Music Friday: Unlucky-in-Love Liam Gallagher Is Shining Like a 'Diamond in the Dark'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring new brand new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher laments his recent separation from a long-time love in the 2022 release, "Diamond in the Dark."

In the song he co-wrote with Michael Tighe and Andrew Wyatt, Gallagher uses gemstone imagery to paint a picture of a forlorn romantic suffering from loneliness, confusion and depression.

He sings, "I’m shining like a diamond in the dark / I’m floating like a lion in the ark / I’m walking round in circles through the park / And no tough talk will erase you."

The diamond in the dark represents something that could be beautiful and brilliant, but has failed to reach its potential. In fact, a diamond in the dark doesn't shine at all, because diamonds can only sparkle in the presence of light.

Released as the fourth single from Gallagher's third solo album, C'mon You Know, "Diamond in the Dark" has met with critical acclaim. Faroutmagazine.co.uk called the song "a top-down, driving anthem while basking in the summer sun with a slice of psychedelia thrown in for good measure." The album charted in 17 countries, including the coveted #1 spot on the UK Albums chart and #16 position on the Billboard US Top Album Sales chart.

Gallagher rose to fame during his successful 18-year run (1991 to 2009) as the frontman for the British rock band, Oasis. The group's biggest hit, "Wonderwall" (1995), sold 2.4 million copies.

The 49-year-old native of Manchester, England, launched his solo career in 2017 and received the MTV Europe Music Award for "Rock Icon" in 2019.

Please check out the video of Gallagher's live performance of "Diamond in the Dark." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Diamond in the Dark"
Written by Liam Gallagher, Michael Tighe and Andrew Wyatt. Performed by Liam Gallagher.

I left LA today
I’m on another plane
I spent too much time on the dark side of your door
I spent the night awake
Had all that I could take
I might not see those baby blue eyes anymore

Come on
I’m shining like a diamond in the dark
I’m floating like a lion in the ark
I’m walking round in circles through the park
And no tough talk will erase you
Now I know how many holes it takes, too
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

And there’s a fire in the sky
And baby there’s red dawn in my eyes
And all the meanings got so twisted since you're gone
And I guess I’ll hope you fine
But really you know I hope you’re crying
And there’s a million things to say since you been gone

Come on
I’m shining like a diamond in the dark
I’m floating like a lion in the ark
I’m walking round in circles through the park
And no tough talk will erase you
Now I know how many holes it takes, too
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

Desperate eyes
Don’t recognize the warning signs
Alibis
They won’t keep you warm at night

So come on
I’m shining like a diamond in the dark
I’m floating like a lion in the ark
I’m walking round in circles through the park
And no tough talk will erase you
Now I know how many holes it takes, too
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

Now I know how many holes it takes to
And I really don’t know how to shake these memories

Credit: Photo by Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

NYCFC Players Finally Receive Their 2021 MLS Cup Championship Rings

A little more than seven months after capturing their first-ever MLS Cup with a thrilling 4-2 shootout win over the Portland Timbers, members of the New York City Football Club finally received their 2021 championship rings during a ceremony last Thursday night.

Designed by Baron, the rings incorporate gemstone representations of the official team colors — light blue, dark blue and orange.

The ring top features the club’s “NYC” monogram logo — rendered in bezel-set, custom-cut dark blue gems — surrounded by round colorless diamonds and the "MLS Cup Champions" wordmark.

The right side of the ring pays homage to the team’s “UNDENYABLE” (the NY purposely outlined) slogan in yellow gold. Positioned above the slogan are the iconic NYCFC smokestacks, which are set off after every goal at home games to animate the crowd. Below the slogan is the date of the championship win — 12-11-21. Along the shoulder of the ring is a row of light blue gems.

The left side of the ring shows the player's name in raised white gold above the historic MLS Cup trophy embellished in yellow gold and accented with colorless diamonds. Within the trophy is the player's number, also in raised white gold. As with the other side, the shoulder of the ring is adorned with a row of light blue gems.

On the inside of the ring, an engraving shows the names of NYCFC’s playoff opponents along with the score of each game. The shank is set with seven stones representing the years the club has been in the league. Six are colorless diamonds, but the seventh is an orange stone representing the team's first-ever MLS Cup title.

During the championship game, the Portland Timbers evened the score at 1-1 with a dramatic 94th-minute equalizer at their home field, Providence Park. After a scoreless overtime session, the outcome was finally decided by a suspenseful shootout that saw NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson stopping two Timbers attempts.

Prior to receiving their rings on Thursday, representatives of the team got to ring the Closing Bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square.

The 2021 MLS championship marked the first title for a New York sports franchise since the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season. What's more, no New York team had won a soccer championship since the New York Cosmos pulled off the feat in 1982.

Credits: Images courtesy of Baron Championship Rings 2022.

Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet Featuring 6 Precious Stones Is Now a Real-Life Collectible

The Infinity Gauntlet featuring the Six Infinity Stones from the Marvel Universe is now a real-life collectible, thanks to a collaboration between Marvel and East Continental Gems. The six precious stones boast a combined total weight of more than 150 carats and are valued at $25 million.

The one-of-a-kind collectible was unveiled last week at the Marvel booth at San Diego Comic-Con.

Worn by Thanos, one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, the gauntlet is embedded with colorful gems, each imbued with a unique special power related to Time, Space, Reality, Mind, Power and Soul.

“There has never been anything as exciting and interesting in the Marvel Universe than the prized Infinity Stones, and as a fourth-generation jeweler and fan, I am honored that Marvel entrusted us with the monumental task of curating the Infinity Gem Collection for our universe,” said Adam Mirzoeff, President of East Continental Gems.

Mirzoeff told The Hollywood Reporter that as he watched Avengers: Endgame with his kids he became intrigued by how the gemstones of the gauntlet played such a critical role in the plot line.

“When I saw the Time Stone onscreen and how meaningful it is to the entire narrative of the Marvel universe, for me, it was very meaningful to be watching that with my children,” Mirzoeff told The Hollywood Reporter.

Then he wondered if Marvel had an actual set of Infinity Stones.

When he learned the answer was "No," Mirzoeff got to work assembling the gems that would make up the Infinity Collection, assigning a specific stone to each special power.

He told The Hollywood Reporter, “I had to reach into my safe and our collection and think, ‘Which stone is worthy of the title?'”

To represent The Time Stone, Mirzoeff selected a Colombian emerald weighing just under 23 carats. The untreated, emerald-cut gem carries documentation from four gem laboratories and was unearthed at the turn of the last century. In the Marvel Universe, The Time Stone has the ability to manipulate time, even in places beyond time.

The Space Stone is a cushion-cut, 30-plus-carat sapphire that was sourced on the island of Madagascar. The Space Stone allows its user to exist in any location, move throughout different realities, warp or rearrange space and teleport across planes regardless of the laws of physics or magical barriers.

The Reality Stone is an oval-shaped, natural ruby from Mozambique that weighs more than 15 carats. Marvel explains that tasks, realities, concepts, visions — things that would normally be impossible to realize — are made possible with the Reality Stone. And they can be done on a universal scale. In other words, aside from the power to will anything in or out of existence, it can retroactively create alternate realities around those changes.

The Power Stone is an oval-shaped, natural amethyst weighing more than 35 carats. The Power Stone allows its users to access and manipulate all forms of energy as well as enhance their own physical strength and durability. This jewel also boosts the effects of the five other stones. The ultimate power behind the Power Stone — and why it sits at a place of honor on the Infinity Gauntlet — does not necessarily come from the stone itself, but from how the it interacts with the others.

The Soul Stone is a cushion-cut spessartite weighing more than 35 carats. The first of all the stones to appear in Marvel lore, The Soul Stone served as inspiration for all the rest. It can manipulate the soul and essence of a person, control life and death and contains a pocket dimension called the Soul World.

The Mind Stone is a high-clarity, intense-color, rectangular brilliant-cut yellow diamond weighing nearly 35 carats. The Mind Stone allows its user to heighten abilities, such as telepathy and telekinesis, and — when combined with the Power Stone — access all minds in existence concurrently.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel teased the fact that East Continental Gems will be issuing a limited-edition Reality Stone in September 2022 as part of a future collection. More details will be announced at a later date.

Credits: Images courtesy of Marvel / East Continental Gems.

Queen Elizabeth II's Iconic Jewelry Goes on Display at Buckingham Palace

Many of the most notable and recognizable items from Queen Elizabeth II's jewelry collection — including the breathtaking and historic Diamond Diadem — are now on public display in Buckingham Palace as part of a 10-week exhibition.

The special presentation titled "Platinum Jubilee: The Queen’s Accession" celebrates the start of the 96-year-old monarch's historic reign and centers upon 24 official portraits of The Queen taken by the photographer Dorothy Wilding, alongside items of jewelry worn by Her Majesty for the portrait sittings. Some of the items are on public display for the first time.

Wilding began taking photographs of members of the Royal Family in the 1920s. In May 1937, she became the first official female royal photographer when she was appointed to take the portraits at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

Ten years later, in July 1947, Wilding was called upon to capture the official engagement portraits for Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, and in February 1952 she was commissioned to take the first official photographs of the new Queen Elizabeth, just 20 days after the Accession.

The series of photographs that Wilding took during two sessions in 1952 have become some of the most enduring images of Queen Elizabeth II and many have formed the basis for the profiles and silhouettes that we see on stamps and coins to this day.

Among the amazing jewelry items on display is a sapphire and diamond Cartier bracelet, which was given to Elizabeth by her father, King George VI, on her 18th birthday in 1944.

Another birthday gift was the South Africa necklace, given to Princess Elizabeth for her 21st birthday by the Government and Union of South Africa. The necklace originally consisted of 21 brilliant-cut diamonds, but in 1952 it was shortened. The six removed stones were made into a matching bracelet, which is also be on display.

One of Her Majesty’s most recognizable jewels is The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. The diamond tiara was a gift to the future Queen Mary, on the occasion of her marriage to the future King George V in 1893.

Queen Mary, in turn, gave the tiara as a wedding present to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, in November 1947, along with the Dorset Bow Brooch and a pair of diamond bangles. The bangles, which are on display for the first time, are thought to have been made in India, where traditionally one would be worn on each wrist to signify matrimony.

Another wedding gift was the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace. The Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad had instructed Cartier in London to allow Princess Elizabeth to select a wedding gift herself. This platinum necklace set with approximately 300 diamonds was what she chose. The Queen wore the necklace for her second sitting with Dorothy Wilding in April 1952, and it was these photographs that were chosen to form the basis of Her Majesty’s image on postage stamps from 1953 until 1971.

According to The Royal Collection Trust, the second sitting was coordinated so that additional portraits could be taken of The Queen wearing a coronet, as this was deemed to be more appropriate for official use on coins and postage stamps.

A crown could not be worn because the official Coronation was not to take place until June 2, 1953, so the Diamond Diadem (top photo) was selected. Originally created for George IV’s extravagant coronation in 1821 and set with 1,333 brilliant-cut diamonds, the Diamond Diadem was worn by The Queen on the day of her Coronation and has been worn by Her Majesty on her journey to and from the State Opening of Parliament since the first year of her reign.

The Queen’s final sitting with Dorothy Wilding took place in May 1956, shortly before Wilding retired. The Queen is shown wearing the Vladimir Tiara, which was made for Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia around 1874 and sold by her daughter to Queen Mary in 1921.

Inherited by The Queen in 1953, the tiara is unusual in that it can be worn in a variety of ways, as its pendant emeralds can be removed or substituted for pearls.

“The Platinum Jubilee: The Queen’s Accession” runs through October 2, 2022.

Credits: Images courtesy of Royal Collection Trust / © All Rights Reserved.

LA Rams' Super Bowl Rings Contain 20 Carats of Diamonds, Turf and Game Ball Leather

The Super Bowl LVI rings presented to the Los Angeles Rams' players, coaches and staff on Thursday set a record for the highest diamond carat weight in the history of NFL championship rings while pushing the envelope of conventional design.

Certainly, each ring pops with 20 carats of white diamonds, along with custom-cut blue and yellow sapphires set in white and yellow gold. But what really stands out is a top that spins off to reveal a miniature SoFi stadium complete with remnants of actual field turf and a snippet of game ball leather.

Jason Arasheben, CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills, described how he and Rams' team members immersed themselves in the design process. It was important for Arasheben to really understand the dynamics of the team, the season and the city.

Arasheben explained, "We spent an entire day at SoFi Stadium. The first thing I said was, 'What can you get me from the game? The field? Ball? What else?" I didn't just want it to be historical in design, but have physical elements from the event as well. It all adds value and authenticity, creating a one-of-a-kind piece of memorabilia."

The ring commemorates the Rams' historic 23-20 Super Bowl win over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, the stunning $5 billion state-of-the-art complex that officially opened in September of 2020. The ring's 20-carat total weight is a nod to the 2020 grand opening. It was only the second time in NFL history that a team has won the Super Bowl in their home stadium. (NFL fans know that Super Bowl locations are planned many years in advance.)

The face of the ring features the Vince Lombardi Trophy, comprised of one marquise stone and a trophy base rendered in .12 carats of round diamonds to represent the team's 12 regular season wins. The palm trees on either side of the Trophy celebrate Los Angeles and consist of .26 carats of diamonds representing the franchise's 26 total postseason wins. The Rams' LA logo features special-cut blue and yellow sapphires.

Given the significance of SoFi Stadium to the Rams and the story of the entire 2021 NFL season, the shape of the Super Bowl LVI ring mimics architectural and design elements of the stadium, including the tall columns that support the translucent canopy roof. The .23 carats of diamonds on the stadium columns represent the 23 points scored in the Super Bowl to secure a Rams victory.

With a simple twist, the removable top opens to reveal a miniature of SoFi Stadium's bowl, complete with the Infinity Screen. The green turf is rendered with paint infused with pulverized remnants of the actual turf used during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The underside of the removable top features an interpretation of SoFi Stadium's translucent, new-generation plastic roof surrounded by a piece of a Super Bowl LVI game ball.

With their rings turned sideways, players can look right through to the other side, as well as peek in on the inner bowl of the stadium and check out the messaging on the Infinity Screen. The actual Infinity Screen by Samsung is suspended 122 feet above the field and boasts the largest LED content playback system ever deployed. The 70,000 square-foot, dual-sided video board comes to life with nearly 80 million pixels spaced 8 millimeters from center to center.

One side of the ring features the player's name with their number adorned in diamonds. The name is featured on a plate that mimics the extreme horizontal shape of the Infinity Screen. Below the player's number is the team’s “We Not Me” motto.

The other side of the ring shows the Super Bowl LVI final score of 23-20, as well as the NFL Shield and Super Bowl LVI logo. "WORLD CHAMPIONS" is featured on a plate that also mimics the shape of the Infinity Screen.

The 1.12 carats of round diamonds on the top of the ring represent January 12, honoring a key recurring date in Rams history: On January 12, 2016, the Rams were approved to move back to Los Angeles; on January 12, 2017, the Rams hired Head Coach Sean McVay, and on January 12, 2019, the Rams beat the Cowboys for their first playoff victory after returning to LA.

The underside of the ring features all the final scores of all the playoff games of the 2021 season, including Super Bowl LVI.

The team just released a four-minute video that presents an insider's look at the design and fabrication of the Rams' Super Bowl LVI Ring. You can see it here…

Credits: Images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills.

Music Friday: Gypsies Claim, 'If You Wear Golden Earrings Love Will Come to You'

Welcome to Music Friday when we frequently feature throwback songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, music legend Willie Nelson sings his rendition of the haunting love song, “Golden Earrings.”

Originally performed by Murvyn Vye in the romantic 1947 spy film of the same name, “Golden Earrings” tells the story of how golden earrings take on mystical qualities when they are worn by a man.

The song begins like this: “There’s a story the gypsies know is true / That when your love wears golden earrings / He belongs to you.”

The next verse states: “An old love story that’s known to very few / But if you wear these golden earrings / Love will come to you.”

Now, if you’re wondering why a guy is wearing golden earrings, the answer lies in the plot of the movie… On the eve of World War II, a British colonel, played by Ray Milland, escapes from the Gestapo to the Black Forest and poses as the beau of a beautiful gypsy (Marlene Dietrich) to elude his captors.

As Les Adams outlined for IMDB.com: “She pierces his ears for dazzling golden earrings, stains his skin, dresses him in [gypsy] clothes and teaches him to read palms. His disguise is perfect and he emerges unharmed from several encounters with Nazi patrols.”

Over the past 69 years, “Golden Earrings” has been covered by no fewer than 50 artists, including Peggy Lee (who scored a hit in 1947), Bobby Darin (1964) and Nelson (1983).

In Nelson’s rendition, the line “He belongs to you” is changed to “She belongs to you.”

“Golden Earrings” was the sixth track on Nelson’s album Without a Song, a release that ascended to #3 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album also ranked #54 on the U.S Billboard 200.

Willie Hugh Nelson was born in Abbott, TX, in 1933, and during his 66-year career has demonstrated a wide range of talents. The American icon is a musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor and activist. He has recorded 97 studio albums and appeared in more than 30 films and television shows. At 89 years old, he still has an active touring schedule.

This summer, he will be appearing in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and California.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, won the lifetime award of the Library of Congress in 2015 and was honored by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “100 Greatest Singers” and “100 Greatest Guitarists” of all time.

Please check out the video of Nelson performing “Golden Earrings.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Golden Earrings”
Written by Victor Young, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston. Performed by Willie Nelson.

There is a story the gypsies know is true
That when your love wears golden earrings,
She belongs to you.

An old love story that’s known to very few,
But if you wear these golden earrings,
Love will come to you.

By the burning fire, they will glow with ev’ry coal.
And you feel desire whisper low inside your soul.

So be my gypsy,
Make love your guiding light,
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight.

By the burning fire, they will glow with ev’ry coal.
And you will hear desire whisper low inside your soul.

So be my gypsy,
Make love your guiding light,
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight.

So be my gypsy,
Make love your guiding light,
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight.

Credits: Willie Nelson photo by Flickr user @giovanni, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lucky Charms' Limited-Edition Cereal Features Diamond-Shaped 'Magic Gems'

A 15-second commercial for Lucky Charms breakfast cereal reveals the magical story behind the new rainbow-speckled, diamond-shaped marshmallow charms that have been added to the limited-edition summertime rollout.

The "Magic Gems" commercial opens with two young explorers looking for Lucky the Leprechaun in a dense jungle.

"Where's Lucky," asks the boy.

"I know he's around here somewhere," answers the girl as he she peers down the void of a hollowed out tree stump.

The camera's point of view dives deep underground, where we see Lucky collecting a gleaming white Magic Gem to help him navigate a goblin's den.

Lucky says, "Rainbow Gems, you are the spark with your rainbow sparkles. I can see in the dark."

The back of the cereal box explains the fantastical backstory, that "Magic Gems have been stowed away in the goblin's den for centuries and hold the power of rainbow vision to see in the dark, helping whoever finds them navigate their way through the darkest of places."

As generations of Lucky Charms fans already know, the cereal contains colorful marshmallow charms, each of which bestow upon Lucky their own special powers: hearts (power to bring things to life), shooting stars (power to fly), horseshoes (power to speed things up), clovers (luck, but you never know what kind of luck you’ll get), blue moons (power of invisibility), rainbows (instantaneous travel from place to place), balloons (power to make things float) and unicorns (power to bring color to the world).

Food reviewers have generally given the "Magic Gems" edition of Lucky Charms a collective thumbs up, although they agreed that the taste of the rainbow-speckled, diamond-shaped "gem" was indistinguishable from the other marshmallow charms.

It's hard to imagine that Lucky Charms is celebrating its 58th year in the General Mills lineup.

The sweet treat was a conceived by product developer John Holahan, whose prototype was a mixture of Cheerios cereal pieces mixed with chopped up fragments of his favorite candy — Circus Peanuts.

According to General Mills, Lucky Charms debuted in 1964 with oat cereal in the shapes of bells, fish, arrowheads, clovers and X’s, complemented by marshmallows in the shapes of green clovers, pink hearts, orange stars and yellow moons.

Today, the marshmallow pieces in Lucky Charms are officially called “marbits.” Of the original marbits, only the pink hearts remain.

Trivia: Lucky the Leprechaun was replaced in 1975 by a character named Waldo the Wizard. Waldo's gig didn't last long. Lucky reclaimed his spot less than a year later.

Credits: Lucky Charms box photo via luckycharms.com. Lucky Charms commercial screen capture via Youtube / 325 Entertainment.