Three certified fancy red diamonds — the pinnacle of rarity, color and value in the diamond world — will headline Rio Tinto’s annual Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, an exclusive sale of the mining company’s finest production.



Rio Tinto’s announcement took the gem world by surprise because natural fancy red diamonds are very rarely seen.

"Since mining began in 1983, only six diamonds certified as fancy red by the Gemological Institute of America have been presented for sale at the annual tender,” said Argyle Pink Diamonds manager Josephine Johnson. “To have three of these rare red diamonds in one tender is a very special moment in time."



The highly coveted red diamonds are expected to fetch between $1 million and $2 million per carat when they are offered for sale on October 8.

Argyle Phoenix™ is the largest of the three red diamonds, a 1.56-carat round gem named in honor of the newly commissioned Argyle underground mine in Western Australia.

This year’s Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender of three reds, 58 pinks and three blues, is now on tour. After previews in Sydney, New York and Tokyo, tender viewings will move to Hong Kong and Perth, where bidders will be able to view the gems and make offers for individual stones.

Unlike other colored diamonds – such as blue diamonds that get their color from the addition of boron in their chemical composition, or green diamonds that are impacted by natural radiation – red diamonds are not colored by impurities. Rather, their color is the result of minute defects in the crystal lattice.

A Virginia woman who accidentally knocked her $22,000 anniversary ring into a flushing toilet is singing the praises of wastewater employees who rescued the diamond keepsake from a mucky demise — four days after it was lost.



It was about 11:30 on a Friday night when Jenna Wolfe, who was visiting relatives, took off her cherished anniversary ring and placed it on the sink’s countertop while she washed her hands. The ring, which features a 2-carat round center stone flanked by smaller round diamonds, was a 10^th anniversary gift from her husband.

According to a report by WAVY-TV, Wolfe used a paper towel to clean up some water that had splashed on the countertop, but the wiping motion accidentally knocked her anniversary ring into the flushing commode. In an instant, the very valuable and sentimental ring was gone.



She called a professional plumbing service, but when the company was unable to locate the ring, Wolfe feared the worst.

On Monday, she contacted the city’s Public Works Division, which promptly sent out a crew to help. After setting a debris trap down the water line, the wastewater employees told Wolfe to run water into all the drains of the house and to flush every toilet in an effort to move the ring into the trap.

Even though Monday’s efforts failed to locate and capture the ring, the crew members were back on Tuesday to try again. This time, they succeeded.



In a glowing note to the City of Hampton, Wolfe wrote, “We cannot express enough gratitude to everyone who had a role in recovering this very special ring for us. It’s not only the monetary value of the ring, but also the sentimental value that could not be replaced… Please do anything and everything you can to acknowledge their dedication, honesty and hard work.”

The persistent wastewater team members each received a $25 gift card as part of the city's program to reward employees who perform above and beyond the call of duty.

What do you think 101.73 carats of “diamond perfection” is worth? Would you believe $26.7 million (or $254,400 per carat)?

That’s what the prestige jeweler Harry Winston paid last week at Christie’s Geneva for the largest flawless diamond ever to be offered at auction. The selling price established an auction record for a colorless diamond.



Discovered in the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, the once-in-a-generation gem was carved from a rough diamond weighing a staggering 236 carats. According to reports, expert diamond cutters toiled on the golf-ball-size specimen for 21 months.

The cutters were forced to sacrifice 57 percent of the diamond's original weight to achieve a pear-shape, D-color, Type IIA flawless gem — the best ratings for color and clarity. Forbes.com reported that fewer than 2 percent of the world’s diamonds meet the type IIA criteria for transparency and brilliance.



An auction spokesperson described the diamond as “ultimate perfection” and explained that it was literally “sculpted like a work of art."

Because the magnificent gem is brand new to the auction scene, the purchaser earned the privilege of naming the stone. It will now be known as “The Winston Legacy.”

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we step into our Wayback Machine and set the dial for 1965, a time of hippies, bellbottoms, love beads — and Sonny & Cher singing their iconic hit, “I Got You Babe.”



In this love song about a young couple just starting out, Sonny promises Cher that when they’re together there’s “no hill or mountain we can't climb.” In the jewelry reference, he sings, “I got flowers in the spring. I got you to wear my ring.”

The husband-and-wife team blasted onto the music scene in 1965 with their hits, “I Got You Babe” and “Baby Don’t Go.” In the 1970s, they became household names, as they starred in two top-10 TV shows, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show.

“I Got You Babe” had a key role in the 1993 movie, Groundhog Day, as Bill Murray, playing an arrogant TV weatherman, finds himself reliving February 2 in a perpetual time loop. Every morning at exactly six o’clock Murray wakes to the clock-radio playing the Sonny & Cher ditty.

The couple divorced in 1975, but the breakup proved that they didn’t need one another to be successful. Cher went on to become a Grammy Award-winning solo singer and an Academy Award-winning actress. Bono eventually became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Sadly, he passed away in a skiing accident in 1998.

In the rare video at the end of this post, Sonny & Cher are introduced as newcomers by Sammy Davis, Jr. The lyrics to “I Got You Babe” are below, but we bet you already know the words…

“I Got You Babe”
Written by Sonny Bono. Performed by Sonny & Cher

[HER:] They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow
[HIM:] Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you

[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe

[HER:] They say our love won't pay the rent
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent
[HIM:] I guess that's so, we don't have a pot
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got

[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe

[HIM:] I got flowers in the spring I got you to wear my ring
[HER:] And when I'm sad, you're a clown
And if I get scared, you're always around
[HER:] So let them say your hair's too long
'Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong
[HIM:] Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb

[HIM:] Babe
[BOTH:] I got you babe I got you babe

[HIM:] I got you to hold my hand
[HER:] I got you to understand
[HIM:] I got you to walk with me
[HER:] I got you to talk with me
[HIM:] I got you to kiss goodnight
[HER:] I got you to hold me tight
[HIM:] I got you, I won't let go
[HER:] I got you to love me so

[BOTH:] I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

A breathtaking matched pair of natural pearl drop earrings from the collection of Italian starlet Gina Lollobrigida shattered a record at Sotheby’s Geneva on Tuesday when the gavel went down at a staggering $2.37 million — a record price for pearl earrings and more than double the pre-sale estimate. They were sold to an anonymous bidder.



The pearl earrings, which were worn often throughout Lollobrigida's career and reputed to have belonged to the collection of jewels of the House of Habsburg, measure approximately 15.6 x 12.1 x 24.9mm and 15.9 x 13.8 x 23.3mm.



The price achieved for Lollobrigida’s earrings topped the late Elizabeth Taylor’s natural pearl earrings, which were sold at a Christie’s auction in 2011 for $1.99 million.

Natural pearls are extremely rare because they form in mollusks without any human intervention. Typically, a microscopic intruder or parasite enters a mollusk, and settles inside the shell. The mollusk, being irritated by the intruder, secretes a crystalline substance called nacre to cover the irritant. This secretion process is repeated over and over, creating the iridescent visual effect seen in fine pearls.



Lollobrigida, who starred on the silver screen during the 1950s and 1960s with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart, sold her impressive collection of 23 items to raise money for stem cell research in her native Italy. In total, her collection generated $4.9 million.

“Jewels are meant to give pleasure, and for many years I had enormous pleasure wearing mine," the 85-year-old Lollobrigida noted. "It now gives me great pleasure to see that these jewels will create a legacy, which will live on after me and continue to do good.”



Another star of Tuesday’s "Magnificent Jewels and Nobel Jewels" auction was a 19^th century 74.53-carat cushion-shaped fancy yellow diamond once owned by Ahmad Shah Qajar, the shah of Persia from 1909 to 1925 and the last ruler of the Qajar Dynasty. It fetched a whopping $2.95 million, establishing an auction record for a fancy yellow diamond and a record price per carat for a fancy yellow diamond ($40,061 per carat). The selling price doubled the pre-sale estimate.

The 4.5 million viewers of "The Today Show" got a big surprise Monday morning when co-host Savannah Guthrie revealed for the first time her elegant four-prong diamond engagement ring. Over the weekend, she had accepted the marriage proposal of media consultant Mike Feldman while they were vacationing in the Caribbean.



Although the couple had been dating for four years, Guthrie told her NBC viewers that she was caught off guard when Feldman nervously started to deliver his proposal.



"He got on one knee and I still thought we were just talking [about getting married]," she said.

And then he handed her the box. "I didn't open it for a long time," she said, "because I was just overcome."

The 41-year-old Aussie, who replaced Ann Curry on “The Today Show” in July of 2012, was beaming ear to ear as she showed off her ring to a national audience. The classic setting holds an impressive prong-set round diamond center, accented with pavé diamonds on the band.



The 44-year-old Feldman, who now calls himself “the luckiest guy in the world,” is a  consultant who counts Al Gore among his former clients.

Two high-profile stars of “The Today Show” were quick to express their excitement over the happy news by blasting photos and good wishes via Twitter and Instagram.

Co-anchor Matt Lauer tweeted "Big news from Savannah!" and included a photo of Guthrie modeling her ring.

Turning to Instagram, co-host Al Roker posted a photo of Guthrie flashing the ring, along with a caption that read: "@savannahguthrie and her engagement ring. Congrats to her and fiancé Mike Feldman.”

Called “a true Rembrandt among gemstones,” natural padparadscha is one of the rarest and most valuable varieties of sapphire. Unlike its blue brethren, padparadscha boasts a salmon color reminiscent of the most delicate orange/pink sunset you’ve ever seen. Fans of this unusual and strikingly beautiful gemstone are in for a big treat on May 28, when an exceptional padparadscha-and-diamond ring hits the auction block at Christie’s Hong Kong as one of the top lots of its Magnificent Jewels sale.



The oval, modified brilliant/step-cut Sri Lankan padparadscha weighs a staggering 73.98 carats and is framed with brilliant-cut diamonds mounted in 18-karat rose gold. Pre-sale estimates put the value of the ring at $1.03 million to $1.55 million.

The poetically named padparadscha gets its name from "padma raga," which literally means "the color of the lotus flower" in Sanskrit.



Padparadschas of the size and quality of the one offered for sale at Christie’s are rarely seen in auction circles. One gemstone dealer told author and gemstone expert David Federman, "Fine padparadscha is far rarer than either fine Kashmir sapphire or Burma ruby. We’re talking about a true Rembrandt among gemstones.”

Padparadscha belongs to the corundum family of gemstones, which includes rubies and sapphires. The presence of trace elements determines the color of each gemstone. While blue sapphires are naturally colored with iron and rubies with chromium, padparadschas are colored by the presence of both. The delicate interplay of pink and orange hues make this gem one of nature's greatest marvels.

Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson is living the dream. He signed a $77.5 million five-year contract before the 2011 season, stars in a Head & Shoulders commercial, won a Grand-Am road race in March, and proposed to the beautiful Brazilian supermodel Lisalla Montenegro on Wednesday.



The 25-year-old Montenegro, who is currently the face of Maybelline cosmetics, announced the engagement and showed off her eye-popping engagement ring via her Twitter account. The diamond is an impressive princess-cut stunner complemented by a prong-set diamond band.



Montenegro wrote: “I literally can’t have imagined a more perfect proposal. So excited to marry @cjwilsonphoto !!! #Engaged !!!!

Later, she added, “I simply can’t stop smiling! Definitely one of the happiest days of my life! Thank you all for the support and love. Much love! L&C”



Montenegro was born and raised in Goias, Brazil. After winning the Miss Goias competition, the brunette was encouraged to travel to the U.S. to pursue a modeling career. Soon she was a walking the runways for top brands, such as Michael Kors, Hermes and Victoria’s Secret, and gracing the pages of leading magazines, such as Sports Illustrated, Italian GQ and Cosmo Girl.

The 32-year-old Wilson is 3-2 with a 3.88 ERA for the Los Angeles Angels after losing last night to the Chicago White Sox. When he’s not striking out opposing batters, the two-time all-star finds time for another passion — car racing. In March, Wilson became a winning team owner in Grand-Am road racing when C.J. Wilson Racing won the Circuit of the Americas race in Austin, Texas.

In a light-hearted exchange with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard, Wilson listed the best and worst things about dating a supermodel. Here are the highlights…

WORST
• Having to answer questions about how you met your supermodel girlfriend from teammates who want to have a supermodel girlfriend.
• Having to keep your personal appearance on point. You don’t want to be the guy dragging the equation down. If she’s a 10, you don’t want to look like a 4.

BEST
• When [a supermodel] walks into a room, I can be completely invisible. Nobody sees me at all.
• If [a supermodel] asks for a table at a restaurant, she's going to get it. We’re always seated right away.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you sensational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today's song takes us back to the early days of rock and roll — a time of car hops, drive-in movies and Little Richard dominating the airwaves with his smash hit, "Good Golly Miss Molly."



In the 1958 song, Little Richard sings about the free-spirited Molly, who loves to dance from the early morning to the early night. When she's rockin' and a rollin', she can't hear her mama call. Little Richard's got big plans for Molly, including a marriage proposal. And this is where the jewelry reference comes in: "Goin' to the corner, gonna buy a diamond ring. When she hugs me her kissin' make me ting-a-ling-a-ling."

"Good Golly Miss Molly" is considered a rock and roll standard and was ranked #94 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It's been covered by hundreds of artists, including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bruce Springsteen.

As a rock and roll pioneer, Little Richard embodied the spirit and energy of the new genre more than any other performer. Born Richard Wayne Penniman, the 80-year-old Little Richard became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

Enjoy the video montage at the end of this post. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along.

"Good Golly Miss Molly"
Written by John Marascalco and Robert "Bumps" Blackwell. Performed by Little Richard.

Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
A-when you're rockin' and a rollin', can't hear your mama call.

From the early, early mornin' to the early, early night,
When I caught Miss Molly rockin' at the House of Blue Lights,
Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
A-when you're rockin' and a rollin', can't hear your mama call.

Mama, papa told me 'Son, you better watch your step',
If'n your Papa's Mama had to watch my Papa's step ,
Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
A-when you're rockin' and a rollin', can't hear your mama call.

Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
Whooo
Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
A-when you're rockin' and a rollin', can't hear your mama call.

Goin' to the corner, gonna buy a diamond ring.
When she hugs me her kissin' make me ting-a-ling-a-ling
Good golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball,
A-when you're rockin' and a rollin', can't hear your mama call.

The world’s largest flawless briolette diamond will hit the auction block at Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale on May 28. Estimated to fetch between $8.5 million and $12.5 million, the fabulous 75.36-carat, D-color wonder is part of a pendant necklace that includes a marquise-cut purplish-pink diamond suspended above the briolette. Stations of smaller briolettes adorn the 18-karat white and rose gold neckchain, which is adjustable.



The briolette diamond is so perfect that it earned the top quality grade of Type IIa from the Gemological Institute of America. The grade reflects its flawless clarity, excellent polish, chemical purity and exceptional transparency. Other famous Type IIa diamonds include the 530.2-carat Cullinan and the 105.6-carat Koh-i-noor.



Legendary diamond cutter William Goldberg started with a 160.5-carat rough diamond and lost more than half the stone’s weight as he shaped it into the world’s largest and most perfect briolette — an symmetrical shape that resembles a water drop.



Christie’s jewelry specialist Chiang Shiu-Fung told the press that the headliner of the May 28 auction is exceptionally rare. Over the past six years, he has seen only one similar item at a Christie’s auction and that briolette was “only 30-something carats.”

Comprising more than 290 lots, the May 28 Christie’s auction is expected to generate more than $74 million in sales.