Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, one of the original cast members of MTV's hit series Jersey Shore, turned to Instagram on Monday to announce her engagement to boyfriend Justin May — and to show off her new diamond ring.
The 37-year-old told her 3.8 million followers that she was the "happiest and luckiest girl in the world" and shared closeup shots of a prong-set round diamond solitaire on a thin yellow gold band.
Giancola's new bling mirrors the recent resurgence of yellow gold and solitaire settings, as reported in The Knot's 2023 “Real Weddings Study.”
In a post sprinkled with a series of emojis, including an engagement ring, red and white hearts and a "loudly crying face," Giancola wrote, "Life update: Fiancé 3.16.24. The easiest question I’ve ever answered. I’ll love you forever and then some."
And because she made the announcement on April 1, the reality star was sure to include a note that clarified that her post was “Not an April fools joke.”
May posted a similar series of pics on his Instagram page and captioned them with this sweet sentiment: "She said yes! Can’t wait to Marry my best friend! Love you so much babe! Can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you!"
Giancola was one of the original eight cast members of Jersey Shore, which ran for six seasons from December 2009 to December 2012 and spawned numerous spinoffs and sequels, including Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, which she rejoined in 2023 after a decade away from the MTV franchise.
Jersey Shore castmates were quick to jump into the comments thread of Giancola's Instagram page to add their well wishes.
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino wrote, “Congratulations!! Love Love” punctuated by a clapping hands emoji, while Paul "Pauly D" DelVecchio added, "Ayeeeee congrats," alongside champagne and clapping hand emojis.
Giancola and May, who have been dating since 2021, have yet to pick a wedding date.
Credits: Images via Instagram / sammisweetheart.
In honor of April’s official birthstone, we shine our spotlight today on a scintillating and spectacular item from the Smithsonian National Gem Collection. Gifted to Empress Marie Louise by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1811 to celebrate the birth of their son, Napoleon II, the "Napoleon Diamond Necklace" is now an American treasure.
Before taking residence in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals in Washington, DC, the 234-diamond, 260-carat neckpiece was owned for a very short time by American businesswoman and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post.
The necklace, which was designed by Etienne Nitôt and Sons of Paris, consists of an inner circle made up of 28 old mine-cut diamonds, suspending a fringe of nine “pendeloques” (five pear shapes alternating with four ovals) and 10 briolettes.
Mounted above each pear shape is a small round brilliant diamond, while the four ovals are attached to motifs decorated with 23 smaller diamonds. Each of the 10 briolette mountings is accented with 12 rose-cut diamonds. The largest single diamond in the piece weighs approximately 10.4 carats.
According to the Smithsonian, when Marie Louise died in 1847, the necklace was given to her sister-in-law, Archduchess Sophie of Austria. The necklace was bequeathed in 1872 to the Archduchess’ son, Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria. The necklace remained in the Austrian royal family until 1948, when Archduke Ludwig’s grandson, Prince Franz Joseph of Liechtenstein, sold it to a French collector who, in turn, sold it to Harry Winston, Inc., in 1960.
Post, the heiress to the Post cereal fortune and a big fan of Napoleonic jewelry, was one of the richest women in the world when she acquired the necklace — in its original case — from Winston that same year. In 1962, she donated it to the Smithsonian Institution.
Post was not only famous for her business acumen and acts of philanthropy, she was also the original owner of Mar-a-Lago, which she built in Palm Beach, FL, between 1924 and 1927. Post died in 1973 at the age of 86. Former president Donald J. Trump acquired the 126-room, 62,500-square-foot mansion in 1985.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Smithsonian/Chip Clark and digitally enhanced by SquareMoose.
The 703-carat "L’Heure Bleu" recently earned Guinness honors as the world's largest cut tanzanite.
Carved by New York City-based artist Naomi Sarna, L’Heure Bleu was officially weighed in at the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals, Hillsboro, OR, by Guinness World Records adjudicator, Michael Empric.
Several years ago, Sarna was invited to travel to the tanzanite mines located in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania — the only place in the world where the mesmerizing blue-violet gemstone is found. She was asked to create a carving for an international competition that would also benefit the Maasai people and was presented with several large tanzanite crystals that might suit her vision.
The result was Sarna's hand-carved L’Heure Bleu, a beautiful piece that would capture a First-Place Spectrum Award for carving from the American Gem Trade Association. The gem's name means The Blue Hour in French. It's a term to describe the time of twilight when there is neither full daylight or complete darkness.
The gem is mounted on a twisted sterling silver base inspired by the winds of Tanzania’s Great Rift Valley. The entire piece measures 6 inches tall, 4 3/4 inches wide and 2 inches deep.
During her trip to the ancestral land of the Maasai, the designer spent time with the Maasai women and taught them how to make wire-wrap jewelry from tanzanite. She also learned that many of the locals suffer from trachoma, a bacterial infection that causes vision loss and blindness.
Sarna pledged that when she sells her award-winning L’Heure Bleu carving, she will donate the profits to the world-renowned Portland-based Casey Eye Institute to provide eye care to the Maasai.
“The Guinness World Records brings international recognition and attention to my tanzanite carving L'Heure Bleu," stated Sarna. "This recognition gives great strength to my promise to help the Maasai with their vision difficulties.”
“The Casey Eye Institute is in Naomi’s debt," commented Dr. Andreas K. Lauer, director, Casey Eye Institute. "In the future, patients, their families and the Maasai community will feel her passion and love as they express it through their smiles and joy from improved vision.”
Credits: Images courtesy of Naomi Sarna Designs.
The face of the Texas Rangers' 2023 World Series Championship ring is removable and reversible. Players and coaches learned during a team dinner on Friday night that the face of the ring could be spun off and flipped to reveal an alternate design choice.
The first option features the Rangers "T" logo rendered in white diamonds and accented with rubies against a ground of blue sapphires. The alternate design has the "T" logo rendered in rubies and accented with white diamonds against a white "baseball" background.
Affixed to the back of the removable face is a piece of leather from a baseball that was used during the World Series.
With the face removed, one can see a hidden message titled "11-0 ROAD DOMINANCE," with the letters in the word ROAD spelled out in the logo font of the teams the Rangers beat as the away team to capture the franchise's first title. They included Tampa Bay (R)ays, Baltimore (O)rioles, Houston (A)stros, Arizona (D)iamondbacks.
The unique rings, designed in collaboration with Jason of Beverly Hills, were presented to players and coaches on Saturday during a special on-field ceremony before the game with the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field.
"There was a lot of pressure when designing this ring, not just because it was a first for the Rangers, but because it is also our very first World Series Ring," said Jason Arasheben, CEO of the jewelry company. "With this delivery, Jason of Beverly Hills will have designed championship rings for the 'Big Four' major professional sports leagues in North America."
In addition to the ring's neat mechanical components, the precious stones in the design symbolically tell the story of the championship season and other franchise milestones.
For instance, the 103 blue sapphires on the face of one design signify the total number of wins in 2023 (regular and postseason), while the 23 red rubies outlining the "T" on that design represent the year the Rangers won the World Series (2023).
The 49 rubies used to render the "T" on the alternate face equals the number of players who held a spot on the active roster in 2023.
Exactly 52 points of white diamonds are utilized to spell "CHAMPIONS" on the face of the ring, and that number honors the Rangers' first World Championship during its 52-year history.
One side of the ring has the catchphrase "Went and Took It" along with a bezel-set diamond overlaying a rendering of the World Series trophy. That single gem also represents the franchise's first championship. The diamond measures exactly 3mm, and that aligns with the the number of American League championships won by the franchise.
The other side of the ring shows the player's name and number. The three diamonds set horizontally under the player's name reflect the team's three pillars of baseball: "Compete with passion, be a good teammate, and dominate the fundamentals."
The 72 points of diamonds on the border of the bezel represent the year the Rangers moved from Washington, DC, to Arlington, TX (1972). And the 30 stones on the inner bezel represent the 30 home runs the team hit during the postseason.
The 2.33 carats of white diamonds used to adorn the side of the ring represent the 233 home runs the club slugged during the regular season.
Around the ring's bezel is an architectural design element that looks like the rafters at Globe Life Field. Inside the shank of the ring is an engraving of the player's signature, as well as the postseason series records and the clubhouse motto, "AS ONE."
Please check out the short video by Jason of Beverly Hills here…
Credits: Screen capture composite via Instagram / jasonofbeverlyhills. Ring images courtesy of Texas Rangers.
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, R&B legend Stevie Wonder teams up with pop princess Ariana Grande in the high-energy, gospel-tinged showstopper, "Faith," from the soundtrack of the 2016 animated family flick, Sing.
In the first line of the song, Wonder describes a young woman with unusual footwear and a spring in her step: "See the girl with the diamonds in her shoes? Yeah / She walks around like she's got nothin' to lose / Yes she's a go-getter, she's everybody's type / She's a queen of the city but she don't believe the hype."
The meaning behind gem-embellished footwear has been hotly debated since Paul Simon first performed “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” on Saturday Night Live in 1986. In reviewing Simon's song about the unlikely romance between a poor boy and a rich girl in New York City, critics wondered if the diamond/shoe reference symbolized conspicuous consumption or something more positive and upbeat?
One contributor to songmeanings.com compared wearing diamonds on the soles of one’s shoes to looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.
“Everywhere you go, your interaction is done through the diamonds on your shoes,” he wrote, “and diamonds as a symbol of wealth, happiness and love mean you are interacting with your world through a constant ‘happy’ filter, you have a skip to your step, you are happy.”
We believe this is exactly what Wonder and his co-writers are conveying in "Faith," which can be heard during the opening credits of Sing, which featured an all-star voice cast (Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane and Scarlett Johansson) and grossed $634 million worldwide. It even spawned a sequel, Sing 2, in 2021.
Grande was only 23 years old when she was invited to join Wonder (then 66) in a sound booth to record "Faith" in 2016. The spellbound singer recounted the experience during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
"Not only did I get to sing with him, but we were in the same booth," Grande said. "So it was like me and Stevie Wonder, arm in arm, holding hands in the booth, singing together, laughing, having a good time. I was like, 'Whoa.'
"Every time I got comfortable with the fact that I was in a booth arm-in-arm with Stevie Wonder, then he would hit a Stevie run and I'd be like 'Oh [bleep]' Stevie Wonder. It was surreal."
"Faith" charted in seven countries and was nominated for Best Original Song at the 74th Golden Globe Awards.
Please check out the video of Wonder and Grande performing "Faith." We also have the lyrics, below, if you'd like to sing along…
"Faith"
Written by Ryan Tedder, Stevie Wonder and Francis Farewell Starlite. Performed by Stevie Wonder, featuring Ariana Grande.
[Stevie Wonder:]
See the girl with the diamonds in her shoes? Yeah
She walks around like she's got nothin' to lose
Yes she's a go-getter, she's everybody's type
She's a queen of the city but she don't believe the hype
She's got her own elevation, holy motivation
'Til I wrote some letters on big bold signs
[Together:]
I got faith in you baby, I got faith in you now
And you've been such a, such a good friend of me
Know that I gotta love you somehow
I met you, hallelujah, I got faith
[Ariana Grande]
See the boy with the Stevie Wonder swag?
Ain't gotta clue all the magic that he has
He's a go-getter, he's everybody's type
I'ma make it my mission, make him feel alright
He's a twelve on a ten point, rockin' out to his joint
Just say the word 'cause I can sing all night
[Together:]
I got faith in you baby, I got faith in you now
And you've been such a, such a good friend of me
Know that I love you somehow (love you somehow)
I met you, hallelujah, I got faith
[Wonder:]
Faith, yeah
Yes I do, mmm
I get it runnin' and my mind goes crazy
I think about you mornin', noon, night and day
[Together:]
I get it runnin' and my mind goes crazy
I think about you mornin', noon, night and day
I get it runnin' and my mind goes crazy
I think about you mornin', noon, night and day
I got faith in you honey, I got faith in you girl
I met you, hallelujah
I got faith in you baby, I got faith in you now
And you've been such a, such a good friend of me
Know that I love you somehow (love you somehow)
I met you, hallelujah, I got faith
(Faith, faith, baby)
I got faith in you baby, I got faith in you now
And you've been such a, such a good friend of me
Know that I gotta love you somehow (love you somehow)
I met you, hallelujah, I met you, hallelujah
I met you, hallelujah, I got faith
Faith
Credit: Screen capture via Youtube.com / Stevie Wonder.
Diamond is made of pure carbon and is the hardest material known to man. However, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA, conducted millions of supercomputer simulations to predict the existence of a carbon-based "super-diamond" that is 30% tougher than its traditional counterpart.
Their next challenge is figuring out how to produce the new super-diamond on Earth.
The scientists call this theoretical new material "BC8" — an eight-atom cubic crystal that exhibits extreme resistance to compression, but only exists under pressures surpassing 10 million atmospheres.
Where do such extreme pressures exist? Researchers point to the center of carbon-rich exoplanets, which have considerable mass and experience gigantic pressures reaching millions of atmospheres in their deep interiors. Unfortunately, nobody on Earth will be visiting an exoplanet anytime soon. Our nearest exoplanet neighbor is 4 light-years away (that's 24 trillion miles).
“The BC8 phase of carbon at ambient conditions would be a new super-hard material that would likely be tougher than diamond,” said Ivan Oleynik, a physics professor at the University of South Florida (USF) and senior author of a paper recently published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
One of the reasons a diamond is so hard is that each of its carbon atoms form a perfect tetrahedral shape with four neighbors, creating an extremely stable and strong configuration.
“The BC8 structure maintains this perfect tetrahedral nearest-neighbor shape, but without the cleavage planes found in the diamond structure,” explained study co-author and LLNL scientist Jon Eggert.
Minus the cleavage planes, the super-diamond is predicted to offer a 30% greater resistance to compression.
Harnessing the power of Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer, the team performed multi-million atomic molecular-dynamics simulations and learned that BC8 can only be synthesized within a very narrow range of pressures and temperatures.
The team at LLNL dreams of one day growing BC8 super-diamonds in the laboratory. If they are eventually successful, the new super-diamond could lead to advancements in manufacturing, space exploration and technology. Whether the new material will have applications for the jewelry industry has yet to be determined.
Credit: Image by Mark Meamber/LLNL.
After enduring a COVID-related slump, marriage rates in the US are finally back to pre-pandemic levels, according to stats released by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Exactly 2.06 million couples took their vows in 2022, the first time the number has surpassed 2 million since 2019. The rate of 6.2 marriages per 1,000 population was the highest since 2018, when it was 6.5.
The CDC has yet to release its numbers for 2023, but all signs point to a continuing upward trend.
The number of marriages in 2020 (at the height of COVID) was the lowest recorded in the US since 1963, as many couples had to delay weddings during the pandemic.
The beginning of a recovery was seen in 2021 as COVID-related restrictions eased up. The number of marriages increased from 1.67 million in 2020 to 1.98 million in 2021, and the rate increased from 5.1 marriages per 1,000 to 6.0.
Across the nation, 36 states and the District of Columbia reported marriage rates in 2022 that either matched or exceeded the levels seen in 2019.
The six states with the highest marriage rates in 2022 were the following:
-Nevada (25.9)
-Hawaii (14.4)
-Montana (9.9)
-Utah (9.9)
-Arkansas (7.9)
-Vermont (7.8)
The unusually high rate for Nevada is attributed to Las Vegas being the "wedding capital of the world." The CDC's data reflects the location where the marriage occurred and not necessarily the place of the couple's residence.
The six states with lowest marriage rates in 2022 are shown here:
-Louisiana (3.7)
-New Mexico (4.2)
-Illinois (4.9)
-Maryland (5.0)
-Delaware (5.1)
-New Jersey (5.1)
Historically speaking, marriage rates in the US have progressively declined since the early 1980s. The 6.2 rate in 2022 stands in sharp contrast to the all-time high of 16.4 in 1946, when soldiers returned home after serving in WWII.
The CDC also reported that the number and rate of divorces in 2022 (673,989 and 2.4 per 1,000 population) ticked down slightly from 2.5 in 2021, continuing a longstanding downward trend. In 2010, the divorce rate was 3.6 per 1,000.
Credit: Image by BigStockPhoto.com.
Wow, how times have changed. Did you know that during the 1600s young suitors expressed their love by gifting silver thimbles engraved with courtship quotations?
Curators at National Museum Cardiff in Wales believe that thimbles, worn on the finger during needlework, were considered an intimate (and therefore romantic) possession, suitable as a gift between lovers.
The discussion about romantic silver thimbles was sparked by the surprising find of Robert Edwards, who unearthed a fine example of a post-Medieval thimble while metal detecting near Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Engraved around the base of the thimble is the phrase "LYKE STIL AND LOVE EVER," which translates to “like enduringly, love forever.”
The sentiment behind the engraved thimble is similar to that of posy rings, which were commonly exchanged between lovers from the 15th through the 17th centuries in both England and France. What made posy rings unique were the secret, romantic quotations inscribed on the inner surface of the band.
Edwards described how he discovered the historic thimble just a few inches below the surface.
“I was out detecting under the shade of an oak tree and was having no luck, until I changed the program and found a great crisp signal," he said. "At first I thought it may be a sixpence, but to my surprise it was something silver – and not a coin!
“I like to think about who used [the thimble]," he continued. "Was it used in the castle I could see over the way? Did someone get in trouble when it was lost? I’m very happy that I’ve been able to share it with the rest of you.”
A National Museum Cardiff press release described the design of Edwards' find as having six transverse bands scored in a zig-zag pattern around the body, layered over an incised brickwork or basket-weave pattern. The two-piece construction is made up of a rounded top soldered to the main body.
Although the item was found in November of 2020, Wales officials declared the silver thimble as a treasure just this month. Treasure hunters in Wales are required to report finds that are more than 300 years old.
According to smithsonianmag.com, now that the thimble’s status has been established, museums will get a chance to purchase it at a price determined by the country's Treasure Valuation Committee.
Tenby Museum & Art Gallery reportedly has expressed an interest in acquiring this find for its collection. Edwards may keep his find only if no museum wants to procure it.
Credit: Image courtesy of National Museum Cardiff.
The glint of gold caught the eye of early man more than 5,000 years ago and has been coveted by ancient and modern civilizations ever since. We can all agree that gold is rare, valuable and astonishingly beautiful, but here are some little-known, fun facts about the precious metal — as provided by the World Gold Council — to share around the water cooler.
Gold by the Numbers:
49 - The portion of all mined gold that is made into jewelry. This industry is the single largest consumer of the precious metal.
22 – All of the gold ever mined would fit into a cube measuring 22 meters.
187,200 – All the gold ever mined would tip the scales at 187,200 tons.
9 – One ounce of pure gold can be hammered into a single translucent sheet 0.000018 cm thick and 9 meters square.
11.2 million – If all the existing gold in the world was pulled into a 5-micron-thick wire, it could wrap around the Earth 11.2 million times.
1064 – Gold melts at 1,064 degrees Celsius (1,943 degrees Fahrenheit).
31.103 – There are just over 31 grams in a troy ounce of gold.
1/5 – It is rarer to find a one ounce nugget of gold than a 5-carat diamond.
1849 – The year of the California Gold Rush, when 40,000 miners headed west to seek their fortunes. They were called 49ers and the vast majority never got rich.
1885 – While digging up stones to build a house, Australian miner George Harrison found gold ore near Johannesburg in 1885, sparking the South African gold rush.
2,316 – “Welcome Stranger,” the largest gold nugget ever found, weighed an astonishing 2,316 troy ounces (144.75 pounds). It was unearthed at Moliagul, Australia, in February of 1869.
200 – This how many gold coins Julius Caesar presented to each of his soldiers for defeating Gaul in 52 BCE.
400 – The “London Good Delivery” is an investment-grade gold bullion bar containing 400 troy ounces of gold.
530,000 – The number of gold bars held by the US Federal Reserve. The bars weigh a total of 6,700 tons.
750 – Gold is often alloyed with other metals to change its color and strength. Eighteen-karat gold is composed of 750 parts of pure gold per 1,000.
Credits: Image by Stevebidmead, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you wickedly fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, a giant-sized, treasure-hoarding coconut crab named Tamatoa brags about sparkling like a wealthy woman's neck in “Shiny” from Disney’s 2016 animated blockbuster, Moana.
The song's official video has been viewed more than 596 million times on YouTube.
Voiced by New Zealand’s Jemaine Clement, Tamatoa is a dastardly — but lovable — Disney villain who collects rare sea treasures from the seabed and conspicuously displays them on his shell. Among the treasures he’s salvaged from the depths are pearls, diamonds, gold and a power-granting magical fishhook that was lost by the film's hero, Maui.
The crab sings, “Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough / Strut my stuff; my stuff is so… Shiny.”
Even though Tamatoa is able to overpower Maui, he is no match for the strong-willed and clever teen, Moana, who tricks the crab into relinquishing the magical hook.
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina, “Shiny” is the eighth track from the two-CD set titled Moana: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The album peaked at #2 on the US Billboard 200 and charted in 17 countries. The single reached #6 on Billboard‘s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
Miranda is the Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist and actor, who is best known as the creator and original star of Broadway’s Hamilton. Clement is a comedian, actor, voice actor, singer, writer, director, multi-instrumentalist and one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords.
Moana was released in theaters on November 23, 2016, and went on to gross more than $687 million worldwide.
Please check out the official video of the animated Tamatoa (Clement) performing “Shiny.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“Shiny”
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina. Performed by Jemaine Clement.
Well, Tamatoa hasn’t always been this glam
I was a drab little crab once
Now I know I can be happy as a clam
Because I’m beautiful, baby
Did your granny say listen to your heart
Be who you are on the inside
I need three words to tear her argument apart
Your granny lied!
I’d rather be…
Shiny
Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck
Scrub the deck and make it look…
Shiny
I will sparkle like a wealthy woman’s neck
Just a sec!
Don’t you know
Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters (beginners!)
Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mmm, fish dinners
I just love free food
And you look like seafood
(Like seafood)
Well, well, well
Little Maui’s having trouble with his look
You little semi-demi-mini-god
Ouch! What a terrible performance
Get the hook (get it?)
You don’t swing it like you used to, man
Yet I have to give you credit for my start
And your tattoos on the outside
For just like you I made myself a work of art
I’ll never hide; I can’t, I’m too…
Shiny
Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough
Strut my stuff; my stuff is so…
Shiny
Send your armies but they’ll never be enough
My shell’s too tough
Maui man, you could try, try, try
But you can’t expect a demi-god
To beat a decapod (look it up)
You will die, die, die
Now it’s time for me to take apart
Your aching heart
Far from the ones who abandoned you
Chasing the love of these humans
Who made you feel wanted
You tried to be tough
But your armor’s just not hard enough
Maui
Now it’s time to kick your…
Hiney
Ever seen someone so…
Shiny
Soak it in ’cause it’s the last you’ll ever see
C’est la vie mon ami
I’m so…
Shiny
Now I’ll eat you, so prepare your final plea
Just for me
You’ll never be quite as…
Shiny
You wish you were nice and…
Shiny
Credit: Screen capture via YouTube / DisneyMusicVEVO