Grand Island Man Celebrates 80th Birthday With Class Ring He Lost More Than 60 Years Ago

A Grand Island, NE, man celebrated his 80th birthday with a class ring he lost more than 60 years ago — thanks to the "pay it forward" attitude of a North Platte couple that shares a love for metal detecting and making the world a better place.

Greg and Crystal Mattke were treasure hunting in front of a local high school recently when Greg picked up an unusual signal on his metal detector.

“The machines talk to you if you know how to listen to them and what to look for on your screen,” Greg told The Grand Island Independent. “It was actually a number that I wouldn’t normally dig.”

Fortunately for octogenarian Dale Sheeks, Greg decided to give it a go.

He took his trowel and dug down 6 inches and encountered a tangle of surface roots.

Greg nearly gave up, but decided to dig a little further.

At 7 inches deep, he reached into the hole and found Sheeks' 1958 Wood River High School class ring.

Greg couldn't imagine how the Wood River ring found its way to Madison Senior High School more than 100 miles away.

After the couple got home and cleaned off the ring, they could tell that there were initials inscribed, which led them to Sheeks in Grand Island. Administrators at the Wood River school were able to connect the ring to Sheeks within two hours.

In a strange stroke of luck, Sheeks' nephew works for the Wood River schools, and as soon as he heard about the school ring find, he connected his uncle with the Mattkes.

Gregg recounted, “He called me and said, ‘I just had my 80th birthday and I’m just so excited to get this back.’”

Sheeks told Greg that he married his high school sweetheart right after their graduation in 1958 and divorced one year later.

She apparently took the ring without him knowing it and lost it at a football game at Madison High School.

The Mattkes hand-delivered Sheeks' class ring, along with balloons, a congratulatory cake and a T-shirt from his high school.

Sheeks was brought to tears when he saw his class ring for the first time in 62 years.

“Paying it forward, you’ve got to pay things forward,” Greg told The Grand Island Independent. “People have done stuff for me and this is an opportunity for us to do something for somebody else, which is a part of who we are.”

Please check out The Grand Island Independent's full story and video at this link.

Credits: Screen captures via theindependent.com.

Did You Know That the Vibrant Red Spinel Is an Official Birthstone for August?

Back in 2016, the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America (JA) announced that spinel would be joining peridot and sardonyx as an official birthstone for the month of August.

It was only the third update to the modern birthstone list, which was created in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association, now known as JA.

“At certain moments in history, when there is a strong call from gem enthusiasts to expand the list of official birthstones, Jewelers of America believes in recognizing the importance of historically significant gemstones and giving gemstone lovers a choice that suits their preferences,” said JA President and CEO David Bonaparte at the time.

Spinel has been called “the great impostor of gemstone history” because some of the most famous “rubies” seen in crown jewels around the world are actually spinels.

“Ancient gemstone merchants revered spinel, and it was widely sought after by royalty," AGTA CEO Doug Hucker added. “It was then known as ‘balas ruby.’ It wasn’t until the late 18th century that we developed the technology acumen necessary to distinguish spinel as a separate mineral from ruby. We are very excited to announce it as the newest member of the official birthstone list.”

According to the Smithsonian, it wasn’t until 1783 that spinel was recognized as a mineral distinct from corundum (ruby and sapphire). Ruby is composed of aluminum oxide, while spinel is made of magnesium aluminum oxide. Both get their reddish color from impurities of chromium in their chemical structure.

For centuries, royal jewelry “experts” could not tell the difference between a ruby and a spinel.

For instance, the 398-carat ruby-red gem that tops the Imperial Crown of Russia commissioned by Catherine the Great in was thought to be a ruby, but turned out to be a spinel. The 361-carat Timur Ruby, which was presented by the East India Company to Queen Victoria as a gift, was also later identified as a spinel. And the 170-carat Black Prince Ruby, which is prominently displayed on the Imperial State Crown of England, was, in fact, an uncut spinel.

While spinel is best known for its ability to imitate the color of ruby, the gem comes in a variety of colors, including soft pastel shades of pink and purple, fiery oranges, and cool hues ranging from powdery gray to intense blue. It is a durable gem with a hardness of 8.0 on the Mohs scale. By comparison, diamond rates a 10 and ruby rates a 9.

The spinel ring shown, above, was sourced in Tanzania and is now part of the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection. According to the Smithsonian, in 2007, several large spinel crystals were found near Mahenge, Tanzania. The 10.19-carat spinel in the ring exhibits the intense pink-red color and exceptional clarity attributed to this locality. The Smithsonian acquired the ring in 2017.

The Mahenge spinel specimens were unique because they seemed to possess an inner glow, even in low-light conditions. The colors of these spinels ranged from orangey pink to vivid pinkish red to cherry red. Miners searched the Mahenge region extensively for larger deposits of this beautiful gemstone, but came up empty.

Spinels are most commonly sourced in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Brazil, Cambodia, Kenya, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Credit: Ring photo by Greg Polley/Smithsonian.

Music Friday: Lisa Lisa Sings About Her '14-Karat Love' in 1987’s #1 Hit, ‘Head to Toe’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam sing about a 14-karat love in their #1 hit from the summer of 1987, “Head to Toe.”

Lisa Lisa (born Lisa Velez) uses jewelry metaphors, pop culture references and what Ad Age magazine called the best advertising slogan of the 20th century to illustrate just how much she cherishes her guy — a guy who used to be her best friend and now is her boyfriend. She sings, “14-karat love, you are my Jewel of the Nile / When we make love, diamonds are forever.”

Penned for a De Beers marketing campaign in 1947 by NW Ayer copywriter Mary Frances Gerety, the brilliant four-word tagline “A Diamond Is Forever” has inspired an Ian Fleming novel, a James Bond flick, an iconic theme song by Shirley Bassey and Lisa Lisa's "Head to Toe."

The Jewel of the Nile was a blockbuster action-adventure movie from 1985 starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

The dance number, which zoomed to the top of the U.S. Billboard 100 chart, is one of the iconic dance tunes of the 1980s. It features a Freestyle vibe seasoned with a generous sprinkling of soul, electro-funk, Latin rhythms and hip-hop. It’s the type of song that would come up on a playlist alongside the early work of Paula Abdul, Gloria Estefan and Sheila E.

“Head to Toe” was composed by Full Force, a long-time production and songwriting powerhouse. According to music trivia website SongFacts.com, the girlfriend of Full Force member Paul Anthony blurted out what would become the song’s catchy hook during their gym workout.

Apparently she was so impressed by his physique that she screamed that “she loved him from head to toe.” Anthony brought that nugget to the rest of the group and, before long, a chart topper was born with the unforgettable hook, “Ooh, baby, I think I love you / From head to toe.”

“Head to Toe” appeared on Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam’s Spanish Fly album, a critically acclaimed work that sold more than one million copies and spawned two #1 hits. The other was the memorable “Lost in Emotion.”

The Harlem-based Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam consisted of lead vocalist Velez, guitarist/bassist Alex “Spanador” Moseley and drummer/keyboardist Mike Hughes. The group was assembled and produced by Full Force, which has worked with a long list of top acts, such as Britney Spears, James Brown, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, La Toya Jackson, Patty LaBelle and Selena.

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam enjoyed a successful seven-year run from 1984 to 1991. We invite you to check out the official video of “Head to Toe.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Head To Toe”
Written by Full Force. Performed by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam.

Head to toe
I know

Today started with a crazy kiss
On our way home
We were in for a surprise
Who would have known

Who would have thought that we would become lovers
As friends we were so, so tight
Can’t help myself, you make me feel so right
I got to, got to, got to tell you, darlin’

Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe
Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe

I think I love you from head to toe
I know

Here today, gone tomorrow
It’s possible, but I doubt it
His kiss is credit in the bank of love
I never leave home without it

He’s different from any boy I know
Body supreme
Bedroom eyes, head back to the side
Please don’t be so mean

14-karat love, you are my Jewel of the Nile
When we make love, diamonds are forever
Top to bottom I love you, I will leave you never
I got to, got to, got to tell you, darlin’

Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe
Ooh, baby, I’ve got to kiss you
From head to toe

Ooh, baby, I think I love you
You got to know
Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe

I think I love you from head to toe
You can’t hurry love, you got to take it slow
But my angel, you forget your wings tonight [Heaven up above]
Baby, you got the love

14-karat love, you are my Jewel of the Nile
When we make love, diamonds are forever
Top to bottom I love you, I will leave you never
I got to, got to, got to tell you, darlin’

Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe
Ooh, baby, I want to kiss you
From head to toe

Ooh, baby, I think I love you
You got to know
Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe

I think I love you from head to toe
I know

Ooh, baby, I want to kiss you
From head to toe
Ooh, baby, I think I love you
You got to know

Ooh, baby, I think I love you
From head to toe

Credit: Screen capture via Youtube.com.

Back-to-Back: Famous Diamond Mines Yield Two Stones With Combined Weight of 736 Carats

On back-to-back days last week, Lucara Diamonds and Petra Diamonds unveiled gem-quality white diamonds weighing a combined 736.42 carats.

On July 29, Lucara announced the recovery of a 393.5-carat Type IIa gem-quality white diamond from its Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana.

Just one day earlier, Petra unveiled a 342.92-carat Type IIa exceptional white diamond discovered at its Cullinan mine in South Africa.

Both mines have been in the news lately because of a string of impressive diamonds coming from each location.

In late June, we reported on Lucara’s discovery of a 1,174-carat rough diamond — the third-largest in history and the fourth diamond from Botswana to tip the scales at more than 1,000 carats.

The mining company noted that the stone was actually the largest fragment from a much larger rough diamond that failed to survive the sorting process. Several other similar-color fragments from the main stone weighed 471 carats, 218 carats and 159 carats, for a grand total of 2,022.

Lucara reported that its 393-carat gem is the seventh diamond greater than 300 carats to be recovered at Karowe this year.

Meanwhile, 745 km (462 mi) away at the Cullinan mine, Petra Diamonds was also riding a wave of good fortune. In early June, the mining company unearthed an exceptional 39.34-carat blue diamond that yielded more than $1 million per carat via a special tender on July 12.

The 119-year-old Cullinan Mine (originally known as the Premier Mine) is credited with producing seven of the world’s largest 50 rough diamonds based on carat weight. These include the 507-carat Cullinan Heritage, 599-carat Centenary, 755-carat Golden Jubilee and the largest rough diamond ever discover — the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond.

Petra noted that the newly discovered 342.92-carat gem is likely to be sold via the company’s tender in September.

The diamonds revealed by the two mining companies last week are both Type IIa stones, which means they are colorless and chemically pure with no traces of nitrogen or boron impurities.

Credits: 393.5-carat diamond image courtesy of Lucara Diamonds. 342.92-carat diamond image courtesy of Petra Diamonds.

Ancient Egyptians Weren’t Far Off When They Celebrated Peridot as the ‘Gem of the Sun’

The Ancient Egyptians mined peridot on the Red Sea island of Zabargad and celebrated the vibrant green stone as the “gem of the sun.” Thousands of years later, modern scientists have proven that August’s official birthstone is truly extraterrestrial, as it has been found embedded within meteorites and scattered across the surface of Mars.

While nearly all of the peridot that you see in your jeweler’s showcase was born deep within the Earth’s mantel, some very special specimens originated in deep space.

Did you know that translucent gem-quality peridot is a prominent part of a stony-iron meteorite called a pallasite? The formation contains large gem crystals in a silvery honeycomb of nickel-iron.

A beautiful example of this phenomenon is seen in the Fukang meteorite, which was discovered near Fukang, China, in 2000. The 2,200 lb (1,003 kg) mass was obtained by a Chinese dealer, who removed a 44 lb chunk from the main mass and exhibited the specimen at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in 2005.

The photo, above, shows a slice from the Fukang pallasite. The greenish-yellow areas are gem-quality peridot in various shapes, from rounded to angular. They range in size from 5 mm to several centimeters.

The main mass of the Fukang pallasite reportedly contains peridot clusters up to 11 cm (4.3 in) in diameter.

Peridot is also credited with being the first gem to be discovered on another planet. The Mars landing of 2003 revealed that green peridot crystals — in the form of the gem’s less-precious cousin, olivine — cover about 19,000 square miles of the Red Planet’s surface.

In addition to being the official birthstone of August, peridot is also the 16th anniversary gemstone. Colors range from pure green to yellowish-green to greenish-yellow, but the finest hue is green without any hint of yellow or brown, according to the Gemological Institute of America.

The world’s largest faceted peridot weighs 310 carats and is part of the Smithsonian’s National Gem and Mineral Collection.

Credits: Pallasite slice by Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Peridot grouping by Chip Clark/National Gem and Mineral Collection, Smithsonian.

Tokyo Olympic Gold Medal Has a Melt Value of $832, But This One From 1936 Fetched $1.46MM

If the gold medals awarded at this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo were made of pure gold, each would carry a precious metal value of $35,556. Unfortunately for the 339 athletes who will earn the ultimate symbol of athletic achievement at these Games, the gold medals are actually made of 500 grams of silver overlaid with 6 grams of gold. The melt value is just $832 — far from the $1.46 million paid in 2013 for Jesse Owens' 1936 Olympic gold medal.

There was a time when Olympic gold medals were actually made from pure gold, with the last ones awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, back in 1912. Starting in 1916, the International Olympic Committee mandated that gold medals be made with a 24-karat gilding of exactly 6 grams (.211 ounces).

On rare occasions, Olympic gold medals will appear at auction and this is where their real values are reflected.

Back in 2013, billionaire Ron Burkle plunked down $1.46 million at SCP Auctions for a Jesse Owens gold medal from the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was the highest price ever paid for a piece of Olympic memorabilia.

Owens’ performance in Berlin was one of the most significant in Olympic history because German führer Adolf Hitler was convinced the Games would showcase what he believed was the superiority of the Aryan race. Instead, the 23-year-old son of an Alabama share cropper embarrassed the German dictator by dominating his athletes with decisive wins in the 100- and 200-meter dash, the long jump and as a member of the 4×100 meter relay team.

In 2019, Goldin Auctions offered for sale a second Owens gold medal from the same Berlin Olympics. That medal was sold to an online bidder for $615,000.

Of the four gold medals captured by Owens, the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. The one purchased by Burkle in 2013 had been gifted by Owens to his good friend, entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. The medal came to SCP Auctions via the estate of Robinson’s wife, Elaine Plaines-Robinson.

The Owens medal sold by Goldin Auctions had been owned by the family of John Terpak, Sr., a weightlifter who met Owens during the 1936 Games. Owens apparently gifted the medal to Terpak in appreciation of his generosity and kindness.

Interestingly, Owens’ 1936 medal is significantly smaller than the ones being awarded in Tokyo. It measures 55mm in diameter (compared to 85mm for the Tokyo medal) is 5mm thick (vs. 7.7mm to 12.1mm thick) and weighs 71 grams (vs. 556 grams).

If Owens' gold medal was made of pure gold it would have a melt value of $4,450. Since it was made primarily of silver, its melt value is just over $442.

Credits: Gold medals courtesy of Goldin Auctions. Jesse Owens photo by N.N., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Music Friday: Lady A Sings, ‘You Shine Like Diamonds’ in 2008’s ‘Love’s Lookin’ Good on You’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today we have country music trio Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) singing “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You” from the group's 2008 chart-topping album.

The premise of the song is that a woman in love undergoes a beautiful and undeniable transformation. She beams with confidence, her eyes are twice as bright and she looks like a million bucks.

Lady A sings, “How your sweet smile has a way of / Lighting up the room / Yeah you shine like diamonds / In everything you do / Oh love, love, love is looking good / Good, good on you.”

“Love’s Lookin’ Good on You” is the sixth track on the group’s inaugural album Lady Antebellum, which was released in April of 2008 and made its debut at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country albums chart. It was also a crossover success, as it reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums chart.

(Lady Antebellum changed its name to Lady A in 2020 because another artist, Anita White, had been performing under that name for more than 20 years.)

The five-time Grammy-award-winning Lady A is composed of the multitalented trio of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) and Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin). The group got its start in Nashville in 2006 and signed with Capitol Records a year later.

The trio is credited with 11 chart-topping songs, five billion digital streams and 18 million albums sold.

Check out the awesome 2008 live performance of Lady A singing “Love’s Lookin’ Good on You.” The studio session was sponsored by radio station 96.9 “The Kat” in Charlotte, NC. And, as always, the lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Love’s Lookin’ Good on You”
Written by Victoria Lynn Shaw, Jason Deere and Matt Lopez. Performed by Lady A.

Oh baby, baby something’s just a little bit different
In your eyes tonight,
Why they look twice as bright.
Oh baby, baby something’s changed,
That I can’t quite put my finger on,
Well I’ve been racking my brain,
Wait just a minute,
Well hold on now,
Well I’ll get it.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

Ooh baby, baby,
Isn’t it funny,
How we don’t need any money,
Just a little love to look like a million bucks

Ooh baby, baby,
Kinda makes you think that the stars were in sync on the night we met.
There’ll probably be a red carpet everywhere you go,
Throw it on out hey don’t you know.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

I knew right away from the very first kiss,
That it just doesn’t get much better than this.
We fit just like a favorite pair of jeans.
We just keep coming back for more,
Like two kids in a candy store.
And now I know what everybody means when they say.

Love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you,
Can you feel it
Oh everybody sees it.
How your sweet smile has a way of,
Lighting up the room,
Yeah you shine like diamonds,
In everything you do.
Oh love, love, love is looking good,
Good, good on you.

I’m telling you mighty mighty good babe.

Love, love, love is looking,
Good, good, good on you,
Love is looking good on you.

Love, love, love is looking
Good, good, good on you

Love, love, love is looking,
Good, good, good on you

Credit: Photo by zqvol, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

For the Second Time This Month, TSA Reunites Panicked Traveler With Lost Diamond

We think it's fair to say that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is VERY good at finding loose diamonds.

Last week, we recounted the story of how the TSA reunited distraught newlyweds with a diamond lost at a security checkpoint at JFK International Airport in New York City. Today, we tell the story of how a former Mrs. Alaska was reunited with a very sentimental diamond that popped out of her ring in the baggage claim area of Ketchikan Airport 3,400 miles away in Alaska.

Danielle Wakefield, Mrs. Alaska 2017 and assistant coach for the Anchorage-based Nunaka Valley Little League softball team, flew to Ketchikan to participate in a state softball youth tournament last week. Wakefield exited the airport without realizing that the center diamond of her engagement ring — a diamond given to her by her late father — somehow got dislodged.

Wakefield's trip to the tournament required a ferry ride, and that's when she noticed her diamond was missing.

“By the time I had gotten off the ferry, I felt my ring — and my diamond was gone,” she told the Ketchikan Daily News. “I couldn’t go back.”

On the suggestion of her mother, Wakefield turned to Facebook to get the message out about her lost diamond.

In a post punctuated by two blue heart emojis and a sobbing face emoji, Wakefield wrote, "I lost my diamond in Ketchikan, Alaska between Alaska Airlines flight 64 and the ferry drop off on the other side of the channel between 4:45 pm and 5:15 pm on July 15, 2021. It would not be that big of a deal but this is the only thing I have from my late father and I’m really upset. I know it’s a long shot but I thought I would post and see if it could make it far enough to get to the person who who might find my diamond. If you found a diamond in this area, please return it to me. If you are my friend in Alaska please share! You might know someone who knows someone."

The post was widely shared by Facebook users in Ketchikan and soon caught the eye of Ketchikan Lead TSA Officer Destiny Madewell, who immediately shared the post so her friends who work at the airport would see it, and increase the chances of them finding the missing diamond.

“Looking for a lost diamond at the airport was the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack,’ but I knew from the Facebook post that the diamond had sentimental value to the owner. It had been given to her by her late father,” said Madewell. “I wanted to help in any way I could, to get the word out among the Ketchikan airport community.”

According to the TSA, later that same day as Madewell was wrapping up her shift, she went downstairs to confirm the checked baggage screening area was secured for the evening. While returning to the security checkpoint upstairs, she walked through the baggage claim area.

Something sparkling on the floor caught her eye. She took a closer look and was shocked it was the diamond described in the Facebook post.

Wakefield had been at the baggage claim about 24 hours earlier. Remarkably, the diamond had remained on the floor, undisturbed — and unnoticed — by an estimated 500 people who had been through that area of the airport after since the previous evening.

“I took the diamond upstairs and showed it to my supervisor who was aware of the Facebook post,” said Madewell. “We immediately reached out to the traveler to begin the process of reuniting her with the diamond.”

Wakefield got her diamond back in time for her to catch her flight back to Anchorage.

Returning to Facebook to update her friends about her good fortune, Wakefield also related how the spirit of her late father may have influenced the outcome.

"Thank you to everyone who shared my post!!" she wrote. "My diamond was FOUND and returned to me today by a complete stranger who saw my post shared (Destiny Madewell) and found it right before it got vacuumed up. Immediately after it was returned to me 2 Bald Eagles flew over my head. Bald Eagles are a sign of my dad - they always come at important moments."

Wakefield wrote that she was "beyond thankful."

"I can’t believe it," she continued. "Grateful doesn’t even cover it."

“We train our employees to be alert in all situations and in all aspects of their job," said Federal Security Director for Alaska Pete Duffy. "This training paid off! I am so proud of the KTN (Ketchikan Airport) TSA team, their integrity and ongoing commitment to the community. They make a positive difference in so many ways, every single day.”

Credits: Ring photo via Facebook / Danielle Wakefield. Destiny Madewell and diamond images courtesy of TSA.

Newly Engaged 'Vanderpump Rules' Star Scheana Shay Is Rockin' a 12.74-Carat Morganite

Vanderpump Rules star Scheana Shay delighted her 1.3 million Instagram followers on Friday with a surprise announcement of her engagement to long-time boyfriend Brock Davies and a peek at her non-traditional engagement ring highlighted by a 12.74-carat pink morganite.

In a post punctuated by a ring emoji, Shay wrote, “I SAID YES!!!!! We are engaged!!! Thank you to @brock__davies for making me the happiest girl in the world and to @kylechandesign for making me the most gorgeous ring ever!!”

The photo shows Shay and her muscle-bound personal trainer fiancé sharing a kiss on a balcony decorated with rose petals, balloons and a sign that reads "Marry Me." Davies leans Shay backwards in a deep dip while she stretches her ring hand out to the camera.

Shay told People magazine that Davies gave her a love letter and bouquet of flowers before proposing on one knee.

On his own Instagram page, designer Kyle Chan, posted detailed photos of the 14-karat white gold ring. He described the center stone as a "perfect rectangular cushion" that possesses a "rare pink reflect and insane fire." He added that morganite is about Divine Love.

"Pure and simple, it is representative of unconditional love," he wrote.

To add a little dazzle to the piece, the designer set the band with 12 round diamonds.

Over the past 10 years, morganite has emerged from obscurity to become a popular alternative engagement gemstone.

In The Knot’s 2019 Jewelry and Engagement Study, morganite was mentioned as a colored stone favorite. While 83% of those surveyed said they preferred a traditional diamond center stone, 10% chose “other precious stones.” Of that group, morganite was preferred by 12% of respondents, just behind sapphire at 18%.

Morganite is a member of the beryl family of gemstones, which includes emerald and aquamarine. Once known simply as pink beryl, the gemstone got its current name in 1911 when the famous New York gemologist G. F. Kunz recommended that the pretty pink stone be named for banker and mineral collector John Pierpont Morgan. The New York Academy of Sciences agreed and the pink variety of beryl was officially designated as “morganite.”

Shay and Davies started dating in late 2019 and share a daughter, Summer Moon, who was born in April of this year. Shay reportedly wants to celebrate her nuptials in Bali, although no date has been set. Shay will return for Season 9 of Vanderpump Rules, which premieres this fall on Bravo.

Credits: Couple photo via Instagram / scheana. Ring photos via Instagram / kylechandesign.

Super Bowl Champ Tom Brady Just Received the 'Most Incredible Ring That's Ever Been Made'

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady couldn't be more impressed with his brand new Tampa Bay Buccaneers championship ring — a spectacular, commemorative piece featuring 319 diamonds and an innovative twist-off top.

“They’re not so much rings, they’re more like trophies that you wear on your finger,” the age-defying quarterback said in a video posted by the Buccaneers. “This is by far the most incredible ring that’s ever been made.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' players, coaches and staff received their championship rings during a private ceremony in Tampa on Thursday. The next day, Brady turned to Twitter to show off his growing collection of Super Bowl bling and captioned his photo, "How it started vs How it’s going."

Now entering his 22nd NFL season, Brady won his first six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots. Brady will turn 44 on August 3.

The most surprising element of the Buccaneers' Super Bowl LV ring is a twist-off top that reveals a hand-engraved, three-dimensional replica of Raymond James Stadium. According to the team, those two features – the removable top and the stadium tableau – have never before been included in a Super Bowl ring. Both are meant to celebrate the 2020 Buccaneers becoming the first team ever to win the Super Bowl at their own home stadium.

(Unlike most other sports, the NFL picks its Super Bowl host cities years in advance. For instance, 2022 Super Bowl will take place at the Rams' home stadium in Inglewood, CA, and the 2023 Super Bowl is set for Cardinals' home stadium in Glendale, AZ)

The twist-off top has a number of neat elements. When the top is flipped upside down, the players can read a laser-etched inscription titled "HISTORIC," along with a description of the unusual home-field Super Bowl victory. In the interior of the ring, a single diamond is set on the handcrafted replica of Raymond James Stadium. That diamond represents the tunnel where Buccaneers players entered during Super Bowl LV. Around the top of the stadium on each of the four sides are displays of the four game scores from Tampa Bay’s postseason run – victories against the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.

“We knew that this ring had to be completely unique and representative of the special journey this team took to the championship,” said Buccaneers Co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz. “We know it will be an emotional touchstone for everyone involved for many, many years to come.”

On the top of the 14-karat yellow and white gold ring are two Lombardi Trophies – representing the franchise’s two Super Bowl Championships – and the team’s signature flag logo, carved from a red stone. The 319 diamonds represent the 31-9 final score in Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl LV victory. The total weight of the diamonds is 15 carats.

Above and below the trophies are the words “World Champions,” which are diamond encrusted. Those two words are connected along the edge of each side by eight baguette-shaped diamonds, representing the franchise-record eight-game winning streak to end the season.

The Buccaneers chose celebrity jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills to design the Super Bowl rings.

“Super Bowl rings are known for being the biggest and having the most carat weight, but eventually you can’t go bigger, and you have to go better,” said Jason Arasheben, CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills. “Defying NFL tradition, the Buccaneers commissioned us to redefine what an NFL Super Bowl ring looks like. Our team did a tremendous job pushing the limits of design and incorporating several key storylines from the season into this ring. I am beyond proud.”

The left side of the ring displays each individual’s name, the jersey number and the team’s motto, “One Team, One Cause.”

The right side features the Buccaneers logo and the Super Bowl LV logo, flanked by the score of the game, with 2020 – representing the season – listed below. The four diamonds on the Super Bowl Trophy represent the team’s four playoff wins. The final feature is found inside the band, where the phrase “Trust, Loyalty, Respect” is inscribed.

Credits: Ring images courtesy of Jason of Beverly Hills. Tom Brady image via Twitter / TomBrady.