For some, the dreaded Friday the 13th is a day to forgo big decisions and stay safely at home. For April Schmitt, the date now carries an unforgettable twist — one marked by heartbreak, hope and a restored faith in humanity.



After a grueling 17-day work stint in Los Angeles, Schmitt finally returned to Pittsburgh on Friday, June 13. Her journey home had already been riddled with delays and missed connections, but the real trouble began at baggage carousel B at Pittsburgh International Airport.



“As I went to retrieve my bag from the carousel, my hand got stuck between the suitcase and the edge of the carousel,” she told CBS News Pittsburgh. “It pinched my hand, so I pulled it back quickly.”

She walked away in a daze, but halfway home, a sickening realization hit: her engagement ring’s 1.25-carat center diamond — a stone she's cherished for 33 years — was gone.

“I looked down and my ring was without a diamond. It was devastating,” said Schmitt. “I literally felt sick to my stomach.”



She raced back to the airport and began scanning the floor in desperation. Soon, four members of the airport’s maintenance crew joined the search. Electrician Steve Turkaly and stationary engineer Tom Riordan led the charge, navigating what Riordan called “a labyrinth of steel.” For 90 minutes, they crawled over, under, and even inside the carousel, but the diamond remained hidden.

Schmitt went home empty-handed — again.

But the story doesn’t end there.

Despite the day’s hectic flight schedule, the maintenance team refused to give up. After four more hours of meticulous searching — including scraping under the conveyor with two paint sticks taped together — they hit paydirt. Literally.

They found the diamond.

Schmitt was stunned. “My jaw dropped. I was ecstatic. I couldn’t get to the airport quickly enough,” she told CBS News Pittsburgh.

The ring not only carries profound sentimental weight, it's also remarkably tied to the date that so many fear. Her husband proposed on Friday, March 13, 1992, and they wed later that year, on Friday, November 13, 1992. Losing the stone on another Friday the 13th seemed cruel. Finding it? Nothing short of miraculous.

“It restored my faith in humanity,” she said. “These men didn’t know anything about me, but they were committed to doing the right thing.”

See CBS Pittsburgh's three-minute report here…

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com / CBS Pittsburgh.

A 647-carat rough diamond, recently unearthed from the Douradinho riverbed in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, has been confirmed as the second-largest diamond ever found in the country — and the 25th largest globally. Valued at approximately $3 million, the brown-hued stone has captivated the gem world and reignited interest in the mineral-rich region of Coromandel. (Conceptual graphic is not the actual diamond.)



The discovery, made in late May by artisanal miners working alongside formal mining operations, has caused a wave of excitement in Coromandel, a rural town of 28,000 with a deep-rooted mining heritage.

“Everyone was euphoric,” said a municipal spokesperson. “It’s been a long time since a diamond of this size was discovered. Our land is very rich.”

Brazil, once the world’s top diamond producer from the 18th through mid-19th centuries, now accounts for less than 1% of global diamond output. Most of its production comes from alluvial sources like the Douradinho riverbed. While the country has faded from its historical prominence, major finds such as this offer tantalizing reminders of its latent geological wealth.

This 647-carat diamond ranks second to Brazil's famed 726.6-carat President Vargas diamond, discovered in the same region in 1938.

On a global list, Brazil's new find ranks 25th, just behind the 650-carat "Jubilee" from South Africa and just ahead of the 620-carat "Sefadu" from Sierra Leone.

The find has sparked renewed interest among geologists and industry insiders in the Alto Paranaíba region, particularly Coromandel and neighboring towns like Romaria and Estrela do Sul. Experts believe the area may still harbor untapped deposits capable of producing world-class stones.

According to local news outlet Click Petróleo e Gás, the newly found stone already has been sold to an undisclosed buyer.

For Brazil’s mining community, this discovery isn’t just a financial boon — it’s a symbol of potential yet to be fully realized, buried beneath the riverbeds and hills of one of the country's most storied gemstone regions.

Credit: AI-generated conceptual image of the 647-carat diamond by The Jeweler Blog using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3.

A dazzling artifact of royal history steps into the spotlight today at Christie’s New York, where the Magnificent Jewels sale will feature the extraordinary Marie-Thérèse Pink Diamond — a 10.38-carat fancy purple-pink kite-shaped diamond believed to have once belonged to Marie Antoinette’s daughter, Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Angoulême.



Estimated to fetch between $3 million and $5 million, the stone is set in a remarkable ring designed by legendary jeweler Joel Arthur Rosenthal, known professionally as JAR.



The diamond’s journey is as glittering as its appearance. According to historical accounts and Christie’s own provenance records, Queen Marie Antoinette carefully wrapped her most treasured jewels and entrusted them to her coiffeur, Léonard Autié, on the eve of her ill-fated 1791 flight from Paris during the French Revolution. These heirlooms — including rubies, pearls and diamonds —were quietly shipped to Vienna for safekeeping, though the queen and King Louis XVI never escaped.

Among the jewels believed to have reached Austria was this magnificent pink diamond, which was later passed down to Marie Antoinette’s only surviving child, Duchess Marie-Thérèse, and eventually to her niece, Duchess Marie-Thérèse de Chambord. A will from Queen Marie Theresa of Bavaria later referred to the diamond as “a pink solitaire diamond from Aunt Chambord,” confirming its long-held royal provenance.

In 1996, the diamond resurfaced at auction in Geneva, offered by a member of a European royal family. Then set in a hair ornament presented in a velvet case bearing the Austrian Imperial Warrant, the gem disappeared from public view for nearly 30 years — until now.



Today, it reemerges transformed. Commissioned by the current owner, JAR has masterfully reimagined the diamond into a ring that blends heritage with haute design. The centerpiece stone rests beneath a fleur-de-lis crafted from 17 diamonds, a subtle nod to its French royal roots. It sits atop a double pavé diamond band rendered in blackened platinum — signature touches from the elusive Parisian jeweler known for his exclusivity and artistry.

“This is more than a jewel,” says Rahul Kadakia, International Head of Jewelry at Christie’s. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of European history, brought forward into modern elegance by one of the greatest jewelry designers of our time.”

Graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as a natural Fancy Purple-Pink with SI1 clarity, the stone was likely unearthed in India’s fabled Golconda region, the source of some of the world’s most legendary diamonds.

As the hammer falls later today at Rockefeller Center, collectors and connoisseurs alike will be watching closely. The Marie-Thérèse Pink is not only a rare gem by nature — but also a glittering bridge between the grandeur of the French court and the artistry of contemporary haute joaillerie.

Credits: Jewelry images courtesy of Christie's. Illustration of Marie Antoinette by The Jeweler Blog using Microsoft’s AI image generator.

After months of sparkling speculation spawned by carefully framed Instagram posts, Dua Lipa has officially confirmed her engagement to British actor Callum Turner. The 29-year-old Grammy-winning pop icon shared the news in a recent British Vogue cover story, where she not only expressed her excitement about this new chapter, but also revealed the heartwarming story behind her unconventional, now-famous engagement ring.



“Yes, we’re engaged,” she told British Vogue. “It’s very exciting.”

Turner, 35, reportedly designed the custom ring with thoughtful input from Lipa’s inner circle, including her sister Rina and a handful of her closest friends.

“I’m obsessed with it,” Lipa said. “It’s so me. It’s nice to know the person that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with knows you very well.”



Fans first spotted the ring in a December 2024 Instagram post captioned “january things,” where Lipa casually flaunted the diamond-studded band in an in-car selfie. Since then, the bold design has made regular appearances — whether on tour, at the Met Gala or in her glam-filled photo dumps.

The ring itself is a striking departure from traditional celebrity sparklers. Industry insiders describe it as featuring a round brilliant or old European-cut diamond, likely between 3 and 4 carats, set low in a semi- or full-bezel mount on a thick, yellow gold cigar band.



The design has been praised for both its originality and its durability — perfect for someone constantly on the move. Estimated valuations range widely, from $65,000 on the low end to over $250,000, depending on diamond quality.

Lipa, long known for her bold and fashion-forward aesthetic, is no stranger to unconventional choices, and her ring is no exception. Described by some as Etruscan- or gypsy-inspired, the chunky gold band reflects her “gold girl” persona — often seen layering vintage pieces with high-fashion favorites.

The couple met in 2023 and were first seen publicly together in early 2024. They became Instagram-official by the time Lipa headlined Glastonbury in July 2024. According to Lipa, their relationship grew organically after a chance meeting at London’s River Café, followed by another serendipitous run-in in Los Angeles.

“We were reading the same book,” she recalled, calling the moment “a sign.”

As for wedding plans? Not yet. Lipa is currently on her "Radical Optimism" world tour while Turner is filming new projects.

“I’ve never been someone who’s really thought about a wedding, or dreamt about what kind of bride I would be,” she told Vogue. “All of a sudden I’m like, ‘Oh, what would I wear?’”

Until then, Lipa’s stunning gold ring will do all the talking — an elegant symbol of love, intention and personal style.

Credits: Images via Instagram / dualipa.

Welcome to Music Friday, where we spotlight songs that celebrate jewelry, gemstones, or precious metals. Today, we shine a light on Duawne Starling’s heartfelt ballad, “With This Ring,” a moving wedding anthem in which the acclaimed gospel artist pens and performs his own vows.



Released in 2001 as the title track of the compilation album With This Ring, Starling’s song captures the essence of marital commitment. With lyrics that elevate the symbolism of a wedding band beyond its physical form, Starling describes the ring as a “circle of trust” — a token of faith, love and enduring devotion.

He sings, “With this ring / With this circle of trust / I confess that I must be in love / With this vow / I can promise you now / to be more than you’ve ever dreamed of.”

Starling’s soaring tenor and honest lyrics resonated deeply with couples seeking a spiritual and personal soundtrack for their wedding day. The success of With This Ring inspired a sequel album in 2002, With This Ring… Forever I Do, featuring more inspirational love songs by various Christian artists.

Starling’s journey into music was deeply personal. Born in Petersburg, VA, in 1970, he turned to music for solace after his father passed away from cancer when Starling was just seven years old.

“Music became my sanctum, my escape,” he later said.

Before launching his solo career, Starling spent more than a decade touring and recording as a background vocalist with legends, such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Patti Austin, Kelly Price, and BeBe & CeCe Winans. But he waited until he felt spiritually ready before stepping forward as a soloist. That moment came in 2004, when he released his debut solo album, Inside Out, which firmly established him in the gospel and contemporary Christian music communities.

Beyond music, Starling has worn many hats: model, actor, television and radio host, ordained elder and mentor. In 2011, he was honored to perform “We Shall Overcome” at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.

With a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from Howard University, Starling has said that his life’s purpose is empowering others through authenticity, compassion and faith.

“My gift is God’s tool,” he once said. “I always speak from the place of truth.”

Please take a moment to check out the audio track of Starling’s beautiful performance of “With This Ring.” It’s a testament to the power of love, faith and the enduring symbol of the wedding band. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“With This Ring”
Written and performed by Duawne Starling.

With this ring,
With this circle of trust,<

I confess that I must be in love.
With this vow,
I can promise you now,
to be more than you’ve ever dreamed of.
With my heart in your hand,
and faith in His plan,
and with patience to last a lifetime,
I offer you everything,
With this ring.

With my mind,
with each thought I’m inclined,
to cherish you more everyday,
With my soul,
I’m completely yours,
You’re the answer to all that I’ve prayed.
With my heart in your hand,
and my faith in His plan,
and with patience to last a lifetime,
I offer you everything,
With this ring.

If perfect is something that people can be,
and heaven is more than just a fantasy,
then I am in heaven and you’re perfect to me.

So with my heart in your hand,
and faith in His plan,
and with patience to last a lifetime,
I offer you everything,
With this ring.

With my heart in your hand,
and faith in His plan,
and with patience to last a lifetime,
I offer you everything,
Be mine for eternity, yeah,
please say you’ll stay with me,
With this ring.

With my ring, Will you stay.
I’ll love you forever,
and ever, and ever and ever.



Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Jewelry insiders at the JCK Luxury Show in Las Vegas this past weekend were treated to a rare and radiant experience: an in-person viewing of Jack Abraham’s "Royal Ruby Collection," a $10 million suite of five natural, unheated rubies, each sourced from a different exotic location. Representing over 40 years of passionate collecting, this one-of-a-kind ensemble is the masterwork of Abraham — known across the industry as the “Ruby Baron” of New York.



We had the honor of meeting with the octogenarian and witnessing the rubies firsthand — each glowing with a unique hue and story that reflects its country of origin: Burma (Myanmar), Tajikistan, Thailand, Mozambique and Madagascar.

Together, the five stones total 53.53 carats, with individual weights ranging from 7.11 to 17.88 carats. Each ruby has been carefully set in handcrafted platinum and 18-karat gold rings, selected to highlight the gem’s shape and personality.

Abraham’s favorite color is red and his ruby journey began in 1979 with the acquisition of a rare, 5.79-carat, no-heat Thai ruby — an increasingly scarce gem due to depleted mines in the region. Over the decades, he sought out equally extraordinary rubies from other famed origins, upgrading and curating the collection until it formed a perfectly balanced global quintet.

What distinguishes the Royal Ruby Collection is not only its beauty, but its rarity and geological significance. According to Abraham, each ruby in the collection has unique color traits, mineral content and origin-specific characteristics.

This exceptional suite debuted publicly in 2024 at the grand reopening of the Peabody Museum’s Gem and Mineral Hall at Yale University, where it took center stage among some of the world's most important natural treasures. The museum’s gem advisory board chairman, Cap Beesley, personally invited Abraham to exhibit the rubies, calling the collection “one of the most significant ever assembled.”

At JCK in Vegas, the rubies once again drew awe and admiration — not only for their vibrant reds and near-flawless clarity, but also for what they represent: decades of expertise, unrelenting pursuit and a love for rubies.

Though several interested ruby buyers approached Abraham at the show, he remains reluctant to break up the set. Ideally he'd prefer to see them kept together, perhaps in a museum exhibit to be enjoyed by the masses.

Credit: Image courtesy of Jack Abraham.

A groundbreaking study from researchers at Germany's University of Göttingen has uncovered tantalizing evidence that the Earth's molten metallic core — long thought to be geochemically sealed off — may, in fact, be slowly "leaking" gold and other precious metals into the rocky mantle and up to the planet’s surface via volcanic activity.



This surprising discovery opens up a fascinating new chapter in our understanding of Earth’s geology, and it may even help explain the origins of some of the precious metals we rely on in jewelry, electronics and clean energy technologies.

The key to the discovery lies in Hawaii’s volcanoes. Scientists analyzed volcanic rocks, including samples from the actively erupting Kilauea volcano, and found something astonishing: an unusually high concentration of a rare deep-Earth isotope of the platinum group metal ruthenium, known as 100Ru. This particular isotope acts like a chemical fingerprint, revealing that the ruthenium in these rocks must have originated not from the Earth’s mantle — as would be expected — but from the core itself, some 3,000 kilometers (about 1,900 miles) below the surface.

Detecting such a faint signal is no easy task. In fact, past attempts had failed to differentiate the tiny isotopic differences between mantle- and core-derived ruthenium. However, new ultra-precise analytical techniques developed by the Göttingen team finally cracked the code. The presence of core-derived 100Ru in Hawaiian lava flows is now taken as direct evidence that material from the Earth’s core is migrating upward through the mantle.

“This is the geochemical equivalent of striking gold,” said Dr. Nils Messling, lead author of the study, published in Nature. “It shows that the Earth’s core is not entirely isolated and that metals from the core, including gold, are being transported up toward the surface.”

While more than 99.999% of Earth’s gold remains locked deep within the core, unreachable by any mining technology, this study suggests that volcanic activity may deliver tiny, but measurable, amounts of these core metals to the surface.

Hawaii, for example, sits atop a deep mantle plume — a jet of superheated rock rising from the boundary between the core and the mantle. These plumes act as natural elevators, bringing up material enriched in precious metals.

Study co-author Matthias Willbold, a professor at the University of Göttingen, added, “This process isn’t just about gold. It’s about understanding the inner workings of our planet. The core and mantle are interacting in ways we never fully appreciated before.”

For jewelry lovers, this research provides a poetic reminder that the treasures we wear may, quite literally, come from the heart of the Earth.

Credit: Illustration by The Jeweler Blog using Microsoft's AI image generator.

A sapphire that made headlines 10 years ago has once again etched its name into the record books. Just last week, "The Regent Kashmir," a 35.09-carat antique cushion-shaped sapphire, achieved a staggering $9.5 million at Christie’s Hong Kong, setting a new world record for highest price per carat ever paid at auction for a sapphire — $271,515.



Revered for its unheated royal blue hue and Kashmir origin, The Regent Kashmir eclipsed the previous record of $243,703 per carat, held by the 27.6-carat "Jewel of Kashmir" sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2015.

In May of that same year, The Regent Kashmir had commanded $7.4 million at Christie’s Geneva, with a then-record-setting price of $209,689 per carat. The sapphire’s triumphant return to the auction block in 2025 reaffirms its place among the most exceptional gems ever offered at auction.

Described by Christie’s as a “once-in-a-generation masterpiece,” The Regent Kashmir is set in a platinum ring and flanked by round brilliant diamonds. According to a report from the Swiss Gemmological Institute, the gem displays an “attractive and saturated blue color” and “outstanding clarity,” made even more vivid by its expert cutting. Its velvety “royal blue” hue, a hallmark of fine Kashmir sapphires, is attributed to subtle inclusions and trace elements unique to the storied mines of Kashmir in the Himalayas.

Kashmir sapphires, mined primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are among the rarest and most sought-after gemstones in the world. Their unparalleled coloration and natural (untreated) state significantly enhance their desirability and value.

Although The Regent Kashmir broke the price-per-carat record for a sapphire and sold above its pre-sale low estimate of $8.3 million, it fell short of its $12.1 million high estimate.

Credit: Image courtesy of Christie’s.

A bold new study is reshaping how scientists and entrepreneurs think about space mining. According to recent research published in Planetary and Space Science, lunar craters could contain more than a trillion dollars’ worth of platinum and other precious metals — making the Moon a more viable mining target than asteroids.



The study, led by astronomer Jayanth Chennamangalam and colleagues, estimates that at least 6,500 craters larger than one kilometer across on the Moon could harbor remnants of metal-rich asteroids. These platinum group metals (PGMs) — including platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium and osmium — were deposited when asteroids collided with the Moon’s surface over billions of years.

This finding drastically shifts the economic calculus. Previous models suggested that fewer than a dozen near-Earth asteroids were rich enough in PGMs to be worth mining. But Chennamangalam’s team found that the Moon may contain one to two orders of magnitude more viable mining sites than accessible asteroids, especially in larger craters where asteroid material may have pooled after impact.

If even a fraction of these resources can be extracted and returned to Earth, the implications for the global precious metals market—and the jewelry industry—are massive.

However, the path from theory to treasure is anything but smooth.

Despite the promise of abundant PGMs, lunar mining faces steep technical and financial obstacles. Transporting mined materials from the Moon back to Earth remains prohibitively expensive. Researchers at the University of Alberta have emphasized that lifting heavy loads on the Moon and safely landing them on Earth would require unprecedented technology.

There’s also the matter of extraction. Because human missions would be costly and dangerous, robotic systems are the most likely candidates to do the digging. But developing autonomous, rugged and energy-efficient robots that can operate in the Moon’s harsh environment is a massive engineering challenge in itself.

Even if these hurdles are overcome, companies eager to stake a lunar claim may find themselves mired in legal limbo.

International law on lunar mining remains ambiguous. The 1966 United Nations Outer Space Treaty forbids nations from claiming sovereignty over celestial bodies, while the 1979 Moon Agreement goes even further, prohibiting property rights of any kind on the Moon. However, neither treaty offers clear guidelines for private enterprises.

The US has tried to fill the gap with its 2020 Artemis Accords, which aim to establish “safety zones” for lunar activities and protect commercial interests. Yet major space powers, such as Russia and China, have not signed on, and legal scholars warn that without a comprehensive global framework, disputes are inevitable.

As technology pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in space exploration, the race for lunar riches is only just beginning. But whether moon mining becomes a new frontier for the jewelry industry—or remains an expensive fantasy—will depend as much on policy and innovation as on what lies just beneath the Moon’s dusty surface.

Credit: The Moon's Hayn Crater photo by NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

Love makes us do crazy things — like stripping a car interior down to the floorboard to find a diamond ring. That’s exactly what newlywed Geno Foster of Southern California did when his wife Jessica’s engagement ring mysteriously vanished during a routine errand run earlier this year.



The 31-year-old social media manager was cleaning her ring with a jewelry pen in the passenger seat of their BMW when the car hit a bump. In an instant, the ring slipped from her hands and disappeared into the abyss between the seat and center console.

At first, the couple wasn’t overly concerned.

But after hours of searching, Geno, a 29-year-old freelance videographer, knew he needed to take this task to the next level.



With calm determination, he began disassembling their car. Seats, center console, even the carpet — nothing was off-limits.

“I just knew I had to do whatever it takes to find the ring,” he later told Inside Edition. “I wasn’t going to stop looking for it.”

After about two hours of mechanical sleuthing, Geno struck gold. The ring had somehow lodged itself in a narrow crevice between two layers of carpet beneath the center console.



Jessica captured the entire ordeal on video, sharing it to TikTok on February 18. The clip quickly went viral, with more than 9.7 million views and thousands of comments from fans who applauded Geno’s devotion — and shared similar stories of lost treasures in hard-to-reach places.

The saga was picked up by People magazine on February 24, and resurfaced in the media spotlight again when Inside Edition featured the couple on June 1.

Geno now jokes about putting an AirTag on the ring. But in an industry built on symbolism and sentiment, this story is a timeless reminder: a ring may be small, but its meaning — and the lengths someone will go to recover it — can be enormous.

Credits: Screen captures via Jessandgeno / Tiktok, YouTube / Inside Edition.