Susan Eisen

A dazzling 24-carat pink diamond with a remarkable 70-year family history is preparing for its first-ever auction appearance. Known as "The Bulgari Pink," the emerald-cut gem will headline Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva on November 10, with an estimate of $12 million to $18 million. Its story spans India’s legendary diamond fields, the glamour of postwar Rome, and generations of private ownership by a distinguished European noble family.



According to family lore, the rough diamond was acquired in India during the 1950s by the current owner’s great-grandfather. Its precise origin has not been confirmed, but Christie’s notes that its exceptional qualities evoke historic diamonds from India’s fabled Golconda mines, which supplied some of the world’s most celebrated gems. The stone was subsequently entrusted to Bulgari in Rome, where it was transformed into the elegant ring we see today.

The diamond’s Fancy Intense Pink color grade is a major part of its appeal. Pink diamonds owe their distinctive hue to distortions in their crystal structure that affect how light travels through the stone. The Bulgari Pink’s rectangular step cut, commonly known as an emerald cut, gives it a sophisticated architectural appearance, with broad, mirror-like facets that showcase its color and clarity.

It is also classified as a Type IIa diamond, a chemically pure category representing less than 2% of gem-quality diamonds. Its 24-carat size, pink color and refined cut make it an extraordinary combination. Fancy Intense Pink sits just below Fancy Vivid Pink, the highest color-saturation grade in this classification, adding another intriguing dimension to the gem’s auction prospects.

Bulgari’s role in the diamond’s transformation connects it to one of jewelry’s most glamorous eras. During the 1950s, Rome emerged as an international center of postwar sophistication, earning the nickname “Hollywood on the Tiber” as major film productions attracted movie stars to Cinecittà Studios. Bulgari’s boutique on Via Condotti became a social and cultural meeting place for celebrated couples, including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer.

The Bulgari Pink remained in the same family’s private hands for more than seven decades, never previously appearing at public auction. Christie’s will offer the ring during its November 10 sale at Geneva’s Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, with the jewel scheduled for public viewing November 5–10.

Other Fancy Intense Pink diamonds have commanded impressive prices. In June 2024, the 10.20-carat, internally flawless Eden Rose sold at Christie’s for $13.29 million. In November 2023, the 15.48-carat Pink Supreme achieved $10.81 million at Christie’s Hong Kong.

Fancy Vivid Pink diamonds have reached even more astonishing heights. The 59.60-carat CTF Pink Star sold for approximately $71.2 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2017, setting a world auction record for a gemstone. In 2022, the 11.15-carat Williamson Pink Star brought in $57.7 million, setting a record price per carat for a gemstone.

Credit: Image courtesy of Christie's.

In 1926, a 10-year-old Arkansas girl helping her father hoe weeds in a cotton field spotted something unusual gleaming in the dirt. She picked up what she called a “pretty pebble” and kept it as a curiosity. Little did Alice Taylor know that her pocket-sized treasure was a 27.21-carat rough diamond — believed to be the second-largest diamond ever discovered in Arkansas. Now, a century after its discovery, the celebrated stone has returned to its home state for a special exhibition at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.



For roughly 20 years after it was found, the diamond remained an unrecognized family keepsake. After Alice grew up and married, becoming Mrs. Pelie Howell, she stored the stone in a small leather pouch in her dresser drawer. Its adventures included an accidental disappearance beneath the family’s porch, where one of her children had dropped it through a knothole. The shiny pebble was recovered about a year later when another child crawled underneath the porch looking for hidden chicken eggs.

The family eventually began to wonder whether the stone might be more than an ordinary rock. One day, Howell accidentally dragged it across her iron stove and discovered that it scratched the metal without suffering any apparent damage. Suspecting it could be a diamond, she and her husband took it to jewelers in nearby Searcy. Their hopes were met with laughter and skepticism.

The objection seemed logical: Arkansas’s famous diamond-bearing volcanic formation is near Murfreesboro, far from Searcy. The two towns are approximately 163 miles apart. How could a diamond have ended up in a cotton field so far from the state’s recognized diamond source?

The mystery has never been definitively solved. One theory suggests that Native Americans may have discovered the stone near Murfreesboro centuries earlier and traded it north. Whatever its journey, the diamond had spent two decades in the Howell family’s possession before its true identity was established.

In May 1946, the stone was sent to specialists, who confirmed that it was a genuine 27.21-carat diamond. Tiffany & Co. purchased it from Howell for a reported $8,500 — a remarkable windfall for a modest family. The money reportedly enabled her to buy a new home and pay off the mortgage on her parents’ farm, the very property where she had found the diamond as a child.

Tiffany chose not to cut or polish the stone. Instead, the company preserved it in its original rough form, maintaining the appearance of the remarkable crystal that had emerged from the Arkansas soil. It subsequently became part of the Tiffany Archives in New York.

Now, the Arkansas Diamond is taking center stage in “Nature Adorned: The Artistry of Tiffany & Co. and the American Imagination,” on view at Crystal Bridges from October 9, 2026, through March 29, 2027. The exhibition also includes two other notable diamonds discovered in Arkansas, alongside exceptional Tiffany jewelry and works from the museum’s collection.



Jewelry highlights include naturalistic orchid brooches created by George Paulding Farnham in the late 19th century, as well as Jean Schlumberger’s elaborate "Hedges and Flowers" necklace and iconic "Bird on a Rock" creations.



The "Hedges and Flowers" necklace (1978-1987) features intense pinkish-red tourmalines, turquoise and brilliant round diamonds set in gold and platinum.



The Bird on a Rock brooch (1965) captures a majestic, hand-sculpted platinum bird accented with 18-karat yellow gold perched atop a vibrant blue-violet tanzanite. The bird is pavé-set with brilliant-cut diamonds and features a bezel-set pink sapphire for its eye.

Credits: Images courtesy of Tiffany & Co. Archives.

Welcome to Music Friday, when we celebrate songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Journey's "Daydream" takes us somewhere far beyond the ordinary world, where diamonds once were stone, pearls and gold fill our dreams, and crystal ships sail under a silver moon.



The song first appeared in 1979 on Evolution, Journey’s fifth studio album and a pivotal release in the band’s rise toward arena-rock superstardom. Tucked away as the album’s final track, the dreamy deep cut was never released as a single, but Evolution itself became Journey’s biggest commercial success to that point. It reached #20 on the Billboard 200 and eventually earned a triple-platinum certification.

The song’s jewelry connection arrives immediately with the recurring line, “Yes, those bright diamonds once were stone.” In the context of a daydream, the transformation is almost magical: something ordinary and rough becomes something precious, brilliant and highly coveted. The lyric can be heard as a meditation on how humble beginnings, given enough time and transformation, can evolve into something radiant.

That idea fits naturally into the song’s surreal landscape. Pearls and gold appear as idealized treasures, representing beauty, abundance and the kind of wealth that exists in imagination rather than a jewelry box. The dreamer isn't simply admiring expensive objects; these precious materials become symbols of a world in which anything seems possible.

Journey surrounds those gems with equally fantastical images. “Crystal ships” and “silver streams” create a landscape that feels weightless and hypnotic, while angels’ wings suggest escape from the limits of everyday life. The song's closing message, “Live the dreams you search, but can't find,” reinforces the invitation to leave the tangible world behind and enter a realm where stone becomes diamond and streams become silver.

“Daydream” is a mostly forgotten gem from a band that had undergone considerable transformation of its own. Journey formed in San Francisco in 1973, initially as a progressive jazz-fusion project assembled by former Santana manager Herbie Herbert. Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie, both Santana veterans, were part of the original lineup. After early albums emphasized instrumental and progressive rock, the band added singer Steve Perry in 1977, helping launch the sound that would make Journey a global rock powerhouse.

Evolution arrived with the band's new commercial momentum. “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” became Journey’s first Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 16. The group went on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide, building a catalog filled with enduring hits such as “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Open Arms” and “Faithfully.”

More than five decades after its formation, Journey continues to perform. Guitarist Neal Schon, the sole remaining member of the original 1973 lineup still performing with the band, remains onstage for The Final Frontier Tour, billed as Journey’s farewell tour, with dates extending through late 2026 and into 2027.

And “Daydream” remains a particularly sparkling reminder of Journey’s early, more exploratory sound. Please check out the audio track of Steve Perry and Journey performing today's featured song. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Daydream"
Written by Gregg Rolie, Stephen Ray Perry, Neal Joseph Schon and Ross L. Valory. Performed by Journey.

Shining in the silver moon
Crystal ships are sailing to the sea.

Fly, fly by my window
Flyin' so free, yeah
Yes, they fly, fly by my window.

Yes, those bright diamonds once were stone
Rollin' down a silver stream.
Yes, those bright diamonds once were stone.

Sail on a silver wings of fire
Sailing dreams beyond the silver moon.

In silver clouds that fly so high
Live the dreams you search but can't find.

Yes, they fly, fly by my window
Flyin' so free, yeah
Yes, they fly, fly by my window.

Yes, those bright diamonds once were stone
Rollin' down a silver stream.
Yes, those bright diamonds once were stone.

Ohhhhhh.

Ohhhhhh.



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / The Midnight Special.

Few gemstones can rival the visual drama of a fine black opal. Against a naturally dark background, flashes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet can appear to glow from within the stone, creating a miniature rainbow that seems to move as the gem catches the light. For October babies, black opal represents one of the most spectacular expressions of the month’s official birthstone.



The finest examples of black opal come from Lightning Ridge, a remote outback mining region in New South Wales, Australia, where the gem has been mined since 1903. Black opals are distinguished by their dark gray to black body color, which provides a dramatic backdrop for their play-of-color. That contrast makes the colors appear particularly vivid, helping make top-quality Lightning Ridge black opals among the world’s most coveted opals.

Black opals are also exceptionally difficult to find. The dark-body material represents only a small fraction of the opal recovered at Lightning Ridge, and the stones with the most desirable combinations of intense color, strong red flashes and attractive patterns are rarer still.

Mining itself is challenging: the fields are remote and the opal-bearing layers can be buried beneath difficult outback terrain, requiring miners to sink shafts and work underground with specialized equipment. Decades of mining have also made the richest deposits increasingly difficult to reach. For independent miners, the considerable cost, physical demands and uncertainty of the work can make every promising pocket a high-stakes discovery.

The 26.9-carat black opal, shown above, was sourced at Lightning Ridge and gifted to the Smithsonian in 1970 by Mrs. Oliver B. James. Today, the cabochon-cut gem is a permanent part of the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Its face displays an extraordinary spectrum of red, violet, blue, green and orange.

Scientists believe that between 100 million and 97 million years ago, an enormous inland sea covering much of Australia began to retreat. As the landscape dried, silica-rich material carried by water seeped into cracks and cavities in the underlying rock. Over immense stretches of time, the silica formed the hydrated silica mineral we know as opal.

Precious opal gets its spectacular play-of-color from microscopic silica spheres arranged in an orderly structure. When white light encounters those layers, it is diffracted into its component colors. The size and spacing of the spheres influence which colors appear, with the larger structures needed to produce the highly coveted red hue generally being rarer than those producing blue and green.

Much of the material recovered from opal fields is called “potch,” an opal without play-of-color. It contains the same basic silica composition as precious opal, but its microscopic spheres lack the orderly arrangement needed to create the rainbow effect.

Black opal is only one member of the opal family. White opal has a light body color, while boulder opal forms with a layer of ironstone attached to the opal. Crystal opal is transparent or translucent enough to allow its play-of-color to be seen through the body, and fire opal, best known from Mexico, typically displays a yellow, orange or red body color.

Australia remains the world's leading source of fine opal, with major fields beyond Lightning Ridge. Opal is also mined in Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil, Honduras, the Czech Republic and parts of the United States, including Nevada and Idaho.

An opal contains 3% to 21% water within its silica structure, and its appearance and value depend on factors including body tone, brightness, color, pattern and consistency from different viewing angles.

Credit: Photo by Chip Clark/Smithsonian.

Namibia may be famous for producing the world's highest-quality diamonds, but it is not a country where giant gems routinely emerge from the earth. That makes a newly unveiled 176.29-carat natural diamond an especially remarkable find — and a glittering reminder that Namibia’s diamond story is built more on excellence than sheer size.



Named “Owishi,” the diamond was recovered by Namdeb at its Southern Coastal Mine in Oranjemund on May 10, 2026. The stone was officially unveiled September 30 by Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who described it as the largest diamond of its kind recovered at the operation in two decades.

The name adds a distinctly Namibian touch. “Owishi” is an Oshiwambo word for a rare form of honey found underground and notoriously difficult to locate — an apt description for a diamond that reflects such an unexpected discovery.

While neighboring Botswana is increasingly associated with spectacular 1,000-carat-plus discoveries, Namibia has carved out a different niche. It ranks eighth globally in diamond production volume and fifth in total production value, but its rough diamonds command the highest average value per carat of any producing country. In 2024, that figure was about $417 per carat, reflecting the exceptional gem quality of Namibian production.

That distinction helps explain why Owishi is so significant. A 176-carat diamond would be noteworthy anywhere, but in Namibia its size is especially unusual. Its ultimate value, however, won't be determined by carat weight alone. Industry estimates for the rough stone range from about $5 million to more than $25 million, depending on its clarity, color and the amount and quality of polished diamond it can yield. Namdeb has not announced whether the stone will be sold by auction, tender or another method.

For Namibia, Owishi represents more than a spectacular piece of rough. President Nandi-Ndaitwah emphasized the broader economic importance of the diamond industry, calling mining the country's “number one critical enabler” and noting that mineral wealth can generate revenue for education, healthcare, housing and infrastructure.

“May this discovery renew our commitment to ensuring that the wealth beneath our soil becomes a source of shared prosperity for all Namibians,” she said.

The President also urged Namibia to capture more value from its diamonds through domestic cutting, polishing and jewelry manufacturing.

Namdeb Diamond Corporation is part of Namdeb Holdings, a 50/50 partnership between the Government of the Republic of Namibia and De Beers Group. Its land-based operations are centered near Oranjemund and Namibia’s southwestern coast, where diamonds occur in deposits shaped by the region’s extraordinary geological and marine history.

Credit: Photo of Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah with the Owishi diamond via Facebook.com/Namibian Presidency.

A metal detector signal led to a remarkable discovery in a field near Wesseling, Germany: 934 Roman silver coins weighing 6.8 pounds (3.1 kilograms) and spanning nearly 300 years of Roman history. Unearthed by licensed amateur metal detectorist Oliver Riedl, the hoard is the largest collection of coins from the reign of Emperor Hadrian ever found in Germany and the fifth largest known worldwide from his era.



Riedl was searching the field when his detector began signaling. He dug up one silver coin, then another and another. After recovering 15 coins, however, the signals showed no sign of stopping.

“It was clear to me that there was something bigger buried here,” Riedl said.

He immediately contacted the authorities, allowing archaeologists from the Nideggen branch of the Rhineland Regional Association’s Office for Archaeological Heritage Management to take over the excavation. What followed far exceeded expectations. Rather than simply removing the coins one by one, archaeologists carefully lifted the surrounding block of soil and transported it to the restoration workshop at the LVR State Museum in Bonn.



There, specialists X-rayed the block before painstakingly separating it layer by layer. Their careful approach revealed fragments of the ceramic container that had originally held the treasure, along with remnants of straw used to line it. Centuries of agricultural activity had eventually broken apart the pot and scattered the coins through the surrounding soil, but the archaeological team was able to locate and recover all 934 denarii.

The oldest coin was minted in 148 BCE, during the Roman Republic. The youngest dates to 124 or 125 CE, during the reign of Hadrian, who ruled from 117 to 138 CE. Most of the coins date from the reigns of the Flavian emperors between 69 and 96 CE, including numerous coins bearing the profiles of emperors such as Domitian.

That extraordinary age range offers more than a glimpse at Roman history. It demonstrates that silver coins could remain useful as currency for generations. When the hoard was buried during the second quarter of the second century CE, the oldest coin was already more than 270 years old — yet apparently still considered valuable and valid for payment.

And it represented a considerable fortune. A typical Roman legionary earned about 300 denarii annually, with roughly half withheld for provisions and equipment. To accumulate 934 denarii, a soldier would have needed to save essentially all of his available income for about six years.

Why someone buried such a fortune and never returned for it remains unknown. Perhaps the owner was protecting savings in an era without modern banks, or perhaps circumstances prevented the treasure from ever being reclaimed.

The hoard was presented to the public in Bonn on September 22, coinciding with the annual meeting of the West and South German Association for Archaeology, which brought approximately 300 archaeologists from across Germany together in the city. Visitors can now see the remarkable silver collection at the LVR State Museum in Bonn — nearly 1,900 years after someone carefully hid it in the ground.

Credits: Images courtesy of ©Marcel Zanjani/LVR-State Service for Archaeological Heritage in the Rhineland.

Welcome to Music Friday, when we celebrate songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. As Bill Withers introduced “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh” during his March 1974 appearance on The Midnight Special, he offered a deceptively simple explanation for the song: “It’s a funny thing how people who mean an awful lot to you can make you feel just bad sometimes.” Then he launched into one of soul music’s most memorable examinations of love’s contradictions.



The jewelry connection arrives in the very first line. Withers compares love to “a chunk of gold” that is “hard to gain, and hard to hold.” It’s a fitting metaphor for something precious that demands effort to acquire but can be surprisingly difficult to keep. The song quickly makes clear that the same love capable of producing laughter can also produce tears.

Withers deepens the metaphor with a rose. Love may be soft to touch and beautiful to behold, but “love has thorns,” and those thorns can hurt. The imagery captures the vulnerability that comes with giving yourself completely to another person. By the song’s emotional climax, Withers admits that he has given everything he has to give, leaving him defenseless when the relationship begins to unravel.

Then comes one of the song’s most striking images: a boulder perched at the top of a mountain. Once someone starts the rock rolling downhill, Withers observes, “you can’t make it stop.” The heavy, irreversible momentum becomes a metaphor for emotional choices.

“The Same Love That Made Me Laugh” appeared on Withers’s 1974 album +’Justments, with the title pronounced “add-justments.” Released as a single, it reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on the Billboard R&B chart. It also became a Top 40 hit in Canada. Diana Ross later recorded the song for her 1977 album Baby It’s Me.

Withers brought an unusually grounded perspective to his music. Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, WV, the youngest of six children, he grew up in a coal-mining town and struggled with a stutter. At 17, he joined the US Navy, serving for nine years and using speech therapy and singing to overcome his stutter.

After moving to Los Angeles, Withers worked at an aircraft plant while pursuing music, saving money to finance his own demo recordings. Even after “Ain’t No Sunshine” became a million-selling hit, he initially kept his day job, wary of the unpredictability of the music business. His eventual catalog included “Lean on Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Just the Two of Us,” among other enduring classics.

Withers won three Grammy Awards, including Best Rhythm & Blues Song for “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. He retired from performing and recording in the mid-1980s, leaving behind a remarkably influential body of work.

Withers died in Los Angeles on March 30, 2020, at age 81 from heart complications.

Please check out Withers's live performance of "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" on The Midnight Special. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"The Same Love That Made Me Laugh"
Written and performed by Bill Withers.

Your love is like a a chunk of gold
Hard to gain and hard to hold

Like a rose that's soft to touch
Love has gone and it hurts so much

Well and why...
Must the same love that made me laugh
Make me cry?

Well now you think of love as sittin' on a mountain
Think of it as being a great big rock
Won't you think before you started to roll it down
Because once you start it, you can't make it stop

I've given all I have to give
And if you don't want me
I don't want to live

Well and why...
Must the same love that made me laugh,
Why you wanna make me cry?
Why you wanna make me cry?
Why you wanna make me cry?
Why do you wanna make me mess up my pillow?
Got me cryin' like a weeping willow

Why you wanna make me cry?
Why you wanna make me cry?
Why you wanna make me cry?
Why you wanna make me cry?



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube / The Midnight Special.

More than a century ago, a passion for pink held by a powerful Chinese empress helped transform a remote corner of Southern California into one of the world’s most important sources of tourmaline. The unlikely connection between Empress Dowager Cixi, Tiffany & Co. and San Diego County’s gemstone mines makes October’s birthstone even more fascinating.



Cixi, who ruled China during the final decades of the Qing dynasty, was famously enamored with pink and pink tourmaline. Her enthusiasm created enormous demand at the Chinese Imperial Court, sending miners in San Diego County scrambling to uncover more of the rosy gem.



Between 1902 and 1910, approximately 120 tons of gem-quality pink tourmaline from San Diego County were shipped to China, according to the San Diego Natural History Museum. The Himalaya Mine in the Mesa Grande district was among the major producers, while other famous local deposits included the Tourmaline Queen, Tourmaline King, Stewart and Pala Chief mines.

Tiffany & Co. played an important role in connecting the California mines with the imperial court. Tiffany gemologist J.L. Tannenbaum commissioned Southern California miners to fulfill orders for the Chinese market. Once the tourmaline arrived in China, craftsmen carved the material into snuff bottles, decorative objects and jewelry.

Cixi died in 1908, and the Qing dynasty fell in 1912. With the loss of the imperial market, San Diego County’s tourmaline boom quickly faded. Yet the region continued to produce spectacular material, including a remarkable pocket at the Pala Stewart Mine in 1969 that yielded about a ton of hot-pink tourmaline.

The story is an extraordinary chapter in the history of a gemstone that seems almost designed to capture attention. Tourmaline has been an official October birthstone since 1952, when the National Association of Jewelers (now Jewelers of America) updated a list that hadn't changed since it was originated in 1912. Opal is October’s other official birthstone.

The name tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese words tura mali, meaning “stone with mixed colors.” Few gems live up to that description more dramatically. Tourmaline occurs in shades ranging from pink, red, peach and orange to green, blue, yellow, brown, purple and black. It can also display multiple colors within a single crystal, producing spectacular bi-color and tri-color gems.

Those colors are largely determined by trace elements incorporated into the tourmaline’s chemical structure. Lithium-rich varieties can produce blue, green, red, yellow and pink hues, while iron-rich tourmaline tends to be black or bluish-black. Different combinations of elements and crystal chemistry create the remarkable palette that makes the gem so distinctive.

Tourmaline is also durable enough for everyday jewelry, measuring 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. Today, important deposits are found in Brazil, Afghanistan, Madagascar, East Africa and elsewhere, while San Diego County remains celebrated for its historic gem-bearing pegmatites.

Credits: Tourmaline image by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Image of Empress Dowager Cixi (cropped) by John Yu Shuinling, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

It may look like a colorful slice of agate, but Fordite has a surprisingly industrial origin. Also known as Detroit agate, Motor City agate or paint rock, this eye-catching material is actually made from layers of hardened automotive paint salvaged from the factories where American cars were once manufactured.



Fordite isn't a gemstone or mineral in the geological sense. Instead, it is an accidental byproduct of an earlier era of automobile production — one that has been cut, polished and transformed into colorful cabochons for rings, pendants, earrings and other jewelry.



The story begins on the automotive assembly lines of the 20th century. When car bodies were painted by hand, overspray accumulated on the tracks, racks and skids that carried the vehicles through the factory. The paint-covered equipment then traveled with the cars into industrial ovens, where the paint was baked and hardened.

Then came another car, another color and another trip through the oven.



Repeated thousands of times, those layers eventually formed thick slabs of intensely cured paint. According to the Gemological Institute of America, one-inch-thick Fordite can contain approximately 997 layers of paint. Eventually, the buildup became too thick or obstructive and had to be removed. Some enterprising factory workers recognized that the discarded material revealed extraordinary patterns when cut and polished — and began saving it.



The resulting material can look remarkably geological. Waves, stripes, swirls and intricate bands of color mimic the patterns found in natural agate, while the particular colors can offer clues to the era and factory where the material originated. Fordite collected from the 1960s and 1970s is especially prized for its bold colors, reflecting the bright automotive finishes popular during those decades.

And Fordite isn't exclusively from Ford factories. The name has become a general term for automotive paint slag from various manufacturing plants. Material from the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, KY, for example, is sometimes called “corvetteite.”

For jewelry designers, every piece presents a little bit of automotive history in wearable form. A cutter can slice through the layers to reveal a particular pattern, then shape and polish the material into a lightweight cabochon. Because the layers vary from one piece to another, no two Fordite specimens look exactly alike.

There is also a finite-supply story behind the material. Modern automotive factories use electrostatic painting techniques that dramatically reduce overspray, eliminating the thick accumulations that produced classic Fordite. In other words, the old “Fordite mines” are essentially dry. What remains comes from material salvaged decades ago and preserved by collectors and former factory workers.

That scarcity, combined with its vivid colors and American manufacturing heritage, has helped transform an industrial nuisance into a collectible jewelry material.

Please check out the video of Duluth-based lapidary artist Taylor's first-hand experience with Fordite, below.



Credits: Screen captures via YouTube / Taylor's Rocksmithery.

The Carolina Hurricanes are celebrating their second Stanley Cup victory with a championship ring that turns an unforgettable hockey season into a dazzling piece of fine jewelry that's loaded with surprises. Unveiled September 27 at a private ceremony in Raleigh, NC, the white-gold ring was designed and created by Jason of Beverly Hills in collaboration with Hurricanes' leadership and features nearly 900 individually set diamonds and natural red rubies.



At the center of the ring’s face, the Carolina Hurricanes logo is rendered in round white diamonds and positioned atop a diamond-encrusted Stanley Cup trophy. A field of custom-cut red rubies provides a dramatic backdrop, while the words “STANLEY CUP” and “CHAMPIONS” frame the design in diamonds.

Sixty-six natural red rubies encircle the ring's perimeter, representing the 66 goals Carolina scored during its playoff run. A sculpted rope motif wraps around the ring as a symbol of teamwork, unity and shared responsibility. The design was inspired by a Hurricanes locker-room tradition in which players were reminded that everyone on the team was “pulling on the same rope.”



One side commemorates the 2026 championship with 53 points of diamonds spelling out “2026,” representing Carolina’s 53 regular-season victories. The phrase “STRESS GAME” appears nearby, capturing the Hurricanes’ relentless style of play built around pace, pressure and constant attack. The opposite side is personalized for each player, featuring the player’s name, jersey number and Hurricanes logotype.



Inside the shank, the ring records the team’s 16-3 postseason journey, including the result of every playoff series. Each player’s signature is also engraved along the bottom of the ring, making every ring a uniquely personal keepsake.

But perhaps the most delightful surprises are hidden inside.



A removable championship puck pendant rests within the ring. Engraved with the Stanley Cup and personalized with the player’s number, the miniature puck can be removed and worn separately. Once it is lifted out, a hidden image of Stormy, the Hurricanes mascot, is revealed. Stormy is circled with rubies and diamonds.



The puck also uncovers another distinctly Carolina detail: the North Carolina state flag sits beneath the ring top, surrounded by 42 white diamonds representing the 42 goals scored during the Eastern Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final. The flag is encircled by the players’ jersey numbers as a tribute to the team’s “Storm Surge” victory celebration.

Additional ruby details inside include 69 points of natural red rubies commemorating the team’s combined regular-season and postseason victories.

“Every detail reflects the character of this team, from the way we played to the people who made this season unforgettable,” Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky said.

Credit: Images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills.