet. It's nearly twice the size of Jupiter, but is orbiting so close to its parent star that it is literally being torn apart. Gravity causes enormous tidal forces, which are stretching the planet into the shape of an egg. The star’s gravity also pulls material off the planet into a disk around the star. In 10 million years, predicts NASA, this alien world could be completely consumed.

“We were surprised by how extreme the conditions on ultra-hot Jupiters can be,” Changeat told advancedsciencenews.com. “While storms and other extreme phenomena are common on the Earth and solar system planets, it is much more impressive on ultra-hot Jupiters where storms the size of the Earth can easily be generated.”

Credit: Illustration by NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The De Beers Group will be investing $1 billion to extend the life of what the company's CEO calls "the world’s greatest diamond mine." What Al Cook is referring to is Botswana's prolific Jwaneng Mine, which has produced nearly 11 million carats of high-quality diamonds per year for the past 40 years.



Jwaneng is an open-pit mine lying above three diamond-rich kimberlite pipes that converge near the surface, covering 520,000 square meters at ground level. The next phase of its operations will see the company channeling underground, where miners will be reaching high-grade ore via 360 kilometers (224 miles) of interconnecting tunnels. The underground operations are expected to deliver about 9 million carats per year by 2034.

The mine is operated by Debswana, a 50:50 joint venture between De Beers Group and the Government of the Republic of Botswana.

The De Beers Group has specifically earmarked the $1 billion for the "Exploration Access Development Phase" of the project, during which Debswana will establish a drilling platform to facilitate comprehensive sampling of the kimberlite pipes. The work will begin in May of this year.

“Jwaneng stands proudly as the world’s greatest diamond mine," said Cook. "It is a central pillar of both the Botswana economy and the De Beers Group business. The global supply of natural diamonds is falling, so moving forward with the Jwaneng Underground Project creates new value for investors, brings new technology to the country, creates new skills for our workforce and provides new gems for customers around the world.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a 2023 sales agreement between De Beers Group and the Government of the Republic of Botswana. The 10-year deal will see Africa’s sixth-richest country gradually upping its share of the rough diamonds produced at its prolific Debswana-operated mines from 25% to 50%. The Jwaneng Mine currently employs 2,100 permanent workers and 3,200 contractors.

Situated in south-central Botswana about 120 kilometers (75 mi) west of the city of Gaborone, the Jwaneng diamond mine has earned a reputation for producing high-quality — and, at times, very large — diamonds.

In June of 2021, Debswana unveiled a three-inch-tall, 1,098-carat, gem-quality rough diamond that currently ranks fifth on Wikipedia’s list of the largest rough diamonds of all time. Interestingly, six of the top seven rough diamonds on the Wikipedia list were sourced in Botswana.

Credit: Jwaneng Diamond Mine photo courtesy of Debswana.com.

Since 2019, the Royal Canadian Mint has been celebrating the Great White North's cultural diversity with an annual release of gem-adorned gold coins. The 2024 installment, which honors Canadians who trace their ancestry to Iran, Ancient Persia and beyond, is set with a genuine turquoise in the center of a 99.99% pure gold, 1-ounce coin.



The coin's intricately rendered reverse side was designed by Iranian-Canadian artist Soheila Esfahani, whose work reflects a contemporary take on traditional elements. For this coin, Esfahani incorporated Persian Eslimi patterns, Shah Abbasi flower motifs, lotus flowers inspired by the reliefs of Persepolis, stylized maple leaves symbolizing Canadian identity and a paisley arrangement in the center.

Genuine turquoise was selected as the featured gemstone because it figures prominently in Iranian art and architecture, and continues to be highly prized for its deep blue-green hue. Historically, Ancient Iranians called turquoise "piruzeh," which meant victory. They also believed that piruzeh offered protection.

According to the Mint, the coin's balanced symmetry and stirring symbolism are meant to inspire, to urge us to transcend our perceived limits, and to find inner peace and tranquility.



The obverse of the coin features the Susanna Blunt effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, as well as a special marking that includes four pearls symbolizing the four effigies of the Queen that have graced Canadian coins throughout her reign.

It also includes the Queen's name, the dates of her reign (1952-2022), Canada, the year 2024, the "200 Dollars" face value and the Latin phrase, "D.G. Regina," which means "By the grace of God, Queen."

Measuring 30 mm in diameter, the coin will have a limited mintage of 275 pieces. The coin has a face value of $200, but is priced at CAD 4,499.95 (about $3,334). The Mint pointed out that since turquoise features distinctive patterning and hue variations, no two coins will look exactly the same. Each collectible coin is presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded clamshell box.



The turquoise-set coin is the fifth in the Royal Canadian Mint’s "Celebrating Canada’s Diversity" series, which previously honored Sinhala and Indian cultures with a ruby (2019), Scottish and Irish descendants with an emerald (2021), French-Canadians with a blue sapphire (2022) and the indigenous Haida people with an ocean-colored abalone shell (2023). The annual series was temporarily disrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Credits: Images courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mint.

The new year started off with a bang for two of the world's most famous diamond mines. On January 9, Gem Diamonds unearthed a high-quality 295-carat stone at its prolific Letšeng mine in Lesotho. Only one day later, Lucara Diamond Corp. showed off a 166-carat sparkler from its Karowe mine in Botswana.



Both mining companies described their finds as white, Type IIa stones, which are colorless and chemically pure with no traces of nitrogen impurities.



Situated two miles above sea level in the tiny, landlocked Kingdom of Lesotho, the twin Letšeng diamond mines churn out some of the largest and highest-value diamonds in the world. In fact, the Letšeng site generates the highest average dollar-per-carat of any kimberlite diamond mine in the world.

Among the country’s highest-profile rough diamonds are the Lesotho Legend (910 carats), Lesotho Promise (603 carats), Letšeng Star (550 carats), Lesotho Legacy (493 carats), Light of Letšeng (478 carats), Letšeng Icon (439 carats), Letšeng Princess (367 carats), Letšeng Dynasty (357 carats) and the Letšeng Destiny (314 carats).

The most recent find signals an encouraging start to 2024. The Letšeng mine is hoping to score some bigger pay days this year because the number of 100-carat-plus diamonds generated by the mine has been declining in recent years. After unearthing 16 super-large diamonds in 2020 and six in 2021, the number decreased to four in both 2022 and 2023, according to rapaport.com.

The recovery of 100-carat-plus gems is essential to the financial health of Gem Diamonds because these high-value diamonds reportedly account for 70% and 80% of the company's revenue each year.

In Botswana, the 166-carat diamond sourced from Karowe's highly productive South Lobe represented the mine's 328th stone larger than 100 carats since it commenced operations in 2012.

According to Wikipedia's list of the largest rough diamonds ever found, seven of the top 21 have come from the Karowe Mine. The largest Karowe finds include Sewelô (1,758 carats), Unnamed (1,174 carats), Lesedi La Rona (1,109 carats) and Unnamed (998 carats).

The Karowe Mine had been expected to cease operations in 2025, but an underground expansion at the cost of $683 million will extend its productive lifespan until at least 2040.

Credits: Letšeng diamond image courtesy of Gem Diamonds. Karowe diamond image courtesy of Lucara Diamond Corp.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Ed Sheeran tells the heartwarming story of his struggling grandfather, who made a wedding ring from dental gold in his 2017 hit, “Nancy Mulligan.”



The song chronicles the wartime love story of his grandparents and how their relationship flourished despite religious differences and the objections of their families.

With the scene set during the Second World War, the four-time Grammy winner recounts in the voice of grandpa William Sheeran how he fell in love with Nancy Mulligan at London’s Guy’s Hospital. He was a struggling dentist and she was a nurse.

Sheeran sings, “On the summer day when I proposed, I made that wedding ring from dentist gold / And I asked her father but her daddy said no / You can’t marry my daughter.”

“One was a Protestant from Belfast and [the other] was a Catholic from southern Ireland,” Sheeran explained on the Beats 1 radio show. “They got engaged and no one turned up to the wedding.”

The 32-year-old superstar noted that his grandparents were so poor that they had to borrow clothes for their wedding and that the gold for his grandmother’s wedding ring came from a collection of gold teeth his grandfather had collected during dental surgeries.

(Note: Gold used to make fine jewelry is generally 14-karat or 18-karat and alloyed with copper, silver and zinc. Dental gold is usually a 16-karat alloy containing palladium, silver, copper and/or tin.)

“[They] had this sort of Romeo and Juliet romance, which is like the most romantic thing," Sheeran said on the radio show. "I thought I’d write a song about it and make it a jig.”

Sheeran's grandparents were married for more than 60 years and had a profound impact on their grandson’s life. William passed away in 2013 and Nancy died in April of 2023.

“Nancy Mulligan” is part of the Deluxe Edition of Ed Sheeran’s third studio album ÷ (pronounced Divide), and despite the fact that it wasn’t officially released as a single, the song still managed to chart in 17 countries. Divide made its debut at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

Please check out Sheeran's 2017 live performance of "Nancy Mulligan" on The Late Late Show. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Nancy Mulligan”
Written by Ed Sheeran, Benjamin Levin, Johnny McDaid, Foy Vance, Amy Wadge and Murray Cummings. Performed by Ed Sheeran.

I was 24 years old when I met the woman I would call my own
Twenty two grand kids now growing old, in the house that your brother bought ya
On the summer day when I proposed, I made that wedding ring from dentist gold
And I asked her father but her daddy said "No"
You can’t marry my daughter

She and I went on the run
Don’t care about religion
I’m gonna marry the woman I love
Down by the Wexford border
She was Nancy Mulligan, and I was William Sheeran
She took my name and then we were one
Down by the Wexford border

Well, I met her at Guy's in the Second World War
She was working on a soldier’s ward
Never had I seen such beauty before
The moment that I saw her
Nancy was my yellow rose
And we got married wearing borrowed clothes
We got eight children now growing old
Five sons and three daughters

She and I went on the run
Don’t care about religion
I’m gonna marry the woman I love
Down by the Wexford border
She was Nancy Mulligan, and I was William Sheeran
She took my name and then we were one
Down by the Wexford border

From her snow white streak in her jet black hair
Over 60 years I’ve been loving her
Now we’re sat by the fire, in our old armchairs
Nancy, I adore ya

From a farm boy born near Belfast town
I never worried about the king and crown
Cause I found my heart upon the southern ground
There’s no difference, I assure ya

She and I went on the run
Don’t care about religion
I’m gonna marry the woman I love
Down by the Wexford border
She was Nancy Mulligan, and I was William Sheeran
She took my name and then we were one
Down by the Wexford border



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / The Late Late Show.

On his first visit to Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park, a French tourist plucked a 7.46-carat chocolate brown diamond from the surface of the park’s 37.5-acre search area. About the size of a candy gumdrop, the roundish diamond is the eighth-largest ever discovered at the only diamond site in the world that’s open to the general public.



The park was not on Julien Navas's original itinerary. The Paris native's first stop was Cape Canaveral, FL, where he witnessed the launch of the moon-bound Vulcan Centaur Rocket on January 8. A few days later, he extended his trip to explore New Orleans with some friends and was intrigued by their stories about a park in Arkansas that sits upon the exposed eroded surface of an ancient diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe.



Navas had previously enjoyed his experiences panning for gold and searching for ammonite fossils, so he decided to add to his US adventure a stop at the world-famous diamond park in Murfreesboro.

Outfitted with rented gear, Navas got to work early on Thursday, January 11. The park had recently received more than an inch of rain, making the terrain wet and muddy.



“I got to the park around 9 o’clock and started to dig,” he said. “That is back-breaking work, so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out."

That strategy was not a bad one, because many of the park's largest diamonds have been found on the surface, according to Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox.

“We periodically plow the search area to loosen the diamond-bearing soil and promote natural erosion,” he said. “As rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals and diamonds near the surface.”

After several hours of picking potential treasures, he carried his finds to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center. There he learned that one of his selections — a deep chocolate brown stone in the shape of a marble — was, indeed, a 7.46-carat diamond.

“I am so happy!" Navas exclaimed upon hearing the good news. "All I can think about is telling my fiancée what I found.”



In honor of his fiancée, he named his treasure the "Carine Diamond."

Navas told the park's administrators that he was planning to have the rough stone cut into two polished diamonds, one for his fiancée and one for his daughter. He also noted that he was planning to return to the park with his daughter once she's a bit older.

“It is always so exciting to see first time visitors find diamonds, especially large diamonds like this one,” said Park Interpreter Sarah Reap.

Navas called Crater of Diamonds State Park "a magical place, where the dream of finding a diamond can come true.”

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in Murfreesboro in 1924. Named the “Uncle Sam,” the white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. The site of that early mining operation became a state park in 1972.

Credits: Images courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.

As tight end Travis Kelce and the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas Chiefs battled the Buffalo Bills Sunday night and punched their ticket to the AFC title game, CBS-TV's production crew spent a good part of the broadcast zooming in on a luxury box, where Taylor Swift and friends celebrated her boyfriend's on-field heroics that included two touchdown catches.



Just after scoring his first touchdown, Kelce made a heart sign and looked up at the suite where Swift was seated. Since September, Kelce and Swift have become one of the most talked about celebrity power couples, and speculation abounds as to when the seven-time Pro Bowler might pop the question to the 12-time Grammy Award winner.

The couple has deflected engagement rumors, but a juicy tidbit just emerged about Kelce's concepts for a "unique" and deeply symbolic ring for the love of his life.

An insider told the Daily Mail that Kelce has been talking to family and friends about the possibility of harvesting diamonds from his two Super Bowl rings and incorporating them into bridal jewelry for Swift.

“He wants to make sure it isn’t something cheesy, but more unique and something that is a part of him that he shares with her to show that forever means forever,” the insider said.

Certainly, those Super Bowl rings would yield a bonanza of diamonds and rubies.



The Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII ring (awarded in 2023) contains 609 round diamonds, 16 baguette diamonds, four marquise diamonds and 35 custom-cut genuine rubies totaling approximately 16.10 carats.



The Super Bowl LIV ring (awarded in 2020) features 244 round diamonds, 9 baguette diamonds, two marquise diamonds, four baguette rubies and 32 custom-cut rubies for a total gem carat weight of 10.85 carats.

“Travis’ career is a major focus for the next several weeks," the insider said. "He has to get the job done. He wants another Super Bowl ring, but it is safe to say that there is room to think about Taylor."

The insider continued, "…he loves her and sees a future with her and has thought about what a ring for her would be like, as well.”

In addition to the notion of using Super Bowl gemstones in Swift's bridal rings, Kelce entertained the idea of incorporating a meaningful inscription, as well.

“He has thought of having a lyric or a quote engraved on the band that is special to both of them," the insider said.

Kelce and Swift, both 34, went public with their relationship in September of 2023, but they actually started seeing each other in July of 2023 after exchanging numbers during her Eras Tour stop in Kansas City.

Swift has been a fixture at Kansas City Chiefs' football games throughout the season, and she's been an enthusiastic fan. TV networks have acknowledged that Swift's interest in the NFL has boosted ratings — especially among younger women — and the Chiefs reported a 400% sales spike in Travis Kelce jerseys.

Credits: Taylor Swift photo by Paolo Villanueva from New York, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Travis Kelce image by Adam Schultz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Images of Super Bowl LIV and LVII rings courtesy of Jostens.

Sara Bareilles, who is best known for starring in and composing the original score for the Broadway hit Waitress, just added photographer and hand model to her list of credits as she presented to 850,000 Instagram followers a photo montage featuring her vintage diamond engagement ring.



Spoofing the not-so-subtle way future brides show off their rings on social media, the three-time Tony winner posed with her new bauble while holding random items, such as a pen, avocado, scissors and wine bottle. The singer-songwriter-actress described the carousel of pics as “hand holding things” taken by me.



Bareilles, who currently stars with her fiancé, Joe Tippett, in the film adaptation of Waitress, noted that her new ring not only replaces the simple placeholder she's been wearing for more than a year, but also represents a "leap of faith."

Tippett, 41, had proposed to the “Love Song” singer, 44, with a simple gold ring they purchased while on holiday south of the border. They settled on a basic ring because the task of choosing the perfect ring became overwhelming.

"We bought the gold leaf [ring] at an arts fair in Mexico City last December because looking for a ring started to feel like it was distorting and eclipsing the beauty of choosing each other," Bareilles wrote on Instagram.

In the Instagram post, she explained how their recent visit to an Upstate New York antique store yielded her forever ring.

As they shopped, Bareilles looked at tiny lamp shades while Tippett gravitated to a vintage ring featuring an unusual center diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds.

(A jewelry-industry insider told The Jeweler Blog that the center stone appears to be an "Old Euro," or European Cut, which is characterized by a high crown and small table. The insider added that the Old Euro predates the modern round brilliant-cut by 40 years.)

"It didn’t fit my finger so I was scared to take the leap," she wrote. "I had been thinking I should go get something custom or really hunt for the ‘right ring’ so I balked at it."

On the drive back home, Bareilles and Tippett discussed the real meaning behind an engagement ring.

"That it is something he wants to give me, not just get for me," she explained. "That the leap of faith of not quite knowing if it was ‘the one’ is just that. A leap of faith. And isn’t that life?"

Bareilles and Tippett went back for the vintage ring the next day.

"I look at this ring and think of his big blue eyes and how sometimes they are pleading with me to let go and grow into something new with him. So I did," she wrote.

Bareilles got the ring sized and wears it proudly, as her Instagram selfies can attest.

"Now I just love that I see him when I look at it. I like looking at you @joetipps,” she concluded.

Bareilles and Tippett have yet to announce any wedding plans.

The singer had previously told People magazine that she and her fiancé are torn between two wedding options. The first is going down to City Hall and "just do the thing." The second is to have a great party with friends and family.

"And so I don't know," she said. "We're still figuring it out.”

Credits: Images via Instagram / sarabareilles.

M&M's just released the teaser video of the "Almost Champions" TV spot that will air during the first quarter of Super Bowl LVIII on February 11 on CBS. In the lighthearted look at professional footballers who had stellar careers but never won a championship ring, M&M's steps in with a "Ring of Comfort" adorned with lab-grown diamonds derived from M&M's peanut butter.



The teaser spotlights the beloved M&M's characters providing comfort to three NFL Hall of Fame Legends who just missed earning a Super Bowl ring in their respective Big Game appearances – Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins, 1985), Terrell Owens (Philadelphia Eagles, 2005) and Bruce Smith (Buffalo Bills, 4 times, 1991-1994).



Designed to look like Super Bowl bling, the first-of-its kind Almost Champions ring is crafted in 14-karat gold and adorned with a diamond-encrusted replica of Mars' beloved M&M's Orange character. The character is holding a football and giving the peace sign while standing in cleats against a field of orange-red baguettes.



When the ring top is twisted open, a secret internal compartment reveals a mini replica of a football stadium designed to snugly house a single Peanut Butter M&M's candy.

The minute-long teaser video mimics the style of a blockbuster movie trailer.

"In a world where Super Bowl winners get the world's admiration and the fancy ring, but the runners-up get nothing, one retired quarterback returns to claim what's his," announces the Yellow M&Ms character in an exaggerated movie trailer voice. Shown on the screen is Marino, captioned as "The Almost Champion."

The video then transitions into the science of making lab-grown diamonds from carbon-based products. Under the title "Actual Science," a scientist in a white lab coat explains how M&M's peanut butter was heated to 3,000 degrees Centigrade, purifying it into graphite. The video speeds up to show flashes of images related to the diamond cutting and polishing process with the end result being a perfectly faceted diamond.

As Owens looks at a handful of diamonds held by the scientist all he can do is sigh as he is patted on the shoulder by the Green M&M's character.

Then Smith gets a look at the diamonds and laments, "Four times," referencing his four Super Bowl appearances without a win. The scientist responds, "I remember."



The closing scene shows Ms. Brown M&M's (yes, that's her official name) and Yellow M&M's looking at the Almost Champions ring on her big screen television.

"Wow, that was something," she says.

"The peanut butter M&M's?" asks the Yellow M&M's character. "Or my movie trailer voice?"

"The M&M's Super Bowl campaign highlights the essence of sportsmanship for me — celebrating all players for the endless, demanding effort they put into their craft while enjoying the fun of the game," noted Hall-of-Famer Marino.

"Historically only one team walks away with a championship ring," he continued, "but Mars' inclusive message to inspire moments of happiness and to bring fun to everyone on and off the field really resonated with me. Just like the game itself, stay tuned for the ad's full release as there are always some surprising twists."

Notes Mars in its press release, "At long last, Almost Champions everywhere can raise their glittering hands in triumph."

Check out the trailer here…



Images courtesy of Mars, Incorporated.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you classic chart toppers with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Gladys Knight & the Pips tell a story of unrequited love in their 1970 hit single, “If I Were Your Woman.”



In the song, the protagonist is a young woman whose love interest continues to give her the cold shoulder. His attention is focused on a rival, despite the fact that she treats him so poorly. Songwriters Gloria Jones, Pamela Joan Sawyer and Clay McMurray use a diamond vs. glass comparison to describe how the two women value the same man.

Knight sings, “She tears you down darlin’, says you’re nothing at all / But, I’ll pick you up darling, when she lets you fall / You’re like a diamond but she treats you like glass / Yet you beg her to love you, but, me you don’t ask.”

According to music trivia website Songfacts.com, the song came together while Jones and Sawyer were having a discussion about gender issues during the infancy of the Women’s Liberation Movement. They were looking to compose a piece about how women could be committed in their relationships while remaining strong and independent.

“If I Were Your Woman” appears as the first track from Gladys Knight & the Pips’ album of the same name. The single zoomed all the way to #1 on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart and peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The song has been covered by a number of top artists, including Stephanie Mills (1988) and Alicia Keys (2006). The Keys version received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Established in Atlanta as The Pips in 1952, the group led by founding member Gladys Knight topped the music charts for more than three decades. Gladys Knight & the Pips are multiple Grammy and American Music Award winners and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

The group disbanded in 1989, but Knight went on to a successful solo career. Also known as The Empress of Soul, Knight continues to maintain an active touring schedule at the age of 79.

Please check out Gladys Knight & the Pips performing “If I Were Your Woman” on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1971. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“If I Were Your Woman”
Written by Gloria Jones, Pamela Joan Sawyer and Clay McMurray. Performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips.

If I were your woman and you were my man,
you’d have no other woman, you’d be weak as a lamb.
If you had the strength to walk out that door,
My love would overrule my sense, and I’d call you back for more,
If I were your woman.
If I were your woman, and you were my man.

She tears you down darlin’, says you’re nothing at all.
But, I’ll pick you up darling, when she lets you fall.
You’re like a diamond but she treats you like glass.
Yet you beg her to love you, but, me you don’t ask.
If I were your woman, If I were your woman.
If I were your woman, here’s what I’d do,
I’d never, never, never stop loving you.

If I were your woman, here’s what I’d do,
I’d never, never, never stop loving you.
If I were your woman, the sweet lovin' woman
You'd need no other woman
If I were your woman, I'd be your only woman
You'd have no other woman

I'd never stop loving you…



Credit: Photo by Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Chewy, the online purveyor of pet supplies, is offering $1,000 eGift cards to 10 lucky couples who include their pets in their marriage proposal photos or videos.



At its official website, the company explains that pets are fur-children, first loves and sometimes "the favorite cuddle," but when its time to take the next steps in a romantic relationship, pets should be right there to share in the excitement.

The rules for the contest are simple. Couples planning to get married during 2024 or 2025 must tag their "pet-posal" photos or videos with @Chewy and use the hashtag #ChewyPetposals. The 10 best entries posted between January 10, 2024, and March 31, 2024, will win a $1,000 eGift card, and 100 couples will get a "special surprise gift."

Chewy explained that it really doesn't matter how the pet is framed in the photo.

"Whether it’s getting your pet’s permission, having them deliver the ring or even a photobomb happy accident, we’re here for it all," the Chewy website noted.

After popping the question, all attention shifts to the impending wedding, and according to a Chewy survey, 21% of married couples have included pets in their weddings.

Respondents said that their beloved pets were incorporated into the festivities in many ways, such as ring bearers (50%), flower girls (17%), page boys (13%). Pets were also included on wedding invitations and save-the-date cards, "first look" photos and cake toppers. Some couples even named a signature drink after their four-legged friends.

Notes Chewy on its website that it's no surprise that many couples want their pets to be a part of this major relationship milestone, especially when you consider these other survey stats...

95% believe their pet loves them unconditionally
93% are happier because of their pet
70% say they are obsessed with their pets

Credit: Photo by Katie Wallace on Unsplash