Anschar Diamonds Blog

Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson proposed to his model/influencer girlfriend Nicolette Dellanno on Italy's picturesque Amalfi Coast this past weekend. On Sunday, the pair turned to Instagram to share pics of their incomparable megawatt smiles and closeups of Dellanno's oval-cut diamond engagement ring.



The diamond appears to be prong-set on a delicate yellow gold band.

On her Instagram page, the 21-year-old Dellanno wrote, "Zach, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Everyday I admire your strength and I’m so incredibly proud of you. I’m so in love with you and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together, I love you." She punctuated the last sentence with a white heart emoji.



Wilson, 24, stepped out of his social media comfort zone (his previous post on Instagram was 102 weeks ago) by writing, "To the love of my life, I never truly understood what love was until I met you. You’re not just my partner, but my best friend and my everything. I can’t wait to make a lifetime of memories with you, Nic I love you." Wilson's emoji of choice was a red heart.



In pics shared to both of their Instagram pages, Dellanno is beaming as she proudly shows off her new bling. In another stunning photo, the couple poses on a terrace against the backdrop of the Amalfi Coast at night.

According to the New York Post, Wilson and Dellanno have been linked since 2022, when they were seen at a New York Yankees game in the Bronx. At the time, Wilson was playing for the New York Jets. The 2021 first-round pick in the NFL draft was traded to Denver in April of this year.

Wilson is reportedly "in the mix" to become the Broncos' starter this season.

Even though Wilson has, until recently, offered few glimpses of his personal life on his own social media, he has made numerous appearances on his fiancée's page. A few months ago, she shared posts of the couple enjoying a vacation on Lake Powell along the Utah/Arizona border.

Credits: Images via Instagram / nicolettedellanno.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. When The Chainsmokers and Coldplay released “Something Just Like This” in 2017, the lyric video set a YouTube record with more than 9 million views in 24 hours. To date, that video has been seen an astonishing 2.2 billion times.



“Something Just Like This” uses a precious metal reference to tell the story of a young man who discovers that he doesn’t have to possess superhuman qualities to get a shot at true love.

In the first verse, Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin compares himself to legendary heroes and faces the harsh reality that he doesn’t stack up.

He sings, “I’ve been reading books of old / The legends and the myths / Achilles and his gold / Hercules and his gifts / Spiderman’s control / And Batman with his fists / And clearly I don’t see myself upon that list.”

His level-headed girlfriend is far more realistic about what is really important in a relationship.

Martin sings her response: “I’m not looking for somebody / With some superhuman gifts / Some superhero / Some fairytale bliss / Just something I can turn to / Somebody I can kiss / I want something just like this.”

Written by members of both The Chainsmokers and Coldplay, “Something Just Like This” became an international sensation when it hit the airwaves in February of 2017. The song charted in 39 countries, and topped out at #3 spot on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100 lists and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018.

Andrew Taggart of The Chainsmokers told New Musical Express (NME) how the song came together during a studio session.

“We found some chords that everyone loved and then Chris plugged a mic into the PA in the studio and free-styled for an hour. This song was the result,” Taggart said. “We’ve never seen a song written in such a stream of conscious. It’s hard to maintain your identity when working with such an established artist, but we feel this song is a great balance between both us and Coldplay.”

The song was released by both bands. It was the second single from The Chainsmokers’ debut album Memories… Do Not Open. A live version, recorded in Tokyo, appeared as the first single from Coldplay’s Kaleidoscope EP.

The Chainsmokers and Coldplay dazzled the audience of the 2017 BRIT Awards with a remarkable live rendition of “Something Just Like This.” The video of that performance has earned more than 120 million views on YouTube and can be seen below. Here are the lyrics if you’d like to sing along…

“Something Just Like This”
Written by Andrew Taggart, Guy Berryman, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion. Performed by The Chainsmokers & Coldplay.

I’ve been reading books of old
The legends and the myths
Achilles and his gold
Hercules and his gifts
Spiderman’s control
And Batman with his fists
And clearly I don’t see myself upon that list

But she said, where’d you wanna go?
How much you wanna risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairytale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can kiss

I want something just like this
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Oh, I want something just like this
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo
Oh, I want something just like this
I want something just like this

I’ve been reading books of old
The legends and the myths
The testaments they told
The moon and its eclipse
And Superman unrolls
A suit before he lifts
But I’m not the kind of person that it fits

She said, where’d you wanna go?
How much you wanna risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairytale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can miss

I want something just like this
I want something just like this

Oh, I want something just like this
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo,
Oh, I want something just like this
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo

Where’d you wanna go?
How much you wanna risk?
I’m not looking for somebody
With some superhuman gifts
Some superhero
Some fairytale bliss
Just something I can turn to
Somebody I can kiss
I want something just like this

Oh, I want something just like this
Oh, I want something just like this
Oh, I want something just like this



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube / The Chainsmokers.

A silver pocket watch that accompanied Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at the Battle of San Juan Hill in 1898 was recently returned to the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site on Long Island after it went missing for 37 years.



A gift from his youngest sister, Corinne, and brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, the 17-jewel Waltham watch with a hunter-style case was one of the former president's most precious possessions.



Roosevelt received the watch just before he was deployed to Cuba as a Lt. Colonel in the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish-American War. The inscription reads: "THEODORE ROOSEVELT FROM D.R. & C.R.R."

On May 5, 1898, President Roosevelt wrote this thank-you note to his sister: “Darling Corinne, You could not have given me a more useful present than the watch; it was exactly what I wished…Thank old Douglas for the watch – and for his many, many kindnesses.”



In addition to enduring his famous charge up San Juan Hill, the future president would take this watch with him on other well chronicled adventures, including hunting wild game in Africa and exploring the Amazon in South America.



In his 1914 book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, the former president mentions the watch in a passage about a particularly difficult bayou crossing: "One result of the swim, by the way, was that my watch, a veteran of Cuba and Africa, came to an indignant halt.”

According to the National Park Service (NPS), the valued watch "would travel with him, be damaged, repaired, and kept as a keepsake. It is likely to have accompanied Theodore Roosevelt for significant portions of his presidency, including his two inaugurations."

After Roosevelt died in 1919, the watch became a family heirloom, but was eventually donated in 1963 to the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (the 26th president's former home) in Oyster Bay, NY.

The watch resided at Sagamore Hill until 1971, when it was lent to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, NY. Originally called the Ansley Wilcox House, this is where then-Vice President Roosevelt took the oath of office after the assassination of President William McKinley on September 14, 1901.

In 1987, the watch went missing from the Buffalo historic site and there were no signs of it for the next 36 years. Then, in 2023, the watch turned up at a Florida auction house.

According to an FBI press release, the auctioneer realized that the watch may have belonged to Roosevelt, so he contacted the historic sites in Oyster Bay and Buffalo. Both confirmed the authenticity of the watch.

NPS, the lead investigative agency, contacted the FBI Art Crime team for additional assistance. Both the NPS and FBI confirmed that this was the watch stolen almost 40 years earlier.

"This watch was a fairly pedestrian Waltham 17-jewel watch with an inexpensive coin silver case. It's a 'Riverside' grade and model '1888' with a hunter-style case, meaning it has a lid on either side which fold and encase the dial and the movement," said Special Agent Robert Giczy, a member of the FBI Art Crime Team.

Roosevelt’s watch was returned to Sagamore Hill National Historic Site during a repatriation ceremony on June 27. Representatives from the NPS and the FBI attended.

“It is an honor to have a role in preserving American history for current and future generations to learn from,” NPS Director Chuck Sams said. “Recovering and returning this remarkable piece of presidential history, a cherished personal item of President Theodore Roosevelt, to its rightful home here at Sagamore Hill reflects the dedication and hard work of NPS and partners in the spirit of preservation.”

The watch is currently featured in an exclusive exhibit at the Old Orchard Museum, part of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, and is available for free public viewing over the next three months.

Credits: Watch images courtesy of the National Park Service. Rough Riders image by Photographer: William Dinwiddie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In honor of July’s official birthstone, we present the bizarre story of the “Timur Ruby,” one of the world’s largest and most historic “rubies.” We use the word "rubies" in quotes, because the massive unfaceted 352.5-carat gem, which resides among the British Crown Jewels, was exposed in 1851 as a red spinel.



The Timur Ruby gets its name from Timur, the ruthless 14th century Turco-Mongol conqueror, who founded the Timurid Empire. Hailing from what is now Uzbekistan, Timur’s military conquests were vast, spanning from Mongolia in the east and the Mediterranean in the west, to India in the south and Russia in the north.



After successfully capturing Delhi in 1398, Timur left India six months later weighed down with a bounty of jewelry and gemstones. One of those stones was the Timur Ruby.



The unfaceted stone has a semi-polished flat face that is inscribed in Arabic script with the names of four Mughal emperors and two Persian rulers who possessed the stone. The inscriptions are dated between 1612 and 1771.



In 1841 or 1842, the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Sher Singh, sat for a portrait wearing the Timur Ruby around his neck. Gracing his biceps were two massive and equally famous diamonds: the 186-carat Koh-i-Noor and the 182-carat Daria-i-Noor, both set within a golden armlet. (Singh met his untimely death in 1843 at the age of 43).



In 1849, when the British East India Company took over the Punjab region (which is now eastern Pakistan and northern India), it also confiscated the Timur Ruby and the massive diamonds from ruler Ranjit Singh.

The East India Company presented the Timur Ruby to Queen Victoria in 1851. The Queen was so excited about the gift that she wrote the following in her journal: “The [Timur Ruby] is the largest in the world, therefore even more remarkable than the Koh-i-Noor!”

Later that same year, advancements in gemology and mineralogy led to the determination that the “largest ruby in the world” was actually a big spinel.

Nevertheless, Garrards, the British crown jeweler, set the Timur Ruby in an Oriental-inspired necklace in April 1853. Two months later, the jeweler adjusted the necklace to allow the Timur Ruby to be detached for use as a brooch and to alternate with the recently re-cut Koh-i-Noor diamond.

Today, the Timur Ruby resides among the priceless British Crown Jewels, but has never been worn by a British Royal. Some speculate that members of the monarchy were hesitant to wear the necklace for fear of backlash from critics, who see the piece as historically Indian.

Gemologists know now that it’s virtually impossible for a ruby to be 350-plus carats. They understand that chromium atoms incorporated in a ruby’s aluminum oxide crystal give the gem its rich, red color. They also acknowledge that the chromium so vital to the ruby’s beauty is also responsible for causing fissures in the crystal, making rubies larger than 3 carats in size extremely rare and very valuable.

Credit: Painting of Maharaja Sher Singh by August Schoefft, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of Timur sculpture by user:shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A playful and picturesque beachside proposal took a terrible turn for the worse when the groom-to-be scooped up his new fiancée, tossed her over his shoulder and marched her into the surf — only to have her lose her brand new engagement ring.



It's a jewelry-industry truism that the exchange of diamond jewelry should never take place in or around large bodies of water.

Unfortunately, 24-year-old Katie Nicholson (a fitness influencer known as Beast Barbie) and her now-fiancé Steven Frank had to learn this the hard way.

In social media posts that have been viewed more than a half million times, Nicolson described a proposal that quickly transitioned from elation to desperation.

Frank, who owns Beast Elite Training in Bedford, IN, was enjoying the Fourth of July holiday weekend with Nicholson at an ocean beach when he got down on one knee and surprised his girlfriend with a princess-cut diamond engagement ring. She said, "Yes," to Frank's proposal and the couple embraced.



Outfitted in a white sundress, Nicolson proudly showed off the ring in a photo shared on her TikTok and Instagram pages.



But then Frank, dressed in beige slacks and a white dress shirt, took Nicholson for an unscripted dip in the ocean. They disappeared under the waves, and when they emerged, Nicholson noticed that her ring was gone.



"Wait the ring," she titled one of the photos showing her and her fiancé digging through the sand in a hopeless attempt to retrieve the ring in knee-deep water.



The next photo shows how the scene has grown more intense as many passersby join to help in the search.

"There's no way we're finding it," read her next caption. "It’s in the OCEAN.”



But in the final frame, Nicholson reveals that the ring was found by one of the Good Samaritans. She simply calls him "Miracle Guy."

"& now we have the craziest engagement story to tell," Nicholson wrote in a social media post punctuated by a Grinning Face With Sweat emoji, a Grinning Face with Tears of Joy emoji and a Loudly Crying Face emoji. "This was quite the emotional roller coaster but I think we’re meant to be together."

On Instagram, she wrote, "My forever. How lucky am I to get to spend it with my best friend & the most amazing man. I’m so excited for this next chapter with you."

Credits: Screen captures via Instagram / beastbarbie_ and stevenfrank3_.

Newly engaged General Hospital star Kate Mansi was a bit miffed when her "official" announcement pic turned out to be a semi-unflattering selfie showing her squinting at the camera while chomping on a burrito. On the flip side, her emerald-cut diamond engagement ring looked great.



Producer Matt McInnis, 40, proposed to Mansi, 36, on July 3, during an Independence Week excursion to a cabin retreat framed by sky-high trees and spectacular mountains.



One day later, McInnis posted a pic of the couple on his Instagram page with the caption, "Apparently today is a holiday, but I think July 3rd was even better."

Manci commented on McInnis's post "LGM(atty)."



Eagle-eyed editors at etonline.com, noticed a sparkle on the ring finger of Mansi's left hand and started digging. What they came upon was a photo on Mansi's Instagram Story showing her enjoying a hefty burrito. The photo was captioned, "LGM(atty)."

Apparently the etonline.com editors interpreted LGM to mean "Let's Get Married" and ran with the story of their engagement.

Soon after, Mansi reposted the burrito pic to her Instagram timeline with a proper explanation. Apparently, she and her new fiancé are baseball fans…

"Never did I expect this to be the official photo of our announcement, but here we are. (And LGM = Let’s Go Mets. But… semantics)."



On the same day, Manci shared on Instagram a series of more appropriate announcement photos, simply captioned: "7.3.24."

The first of the group shows Manci snuggled in her fiancé's embrace, with the ring clearly visible as she puts her hand on his chest.



A second shot shows Manci's type-written letter "to the love of my life" with her left hand resting on the page and her emerald-cut diamond set on a simple white-metal band clearly in view.

Mansi currently portrays Kristina Davis on General Hospital. Prior to that, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her role as Abigail Deveraux on Days of Our Lives.

McInnis is a film and television producer who is best known for his work on Marvel-themed projects, such as Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Helstrom.

Credits: Photos via Instagram / katemansi, Instagram / matt_mcinnis.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you nostalgic tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Dion helps us celebrate July’s official birthstone with his 1963 hit, “Ruby Baby.”



In this song of unrequited love, Dion croons about a girl who may be out of his league. He sings, “I got a girl and Ruby is her name / She don’t love me, but I love her just the same / Ruby Ruby how I want you / Like a ghost I’m gonna haunt you / Ruby Ruby when will you be mine?”

Written by the powerhouse hitmakers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, “Ruby Baby” ranks a close second to the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday” on our unofficial list of the most famous “ruby” songs of all time.

“Ruby Baby” was originally recorded in 1956 by The Drifters, who watched it rise to #10 on the R&B charts. But when Dion released his version in 1963 it zoomed to #2 on the broad-based US Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained in the Top 40 for 11 weeks. The song brought Dion worldwide fame.

Some of Dion's most popular songs include "A Teenager in Love" (1959), "Lovers Who Wander" (1959), "Runaround Sue" (1961) and "The Wanderer" (1961).

Dion DiMucci, who will celebrate his 85th birthday next week, launched his career as the frontman for Dion and the Belmonts in the late 1950s. The group’s name was derived from the fact that the four singers all lived on or near Belmont Avenue in the Bronx, NY.

Dion would go on to have a successful solo career that has transformed him from a handsome teen idol to a widely respected grandfather of Rock & Roll. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

We hope you enjoy this classic clip of Dion performing “Ruby Baby.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Ruby Baby”
Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Performed by Dion and The Belmonts.

I love a girl and Ruby is her name
She don’t love me, but I love her just the same
Ruby Ruby how I want you
Like a ghost I’m gonna haunt you
Ruby Ruby when will you be mine?

Each time I see you baby my heart cries
I’m gonna steal you away from all those guys
From the happy day I met you
Made a bet that I would get you
Ruby Ruby Ruby when will you be mine?

I love a girl and Ruby is her name
When this girl looks at me she sets my soul aflame
Got some hugs and kisses too
Gonna give them all to you
Ruby Ruby when will you be mine?
Gonna get you sometime

Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby will you be mine?
Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby girl you're so fine?
Ruby Baby you know I love ya
I'm gonna get you by the stars above you
Ruby Ruby when will you be mine?
When will you be mine?



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / EWTN.

An Ontario couple recently sought the help of CTV News Toronto after a $4,000 diamond engagement ring they purchased in February at a jewelry store in Cancun, Mexico, turned out to be a $50 fake.



The woman, who requested to be identified in a CTV News Toronto report under the pseudonym "May" because she was so embarrassed to have been caught in a fake diamond scam, said that she was "devastated" and "sickened" when, upon returning home, a certified appraiser told her the diamond wasn't real.

What was more appalling is that the jewelry store behind the scam was "highly recommended" by their tour guide.

"'They are perfect, you won't get scammed.' I remember them saying that specifically," she told CTV News Toronto.

The Cancun jeweler promised to forward to the couple via email all the documentation regarding the diamond's characteristics, including cut, clarity, carat weight and color. That never happened.

When the couple tried to have the charged reversed via their credit card provider, the company agreed to refund to the card, but then sided with the jeweler after the merchant complained.

The couple learned that they were on the hook for the full purchase price of $4,176.

"This was something that should have been a spur-of-the-moment, a beautiful moment, but turned into a headache for the last couple of months," May told CTV News Toronto.

The bottom line is that couples should avoid getting caught up in the moment. An engagement ring purchase has to be a clear-headed decision.

"You go down there, you're having a good time, and the salespeople just tell you what you want to hear," Steven Knight, a spokesperson with the Canadian Jewellers Association (CJA) told CTV News Toronto. "They're happy to take your money."

He also noted that consumers who buy abroad have limited protection if something goes wrong.

"You actually are gambling because there is no way you know what you are getting, and you're taking a chance spending that kind of money," said Knight.

CTV's Consumer Alert reporter Pat Foran reached out to the credit card company on the couple's behalf. A spokesperson for the card company told the reporter that the investigation was ongoing and a favorable decision already had been granted to the couple.

In a column called "The Smart Traveler’s Guide to Buying Jewelry on Vacation," Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company offered a number of helpful tips.

Check Up on the Business. Do your homework by checking the jeweler's website, social media pages and reviews. Check message boards for any signs of deceit.

Stick With Well-Known Brands. And pay a price that you would normally expect from that brand. If a store claims to be able to sell you a high-end luxury watch for a fraction of its value, it’s likely a knock-off. After all, these stores are looking for a profit, and it’s unlikely they were able to obtain the merchandise at such a deep discount.

Read the Return Policy. Make sure you’re able to return the item with no conditions.
Read all the fine print on the back of the receipt to make sure you’re not signing any type of “sales contract.” The American Society of Appraisers found that despite “guarantees” of a full refund if the item appraises for less than you paid, the fine print often lists tight conditions. For example: “No return for diamonds unless they grade at least 2 color grades different.” Says Jewelers Mutual, "No well-respected jewelry store needs a condition like that."

Beware of Import Taxes. Make sure to factor in any potential import taxes before you decide your jewelry shopping budget. You can check the latest US tariff data using their Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb. Canadian tariff info is here... 

Pay with a Credit Card. As with all major purchases, having an electronic record will make it much easier to dispute any issues or return the item. Take advantage of this protection.

Experienced travelers know that unless you are a gemologist, or very knowledgeable about jewelry pricing, you're better off buying your fine jewelry at home from a reputable jeweler.

These same experienced travelers do acknowledge, however, that they will buy costume jewelry and handmade artisan pieces abroad.

For example, user 1025cruise on the cruisecritic.com message board commented, "Now, if you wanted to buy something unique, go for it. I've bought my wife jewelry in Bermuda from a shop in the mall there that looked nice, and wasn't priced too bad. I've also gotten her something in Cozumel, but it wasn't expensive at all and was something that really could only be gotten there (black coral)."

Credit: Image by Bigstockphoto.com.

The second-largest piece of the moon on Earth — an irregularly shaped blackish-brown specimen weighing about 94 pounds (42.7 kg) and similar in size to a rugby ball — is now part of a special exhibit at Portland International Jetport in Maine.



The display titled "Fly Me to the Moon" also features one of the largest pieces of Mars on Earth, samples of the most beautiful extraterrestrial substance yet discovered and an iconic Gibeon meteorite celebrated for its striking resemblance to Edvard Munch’s painting, “The Scream.”

All the specimens are on loan from the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum (MMGM), which is located in Bethel, about 70 miles north of the jetport. The special exhibit is set to run for five years.



According to Darryl Pitt, a consultant to the mineral museum and a meteorite dealer, the chunk of moon was found in Libya in 2021, and was likely blasted to the Earth when an asteroid struck the moon. No one really knows for sure when it fell to Earth.

“We are thrilled to have ‘Fly Me to The Moon’ at the jetport,” said Airport Director Paul Bradbury. “We love celebrating unique aspects of Maine and the MMGM is certainly among them.” The Jetport services more than 2.2 million passengers per year.

The name of the exhibit pays homage to Frank Sinatra's classic 1964 hit, which was often associated with the Apollo missions to the moon.

“This exhibit will be full of beautiful examples of meteorite specimens from the moon, Mars and the asteroid 4 Vesta," noted Dr. Cari Ciorrigan, the Curator of Meteorites at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. "Having all of these samples on exhibit together in an airport, free of charge to the public, is an amazing educational and inspirational opportunity for those lucky enough to fly through Portland!”

Nestled in the picture-postcard town of Bethel, MMGM is a world-class museum and education facility featuring 40,000 gems and minerals, 6,000 meteorites, a library of 10,000 volumes and 17 interactive exhibits that present Maine minerals and gems in the context of local mining history and Maine’s geology. The 15,000-square-foot museum opened its doors to the public for the first time in December of 2019.

Credit: Photo by Scott Hight, courtesy of Maine Mineral & Gem Museum.

World-class sprinters Xavier Worthy and Tia Jones, both clad in white and wearing sandals, held hands while relishing a slow, sandy walk toward the beachfront. This is where Worthy had prepared a candle-lit rose-petal pathway leading to a mammoth red-rose wreath flanked by free-standing white block letters spelling out "Marry Me." 



Worthy, a first-round draft pick of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, got down on one knee and proposed to the track and field star with a stunning emerald-cut diamond set on a diamond-studded white metal band. Jones said, "Yes."



It was designed by Houston-based Leo Khusro, whose client base includes many NFL stars.



The romantic scene was documented as a video on the couple's shared Instagram page. The simple caption read, "The Worthy’s," punctuated by two emojis, a diamond ring and red rose. Jones made sure to show off her ring throughout the 60-second Reel.



Worthy and Jones could become the fastest couple to ever tie the knot. A wide receiver, Worthy recently set a record for the fasted 40-yard dash (4.21 seconds) in NFL Combine history. Back in February, Jones matched the indoor 60-meter hurdles world record of 7.67 seconds at the USATF Indoor Championships.



Jones sustained an ACL injury later in that USAFT meet and was still recovering when she just missed qualifying for the US Olympic Team, which will be competing in Paris later this month.

Still, it's been a whirlwind of excitement for the couple. Only a few weeks ago, they announced on Instagram that they had purchased a home together.

"We are home owners," wrote Jones. "Super blessed to be able to experience buying a home with the person you love!! Nothing more important than family and building a foundation!"

In early June, Worthy signed a four-year rookie contract worth $13.8 million.

Credits: Screen captures via Instagram / Xavierandtiaa.

Gold prices surged to an all-time high of $2,482 per ounce yesterday, sparked by expectations of a Fed interest-rate cut in September. Yesterday's record price is nearly 29% higher than a year ago ($1,926) and almost 72% higher than five years ago ($1,446).



With gold experiencing an astonishing ascent, let's take a look at the US facilities that secure the largest reserves of gold bullion.



The US Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, KY, secures about half of the US Treasury's gold reserves. Holdings amount to 147.3 million ounces (4,176 metric tons), and it's believed that Fort Knox houses 2.3% of all the gold ever refined in the world.

Located on the site of a military base that dates back to 1918, the Depository commenced operations in 1937 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed controversial legislation that prohibited the private ownership of gold. US citizens were compelled to sell their gold bullion back to the government. This legislation effectively bolstered the value of the US's reserve of the yellow precious metal by $8 billion.

The granite-lined vault at Fort Knox gained fame as one of the most secure places on Earth. The main vault door reportedly weighs 20 tons and is 21 inches thick. The robust 1930s construction was designed to withstand an aerial bombing.

Fort Knox has never had a security breach, unless you count the efforts of tycoon Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond thriller, Goldfinger (1964). In the film, the villain hatches a plan to increase the value of his own gold holdings by raiding the Depository and contaminating the US bullion supply.

The US Mint also stores gold in five other secured facilities, with the largest operating in West Point (54.1 million ounces) and Denver (43.8 million ounces).



About 800 miles east of Fort Knox, the basement of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Lower Manhattan houses 507,000 gold bars weighing 6,331 metric tons and valued at more than $200 billion.



Located five stories below street level at 33 Liberty Street, the vault is so heavy it relies on the bedrock of Manhattan Island to hold its weight. The bedrock is 80 feet below street level and 50 feet below sea level.

The major difference between the Fort Knox and New York City facilities is that 95% of the Federal Reserve Bank's holdings in New York is gold owned by foreign governments and international investors.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's official website, much of the gold currently in the vault arrived during and after World War II as many countries wanted to store their gold reserves in a safe location. The bank is currently celebrating its 100th birthday.

Trivia: Not all gold bars are created equal. Bars cast in the US prior to 1986 were generally rectangular bricks. After that year, the US conformed to a long-standing international standard, which required a trapezoidal shape. The size of a standard gold bar is 7 inches long, 3 5/8 inches wide and 1 3/4 inches thick. The weight of a standard gold bar is 400 troy ounces or 27.5 pounds.

Credits: Gold bars photo by Stevebidmead, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Fort Knox photo by Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Federal Reserve Bank of New York building photo by Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Gold vault photo by Federal Reserve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town demands an engagement ring and a walk down the aisle in the high-energy 2010 country hit, “Little White Church.”



Fairchild portrays a young woman who is fed up with her boyfriend — a “charming devil” with a “silver tongue.” He’s been skirting a marriage commitment for far too long, and now Fairchild needs to lay down the law. From here forward, he won’t be riding this “gravy train” until he buys her a shiny ring and takes her down to the little white church.

She sings, “You’ve been singing that same old song / Far too long, far too long / Say you’ll buy me a shiny ring / But your words don’t mean a thing.”

Co-written by Little Big Town band members Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet, along with Nashville-based songwriter Wayne Kirkpatric, “Little White Church” was inspired by a phrase jotted down in Fairchild’s notebook.

Sweet told songfacts.com that a writing session turned into an avalanche of creativity when they started working on “Little White Church.”

“And it came together pretty fast,” Sweet said. “Karen had the idea written in her book… because you drive around [Franklin] Tennessee and you see all these beautiful, quaint, picturesque, little white churches all over the place.”

Fairchild wanted the song to incorporate a bluegrass-inspired musical form called “call and response,” which can be heard in the rousing “take me down, take me down” chorus.

"It sounds and feels like we had fun, because we did," Sweet said.

“Little White Church” was the lead single from Little Big Town’s album The Reason Why. The song climbed to #6 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and had crossover success on the US Billboard Hot 100, topping out at #59.

Founded in 1998 in Homewood, AL, Little Big Town has earned three Grammy Awards out of 15 nominations. The group is credited with 24 singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, including two #1s and six others in the Top 10.

Little Big Town is on the road through mid-December with stops in the US, UK, Switzerland and Scotland.

Check out the group's performance of "Little White Church" live at CMT's Summer Camp in 2022. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Little White Church”
Written by Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Performed by Little Big Town.

You’ve been singing that same old song
Far too long, far too long
Say you’ll buy me a shiny ring
But your words don’t mean a thing
No more calling me baby
No more loving like crazy

Till you take me down (take me down)
You better take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down (take me down) take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down

You can’t ride this gravy train
Anymore, anyway
There’s a price for keeping me
Well, I ain't cheap and I ain’t free
No more calling me baby
No more loving like crazy

Till you take me down (take me down)
You better take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down (take me down) take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down

Come on

Charming devil, silver tongue
Had your fun, but now you’re done
Mama warned me ’bout your game
She don’t like you anyway

No more calling me baby
No more lovin' like crazy
No more chicken and gravy
Ain’t gonna have your baby

Till you take me down (take me down)
You better take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down (take me down)
You better take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down to the little white church (take me down)
Take me down (take me down to the little white church)
Take me down (take me down)
You better take me down (you better take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down (take me down)
You better take me down (take me down)
Take me down to the little white church
Take me down to the little white church, take me down to the little white church



Credits: Photo by Eagledj, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

About 150 million miles away on the surface of Mars, NASA's one-ton Curiosity rover accidentally rolled over the top of a nondescript white rock, busting it apart to reveal the beautiful yellowish-green crystals of pure sulfur that were inside.



While NASA scientists had long known about the presence of opal on the Red Planet, the discovery of elemental sulfur was a complete surprise.

“I think it’s the strangest find of the whole mission and the most unexpected,” Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told CNN. “I have to say, there’s a lot of luck involved here. Not every rock has something interesting inside.”

The discovery took place on June 7, the 4,208th Martian day of Curiosity's mission, which began in August of 2012. After accidentally smashing the rock, the rover used an instrument on the end of its robotic arm, called the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, to determine its composition.

Vasavada described the Martin pure sulfur crystals as having a “beautiful, translucent and crystalline texture.”



The most beautiful specimens of sulfur crystals on Earth have a bright yellow appearance, similar to citrine. The major difference is that citrine has a rating of 7 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness and sulfur rates a relatively soft 2.5. Sulfur is similar in hardness to a cultured pearl and can be scratched with a fingernail.

If you believe that Martians may have once inhabited the fourth planet from the Sun, it's unlikely they were making their sulfur crystals into jewelry. The material is extremely brittle and difficult to facet. What's more, when moisture (even perspiration) or heat is applied to the stone, it smells nasty — like rotten eggs.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that the collection of fragments from the smashed rock measured about 5 inches (13cm) across. They hadn't expected pure sulfur to be present on the planet and now they are trying to decipher how sulfur contributed to Mars' evolution.

“No one had pure sulfur on their bingo card,” Vasavada told CNN.

On Earth, sulfur occurs naturally in the environment and is the fifth most abundant element by mass. Pure sulfur is often connected with volcanic activity.

Back in January of 2023, a research team analyzing archived data from NASA’s Curiosity rover identified a “halo” of networks along the Martian landscape that are likely rich in opal. Since the iridescent gem is formed from water and silica, the findings provided additional evidence that the Red Planet had a watery past that could have supported microbial life.

Credits: Mars sulfur crystals image by NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Sulfur crystal photo by Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons..

In 1885, Russian Tsar Alexander III commissioned the House of Fabergé to create a fabulous Easter egg for his wife, the Empress Maria Feodorovna. The Tsar was so pleased with the result that he decided to establish a tradition that would last 33 years. Over that time, designer and master goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé would create 52 eggs. He was given complete freedom to design the Imperial Easter eggs, under one stipulation. Each one had to contain a surprise.



In the spirit of Peter Carl, the Fabergé brand and gemstone miner Gemfields have collaborated on the latest Fabergé egg, a ruby-themed masterpiece released in July as a nod to the month for which ruby is the official birthstone. And like all the Fabergé eggs that came before, this one has a surprise hidden within — a fiery, deep red, 5-carat Gemfields Mozambican ruby.



As the pearl-embellished ring at the base of the egg is turned counter-clockwise, the five blades of the egg slowly unfurl, resembling the wings of an angel. This design element inspired the egg's name: "Malaika," which means angel in Swahili, one of the languages spoken in Mozambique.



Caressed within the angel wings is a removable rose gold filigree-like sphere on which the 5-carat ruby treasure is mounted. Carefully placed gaps within the design of the outer egg allows one to catch a glimpse of the surprise nestled within.

Elena Basaglia, Gemfields’ Head of Partnerships and Product – Downstream, described the shape of the ruby as a square cushion with softly bowed sides, offering an ideal window to enjoy the vibrant red body color and lively reflections within.

"The large spread of the gemstone means that no weight is hidden below the setting line, allowing maximum appreciation of its beauty," she said. "No visible inclusions are present within the gemstone, making it a deserving piece for this special egg.”

The luxurious piece features 308 rubies sourced at Gemfields' Montepuez mine, as well as 4,312 round brilliant-cut white diamonds, 252 round brilliant-cut brown diamonds, 421 round pink sapphires and 61 amethysts, all set in 18-karat rose gold. Peter Carl pioneered the use of rose gold, and the company that bears his name continues that tradition today.

The precious gemstones interplay with colorful guilloché enameling, an ancient and highly complex technique perfected by Peter Carl. Fabergé's UK-based craftspeople followed the same process of hand-painting the enameling powder onto the gold sections. It takes at least three layers and five firings in a kiln at 800 degrees centigrade to create the desired translucent effect, according to the company. A few seconds too long in the kiln and the piece would have to be re-started from scratch.

The Malaika Egg is valued at $1.2 million, with Fabergé pledging $100,000 from the sale to the Gemfields Foundation, which funds poverty-alleviating projects in communities near Gemfields’ mines in Mozambique and Zambia, and more widely in sub-Saharan Africa. Gemfields acquired the Faberge brand in 2013.

Credits: Images courtesy of Gemfields.

A mother-daughter duo sauntering through London's Crystal Palace Park during an outdoor taping of BBC's Antiques Roadshow were shocked to learn that a diamond ring they found stashed in "mum's" sock drawer was a 4-carat, platinum-set treasure worth £20,000 ($25,800).



The mom and daughter hadn't intended to get the ring appraised that day, but there was no queue to meet with fine jewelry consultant Joanne Hardy so they decided to give it a go.



The mom explained to Hardy that she and her daughter had been helping out her "mum" clear out some old items when they happened upon the ring that had been balled up in a sock and hidden in a sock drawer.

“No! I don’t believe that," Hardy exclaimed. "And it could have gone in the washing machine."

The guest added, "We could have just bundled everything up.”



“Given it to the charity maybe," Hardy said. "Oh my goodness!”

“When I said, ‘Mum, is this your ring?’ she said, ‘Oh yes I kept it in there so I didn’t lose it.’”

The mom said she was pretty sure it was given to her mum by her late grandfather.

After inspecting the ring, Hardy reported to the guests that the ring dates back to about 1915 and was crafted in platinum.

“It is absolutely superb," she said, adding that the diamond predates the modern brilliant cut.

"It is what we call a transitional cut," she said. "It’s [has] a soft, really soft look about it. You’ve got the facets, but nothing's sharp. The modern brilliant cut, to me, is quite brash, but this has such an air of sophistication."



Hardy said the diamond weighed nearly 4 carats and displayed fine clarity, except for a tiny natural flaw on the side. She showed the guests that one of the prongs was damaged and needed to be re-tipped.

“There’s one claw there that has come adrift,” Hardy joked.

Then the mother-daughter duo learned that if they were to sell the ring at auction, it would fetch about £20,000.

“Wow. Oh gosh. Oooh," the mom said.

“I won’t be taking it off my finger,” added the daughter.

Then the mom realized that they had work to do: “We'd better get that claw fixed quickly. Wow. Wow.”

“It is such a stunning, stunning ring," Hardy added. "It’s absolutely lovely."

Credits: Antiques Roadshow screen captures via BBC.co.uk.

If your travels take you through southern New England this summer, be sure to stop into the Yale Peabody Museum, which officially reopened its Halls of Minerals, Earth, and Space to the public earlier this month. Within the museum, the celebrated David Friend Hall showcases one of the world's foremost collections of minerals. More than 170 specimens — some of them the largest and rarest of their kind — are now on view in the stunning and newly renovated galleries.



“I envisioned a mineral gallery for Yale designed to inspire rather than lecture," noted philanthropist David Friend. "So, we chose specimens that are jaw-droppingly beautiful. The room is subtly lit so that the specimens themselves shine, and there is a minimum of descriptive labelling. I want visitors to leave this hall overwhelmed by the beauty of what they have seen and anxious to go home and learn more, or even start collecting minerals themselves.”

David Friend Hall draws on some of the most significant private mineral collections in the United States. A 436-pound stibnite specimen donated by Robert Lavinsky, presented in a "frozen fireworks display," greets visitors as they enter the Hall. Once inside, visitors immediately view a giant 1,900-pound quartz crystal from Namibia and an enormous quartz sandstone concretion (photo, above).

The gallery integrates both free-standing, large-scale minerals with small-scale specimens in dynamic visual displays that are designed to rotate often. Customized cases and new, state-of-the art LED lighting, showcase the uniqueness of each specimen and its natural — often otherworldly — beauty.

The museum's current building, which dates back to 1925 and was named for international financier George Peabody, houses one of the nation's oldest collections of gems and minerals and the oldest meteorite collection in North America, approaching 100,000 mineral specimens and over 3,000 meteorites.

Among the many donors and lenders who contributed to the project, the Yampol Family and The Mineral Trust loaned more than 200 specimens to the museum. A highlight of their contribution is "The Rocket," the largest elbaite specimen recovered from a legendary Brazilian mine.

The Yale Peabody Museum and David Friend Hall are located on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, CT. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Credit: Photo by Andrew Melien, courtesy of the Yale Peabody Museum.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, former Tremolo frontman Justin Dillon sings about a cherished piece of jewelry in the group’s 2005 release, “Promise Ring.”



Dillon believes that beyond being a symbol of the bond between him and his girlfriend, the promise ring will protect them from “the bitter tide.”

He sings, “Long ago, I drew a line into the sand / Jumped across and held your hand / Band of gold protect us from the bitter tide / That comes to wash away our words with time / Hello you, Hello me / Hello hello, can’t you see / Love is more than what it seems / So I wear your promise ring.”

“Promise Ring” is the fifth track from the San Francisco-based band’s first full-length album, Love Is The Greatest Revenge. The album is a collection of songs written and recorded by the band during 2003 and 2004.

Trivia: An early demo version of “Promise Ring” was used in the 2003 Mandy Moore flick, How to Deal.

When the album came out in August of 2005, Tremolo announced that 50% of its profits would be dedicated to the “Love>Revenge Fund” — a fund that allowed fans to determine which organizations would benefit. At the time, the fund’s website described Tremolo’s debut album as “an auto-biographical social commentating post-deconstructionist protest record” that asks “what if love was the greatest revenge and music could change the world?”

In an interview with last.fm, Dillon described Tremolo’s music as “one hand holding onto the roots of the grass and one hand reaching to the stars in the sky.”

“I’m looking for this ‘otherliness,’ this transcendence. That’s the reason I think music is here,” he said at the time. “I want to be part of touching something that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

In 2011, Dillon founded the award-winning website slaveryfootprint.org in conjunction with the US State Department. The site, which asks the question, “How Many Slaves Work For You?” allows consumers to visualize how their consumption habits are connected to modern-day slavery.

The musician-turned activist is now the CEO and founder of FRDM, a company that assists Global Fortune 500 brands with mapping, monitoring and mitigating human rights and climate risks in their supply chains. He is also the author of A Selfish Plan to Change the World: Finding Big Purpose in Big Problems (2017).

Please check out the audio track of “Promise Ring.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Promise Ring”
Written by Justin Dillon. Performed by Tremolo.

Long ago, I drew a line into the sand
Jumped across and held your hand
Band of gold
Protect us from the bitter tide
That comes to wash away our words with time

Hello you, Hello me
Hello hello, can’t you see
Love is more than what it seems
So I wear your promise ring

Promises made under the rite of spring
Heavy under summer’s sting
Say you know,
I’d run to where the spaceships land
A million miles between my mouth and hand

Hello you, Hello me
Hello hello, can’t you see
Love is more than what it seems
So I wear your promise ring

Love labors through the night
It bleeds and never fights
And like a seed it lives because it dies

So don’t forget, just like cash
I walk the line
Like a soldier guarding what is mine

Hello you, Hello me
Hello hello, can’t you see
Love is more than what it seems
So I wear your promise ring

I wear your promise ring



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / Guideposts.

Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi couldn't have felt more proud as he raised his country's flag during the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris on Friday. Floating down the River Seine with 393 athletes from the Italian team, the flag bearer was overwhelmed by the majesty of the moment as hundreds of thousands of local spectators waved at the floating parade of 85 boats carrying 205 delegations.



But as Tamberi strained to "carry the Italian Tricolore as high as possible" he saw his wedding ring fly off his finger, bounce off the deck and disappear into the river.

On Saturday, Tamberi apologized to his wife, Chiara Bontempi Tamberi, in a post shared on his Instagram page. The original text is in Italian and we're sure some of his romantic phrasing is missing in translation.



"I'm sorry, my love. I'm so sorry," he wrote before attaching blame to the raining conditions, recent weight loss and the heat of the moment.

"Too much water, too many kilos lost in the past few months or maybe the uncontrollable enthusiasm of what we were doing. Probably all three things," he wrote. "The fact remains that I felt [my ring] slip away, I saw it fly… I followed her with a glance until I saw her bounce inside the boat.”

He continued, “A Glimmer of Hope… But unfortunately the bounce was in the wrong direction and floating more than a thousand times in the air I saw her dive into the water like that was the only place she wanted to be.”

The athlete described those emotionally painful moments as lasting "an eternity."

But then he flipped the script.



"But if it was meant to happen… I couldn't imagine a better place," he reasoned. "It will stay forever in the riverbed of the City of Love, flown away while I tried to carry the Italian Tricolore as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sporting event in the world. If I had to invent an apology I would never have been this imaginative."

Tamberi concluded, "I think there might be a huge poetic side to yesterday's misdeed, and if you want, we'll throw yours into that river, too, so they'll be together forever, and we'll have one more excuse to, like you've always asked, renew our vows and get married anew. I love you, my love. May it be auspicious to come home with even bigger gold!!!"

The story of the 32-year-old's heartfelt apology was picked up worldwide by top news, celebrity and sports sites, including nytimes.com, people.com and espn.com. On Instagram, the post claims 190,000 Likes — and counting.

In the photo, at top, Tamberi is shown sharing Italian flag-bearing duties with three-time medalist Arriana Errigo as the rest of the Italian contingent looks on. Tamberi is also shown, above, posing for a selfie with Chiara during a visit to Paris earlier this year.

Credits: Images via Instagram / gianmarcotamberi and Instagram / bontempichiara.

The Olympic Games' official X (formerly Twitter) page pronounced Argentina's star athletes Pablo Simonet and Pilar Campoy as the first couple to get engaged at the Olympic Village during the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.



Simonet (handball) and Campoy (field hockey) draped their arms over each other's shoulders as they posed for a team photo, but suddenly Simonet broke away from the pack and stood in front of the group with a ring box in hand. Campoy froze in place with her hands over her face as her team mates screamed their approval.



Then Campoy joined her boyfriend and gave him the biggest hug. Simonet was still clutching the ring box and had yet to formally propose when the Argentinian squad broke out in a spontaneous celebration, jumping and dancing in a circle around the happy couple.



When festive outburst finally settled down, Simonet, 32, got down and one knee and presented Campoy, 34, with a simple gold band.

Campoy said, "Yes," and the couple embraced.

A short video published to Simonet's Instagram account last Wednesday captured the unforgettable moments in the City of Love.

In the caption, which is translated from Spanish, Simonet wrote, "The woman of my life gave me the yes… in the dream place, where everything came from and where we fought so much to be."

"Happiness is total," he continued. "Thank you friends, and few accomplices for making this special and being able to keep this forever. Paris is always a good idea."



Campoy showed off her new ring in a number of poses that were incorporated into the video.

Simonet and Campoy are two of the older members of the Argentinian delegation. They have been together since 2015 and represented Argentina at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

After two matches in the current competition, their respective teams are on different trajectories.

Campoy's field hockey squad currently stands at the top of Pool B with victories over the USA and South Africa. Next up is a match against Spain on Wednesday. The team took home a silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Simonet's handball team, on the other hand, sits at the bottom of Pool B after suffering losses to Norway and Hungary.

Campoy sat out the 2020 Olympics, but decided to return to the team in 2024.

"Obviously, the doors were open, but I was living my life [in Spain]," Campoy told olympics.com. "But after the call, I didn't hesitate. I talked it over with Pablo and I told him, 'I want to end my career in the best way possible'."

Credit: Screen captures via Instagram / pablitosimon.

With the Summer Olympics in Paris heating up, it’s time to take a closer look at what the coveted medals are actually made of and attempt to noodle out what they'd be worth if someone was silly enough to sell them for their melt value.



Conceived by luxury jeweler Chaumet and the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission, the gold, silver and bronze medals of the 2024 Olympics all feature a unique design element. At the center of every medal is an 18-gram hexagonal slice of iron from the actual Eiffel Tower. So, in calculating the value of the three types of medals, we needed to consider the current value of four materials, gold, silver, copper — and iron.



First, it's important to underscore that the Olympic gold medals are made mostly of silver. In fact, the 529-gram 2024 edition contains only 6 grams of gold, as mandated by the International Olympic Committee.

With the spot price for gold at about $2,391 per ounce, the gold in the medal is worth about $504.50. The iron slice of Eiffel Tower has tremendous symbolic value, but a melt value of about 1 cent. The rest of the medal is made from .9999 silver ($27.96 per ounce) with a value of $499.05. That puts the gold medal grand total at $1,003.56.

(If the gold medal was, in fact, fabricated from pure gold, its value would be $44,615. There was a time when Olympic gold medals were made of gold. The last ones were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, way back in 1912.)

The Olympic silver medal is made from 507 grams of .9999 silver ($500.04) and 18 grams of Eiffel Tower iron ($.01). Silver medal total: $500.05.

Crafted from 437 grams of copper at $4.09 per ounce and a penny's worth of Eiffel Tower iron, the bronze medal has a melt value of about $63.04.

The Paris Olympics medals measure 85 mm in diameter and have a thickness of 9.2 mm. They are all engraved on the edge with the name of the sport, discipline and event of the medallist.

Exactly 5,084 medals will be awarded at this year's Summer Games, but you can be sure that none of the athletes would consider selling an Olympic medal for its melt value. When these awards come up on auction, the results are usually startling.

For instance, back in 2013, billionaire Ron Burkle plunked down $1.46 million at SCP Auctions for a Jesse Owens gold medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 2019, Goldin Auctions offered for sale an Owens gold medal from the same Olympics. That medal was sold to an online bidder for $615,000.

Credits: Images courtesy of Paris 2024 / Ulysse Périer.