Ponder This: Are the Rio Olympic Gold Medals Really Made of Gold?

With the Olympic Games kicking off in Rio de Janeiro in 22 days, we ask you to ponder what seems to be a very silly and simple question: Are the Rio Olympic gold medals really made of gold?

Well, the answer is "yes" and "no."

Have you ever wondered how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) could afford to give away pure gold medals? With the Rio medals weighing 500 grams, each would cost $23,668 in precious metal alone. The IOC will be awarding 812 gold medals during the Olympic games, so 24-karat gold medals at 500 grams would generate a tab of more than $19.2 million.

Yes, there was a time when Olympic gold medals were made of solid gold, but the last ones were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, way back in 1912.

Starting in 1916, the IOC mandated that gold medals be made mostly of silver, with a 24-karat gilding of exactly 6 grams (.211 ounces). The IOC also required the medals to be at least 60mm in diameter and 3mm thick.

Interestingly, since the density of gold is nearly twice that of silver, if the committee attempted to mint a 60mm wide, 3mm thick coin in pure gold, it would weigh about 1,000 grams (2.2 pounds) and be worth about $47,000 in precious metal.

Since the Rio medals are composed of 494 grams of 96% pure silver and 6 grams of 99.9% pure gold, the total precious metal value is about $284 in gold and $339 in silver — for a grand total of $623. The IOC will spend $505,000 on gold medals this year.

Rio's silver medals are made of 500 grams of 96% pure silver and have no gilding at all. The precious metal value is about $344.

Bronze medals contain mostly copper with a bit of zinc and tin. The composition is similar to that of a penny. The medal contains no precious metal and has a value of less than $5.

The medal's design features laurel leaves – a symbol of victory in ancient Greece – surrounding the Rio 2016 Olympic logo. According to Olympic Games tradition, the other side of the medal regularly features an image of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, with the Panathinaiko Stadium and the Acropolis in the background.

For the first time, the medals are slightly thicker at their central point compared with their edges. The name of the event for which the medal was won is engraved by laser along the outside edge.

The medals of Rio have been made with sustainability at their heart. Athletes who get to stand on the highest podium after their respective competitions will receive medals made from gold that has been produced according to strict sustainability criteria, from the initial mining all the way through to the design of the end product.

The silver and bronze medals have been fabricated using 30% recycled materials. Half of the plastic in the ribbons — used to hang the medals around athletes’ necks — comes from recycled plastic bottles. The rounded cases that hold the medals are made from freijó wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Rio 2016 published this short video showing how medals from both the Olympic Games (Aug. 5-21) and Paralympic Games (Sept. 7-18) are made...

Credits: Rio medal images courtesy Rio 2016/Alex Ferro.

2016 American Eagle Platinum Coin Earns Rock-Star Status as Mintage Sells Out in 56 Minutes

The 2016 American Eagle one-ounce platinum proof coin earned rock-star status recently when the U.S. Mint exhausted its entire mintage of 10,000 pieces within 56 minutes of the coins going on sale.

On the Mint's website, the coins were priced at $1,350 and purchases were limited to one per household. Despite that limitation, the website processed orders at a rate of three per second until it was forced to take down the offer and replace it with the status of “Currently Unavailable.”

While these statistics surely impressed coin enthusiasts, it may be a good time to compare the American's Eagle's performance against some of the all-time quickest selling items...

• Back in 1964, The Beatles' release of "Can't Buy Me Love" generated sales of 940,225 during the first 24 hours. That's equivalent to a tad fewer than 11 singles per second.
• In 2012, pre-orders for the iPhone 5 exceeded two million in 24 hours, or about 23 per second.
• In 2013, the video game Grand Theft Auto V sold 12 million units in its first day, or the equivalent of 139 per second.
• And in 2015, the Korean boy band EXO sold out the 15,000-seat Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul in 1.47 seconds. That's more than 10,000 transactions per second.

Coin enthusiasts clamored for the 2016 American Eagle based on its beauty, collectibility and investment value. The spot price for an ounce of platinum on the day of the Mint's offering was $1,320, so the premium to obtain a limited-edition proof was only $30.

Soon after the coins were sold out, the same 2016 American Eagle .9995 platinum coins emerged on eBay for upwards of $1,895, a 40% premium over the issue price.

The obverse features John Mercanti’s modern interpretation of Liberty, first introduced on Platinum Eagles in 1997. Inscribed in the field and along the rim are the words LIBERTY, E PLURIBUS UNUM, IN GOD WE TRUST and the year 2016.

Designed by Paul C. Balan and sculpted by Joseph Menna, the reverse depicts Liberty holding a torch of enlightenment and an olive branch of peace. On the olive branch are 13 olives, one for each of the original colonies of the United States. A bald eagle in flight appears beside Liberty. Inscribed in the field and along the rim are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, .9995 PLATINUM, 1 OZ., $100, and the West Point Mint’s “W” mark.

This past December, the 2015 version of the American Eagle platinum proof coin was offered in a very limited mintage of 3,881 pieces, which sold out within 10 minutes of its release. That coin carried at price tag of $1,200 and no household ordering limit. For the record, it sold at a rate of 6.5 coins per second.

The 2016 coin is packaged in a presentation case, allowing both 2015 and 2016 coins to be displayed together.

Credits: Coin images courtesy of U.S. Mint. Boy band EXO by Louis Kim (SMTown Live World Tour IV in Seoul) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

He Tethered the Ring to His Life Vest, But This Whitewater Rafting Proposal Still Nearly Ends in Disaster

For years we've been writing about the incompatible relationship between engagement rings and large bodies of water. Despite the inherent risks of dropping the precious keepsakes in the drink, a cavalcade of can't-take-a-hint suitors keep making the same mistakes.

Which brings us to today's story of Virginian Jesse Puryear, whose brilliant idea was to propose to his girlfriend, Alexandra Love, while careening on a raft down the white-capped Class IV rapids of Chattanooga's Ocoee River.

Puryear was aware that his well-intentioned proposal could go terribly wrong. In fact, he was extra careful to tether the engagement ring to his life vest.

On July 2, in the midst of one of the most challenging sections of the river, the dapper young man went down on one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend with a halo-style engagement ring. In the boat were members of the future-bride's family.

"I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and wanted to do it in front of your family," said Puryear, according to TheKnotNews.com. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

As he attempted the place the ring on Love's right hand (oops!), the raft encountered a violent wave and a torrent drenched the lovebirds and the boat-mounted video camera.

Still smiling, Puryear collected himself and continued with what promised to be one of the most momentous events of his life, but that euphoria was short-circuited when he saw nothing dangling from the leash on his vest. The ring is gone.

His distraught girlfriend could do nothing more than continue to hold on tight as Puryear squatted down to dig for the ring at the bottom of the raft. Incidentally, the boat is designed with drainage holes in the floor, according to Puryear.

A near catastrophe turned to triumph when, within a few seconds, Puryear located the ring and raised it to the sky. Love and the rest of her family let out a collective cheer, as their raft guide, who is incidentally Love's brother, Josh, maneuvered them all into calmer waters.

“[It was] barely holding on to the lip of a hole in the bottom of the raft," Puryear told TheKnotNews.com. "I pulled it up for a split second to double check and just raised it up in the air as high as I could. I was at a loss for words, just sheer joy.”

Instead of hitting the reset button and attempting the proposal again, Puryear handed the ring to the captain for safekeeping. The proposal would have to wait until they got onto dry land.

Puryear, who posted his experience to YouTube and Facebook, captioned his video, "How I almost messed up one of the most important days of my life."

Lesson learned.

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube; Couple via Facebook/Alexandra Love.

Music Friday: 'I Was Your Amber, But Now She's Your Shade of Gold,' Sings Demi Lovato in 'Stone Cold'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring great new songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today's installment features Demi Lovato performing "Stone Cold," her rousing 2015 ballad about the pain of watching an ex-boyfriend moving on to a new relationship.

"This song hurts so unbelievably bad. And when I perform it on a TV show, in rehearsals or even in a bathtub, it completely takes me to a different place," Lovato told her 42 million Instagram followers.

Lovato seems to channel English superstar Adele as she sings, "Stone cold, stone cold / I was your amber, but now she's your shade of gold."

She noted that the process of writing and recording "Stone Cold" was therapeutic. For her, the song became a source of healing and catharsis. The 23-year-old believes "Stone Cold" is a song people can listen to when they're going through a breakup, or they're thinking about a time when they were heartbroken.

"It's gonna give them that voice that they need to hear in order to get past things and process how they feel," she told Radio.com.

Lovato called “Stone Cold” her favorite song off her Confident album. She also believed her rendition of the song was worthy of a Grammy nomination.

She told Complex, “I want the Grammy committee to hear [that song] so that one day they can see that I know that I’m capable of getting there. You can’t go higher than the Grammys in the music industry. That was a huge goal for this album. I watched the Grammy nominations last year and I was like, 'I want to be there so bad.'"

Born in Dallas in 1992, Demetria Devonne Lovato got her first break at the age of 7 as a cast member of Barney and Friends. Trivia alert: Acting alongside Lovato on the TV show was her best friend, Selena Gomez. In 2008, Lovato starred in the Disney Channel television film Camp Rock and, shortly thereafter, signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records.

Please check out the video of Lovato performing "Stone Cold" at the Billboard Women in Music event in New York City in 2015. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Stone Cold"
Written by Demi Lovato and Laleh Pourkarim. Performed by Demi Lovato.

Stone cold, stone cold
You see me standing, but I'm dying on the floor
Stone cold, stone cold
Maybe if I don't cry, I won't feel anymore

Stone cold, baby
God knows I tried to feel
Happy for you
Know that I am, even if I
Can't understand, I'll take the pain
Give me the truth, me and my heart
We'll make it through
If happy is her, I'm happy for you

Stone cold, stone cold
You're dancing with her, while I'm staring at my phone
Stone cold, stone cold
I was your amber, but now she's your shade of gold

Stone cold, baby
God knows I tried to feel
Happy for you
Know that I am, even if I
Can't understand, I'll take the pain
Give me the truth, me and my heart
We'll make it through
If happy is her, I'm happy for you

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

New Scanning Technology Protects Mammoth Diamonds From Getting Crushed in the Mining Process

Executives from two of the world's top-producing diamond mines revealed to Bloomberg.com how new scanning technology is helping to preserve the largest diamonds during the often-damaging extraction process.

Throughout history, diamond-bearing rock was typically drilled, blasted, hauled and put through crushing machines to get to the gems that may be hiding within. During that process, extremely large diamonds, some weighing hundreds of carats, were often damaged or even pulverized.

In fact, the highly publicized 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona diamond was determined to be part of a much larger stone. Lucara CEO William Lamb told Bloomberg.com that it was actually fortunate that a 374-carat chunk broke off the larger stone because Lucara's plant was not designed to process such large material. A 1,500-carat diamond would have been crushed.

“When people say you broke a 1,500-carat diamond, I say we recovered an 1,100-carat diamond,” Lucara CEO William Lamb told Bloomberg.com. “The words ‘mining’ and ‘gentle’ don’t go very well together.”

With the advent of XRT scanners, the mining process is becoming a bit kinder and gentler. As the rock-like material comes down a conveyor belt, the scanners can pick out the diamonds based on their chemical composition. Older scanners used to depend strictly on the stone's ability to reflect light.

The diamond-rich material is then separated from the rubble and moved to a secure area for processing, according to Bloomberg.com.

In the small kingdom of Lesotho, the Letšeng mine produces just 1.6 carats of diamonds for every 100 tons of rock. But despite that tiny output, the mine boasts an average per-carat value of $2,299, the highest in the industry. That's because Letšeng is one of two diamond mines famous for generating the largest and finest-quality diamonds in the world.

The other is the Karowe mine in Botswana, which is the source of Lesedi La Rona, the second-largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered. The gem failed to sell at auction last week when bidding stalled at $61 million. Still, that number was equivalent to $55,000 per carat.

Together, the Karowe and Letšeng mines lay claim to 15 of the 20 largest white diamonds discovered over the past decade, and just about all of them had been part of a larger stone.

“Since the time of the caveman mining hasn’t changed much," Clifford Elphick, chief executive officer of Gem Diamonds Ltd., told Bloomberg.com. "You pulverize the rock and take out what you want. That’s fine in the metals business, but in the diamond business it’s not an appealing technique.”

“We’ve made important inroads, but we certainly haven’t solved the problem because we’re still using the same basic technology,” said Elphick. “What will solve this is a massive technical breakthrough. That is the holy grail for us.”

Gem Diamonds is currently working on a strategy that places XRT scanners earlier in the mining process so the largest diamonds can be identified before the crushing phase.

“We suspect there is the odd 1,000-carat diamond contained within the ore body,” said Gem Diamonds' former COO Alan Ashworth. “But you never know when the diamond is going to be liberated.”

Credits: Image of Lesedi La Rona courtesy of Lucara Diamond Corp. All others courtesy of Gem Diamonds Ltd.

Opals Reveal Clues About How Asteroids Could Be the Source of Earth's Water

Precious opals are unusual because 3% to 30% of their content is made up of water. So, when planetary scientists discovered opal fragments embedded in a meteorite that crashed down in Antarctica, they wondered if Earth's life-giving water was actually ferried here by asteroids and meteorites eons ago.

Led by Professor Hilary Downes of Birkbeck College London, a team of scientists studied a meteorite named EET 83309. It was made up of thousands of broken pieces of rocks and minerals, which led the team to surmise that it was once part of an asteroid. Using an electron microscope, the scientists determined that the opal fragments existed in the meteorite long before it landed on the Antarctic ice.

"The pieces of opal we have found are either broken fragments or they are replacing other minerals," Downes commented. "Our evidence shows that the opal formed before the meteorite was blasted off from the surface of the parent asteroid and sent into space, eventually to land on Earth in Antarctica."

"This is more evidence that meteorites and asteroids can carry large amounts of water ice," she continued. "Although we rightly worry about the consequences of the impact of large asteroid, billions of years ago they may have brought the water to the Earth and helped it become the world teeming with life that we live in today."

Downes and her team delivered their findings to the National Astronomy Meeting in Nottingham, England, on June 27.

One of October's official birthstones, the precious opal is universally loved because it often presents all the colors of the rainbow. Each opal is truly unique and more than 95% of fine opals are sourced in Australia. Geologists believe they form in and around hot springs, a fact that sparks great excitement when a meteorite embedded with opal falls to Earth.

Last July, for example, researchers at the University of Glasgow discovered traces of fire opal in the famous Nakhla meteorite, which crashed in Egypt in 1911. The meteorite originated on Mars, which opened speculation of the presence of water, and possibly life, on the Red Planet.

Credits: Opal (top) by Daniel Mekis (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons. Opal (bottom) by Dpulitzer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Former University of Kentucky Cheerleaders Star in This Remarkable Engagement Photo

Two former cheerleaders from the University of Kentucky's national championship squad posed for an engagement photo so amazing that social media skeptics insisted that it must have been Photoshopped.

In the shot that was taken moments after Adam Sunderhaus proposed to Ashley Vennetti on the beach in Turks and Caicos, the couple is seen in a gravity-defying cheerleading pose called a "cupie." The powerful Sunderhaus poses in the sand, left hand at his waist and right hand raised straight in the air, while the petite Vennetti stands casually on his outstretched palm. The fingers of her left hand are spread out in front of her face to show off her engagement ring. In the background is glorious sunset.

Huffington Post UK described it as "probably the most incredible engagement photo shoot we’ve ever seen."

Reddit participants used Google's photo search to come up with evidence that the images of Sunderhaus and Vennetti were somehow edited together.

Needless to say, those naysayers came up empty, because the couple has performed the cupie more than 1,000 times during their cheerleading careers at the University of Kentucky.

"It's a common stunt," Vennetti told Inside Edition, whose reporters were attempting to verify whether the image was real. Vennetti provided the syndicated celebrity news show with photo evidence of the couple performing the stunt in front of Wrigley Field in Chicago and at Disney World in Orlando. They also performed the cupie in real time for Inside Edition's viewers.

Added Sunderhaus, "[The cupie] is kind of our cool signature way to take a picture.”

Few people would know of the talented couple had it not been for the University of Kentucky Cheerleading Facebook page, where the engagement pic was posted on June 29. Over the next few days it drew 22,000 reactions and 1,700 shares.

“I didn’t think it was going to go viral,” Jomo Thompson, UK’s head cheerleading coach, told Kentucky.com. “Both Ashley and Adam are two wonderful people. Ashley has a heart of gold… and Adam is a hardworking guy, very likable as well. Kentucky cheerleading is about more than just cheer."

Vennetti and Sunderhaus met on the University of Kentucky cheerleading squad and were friends for two years before they started dating. During their time at UK, they were members of the squad that won the Universal Cheerleaders Association National College Cheerleading Championship in 2012 and 2014.

On Instagram, Sunderhaus posted a photo of himself and his new fiancée with the caption, "She said YES! Can't wait to marry my best friend & the love of my life!"

On Twitter, Vennetti showed her appreciation to the University of Kentucky Cheerleading squad, writing, "Forever grateful to this program for bringing us together!

Sunderhaus told Kentucky.com that the couple is planning a wedding for the late summer of 2017.

Credits: Photos via Facebook/University of Kentucky Cheerleading; Instagram/AdamSunderhaus; Twitter/AshleyVennetti.

Music Friday: Ruby Pendant 'In the Shape of a Heart' Is the Subject of One of Jackson Browne's Finest Love Songs

Welcome to Music Friday and the first day of July. With a nod to this month's official birthstone, we present Jackson Browne's "In the Shape of a Heart," a 1986 ballad that uses a ruby necklace to convey the pain the artist feels when he learns his lover has gone. Rolling Stone called it "one of Browne's finest love songs."

Browne, who tragically lost his first wife Phyllis Major to a drug overdose in 1976 at the age of 30, confirmed that "In the Shape of a Heart" is, indeed, a story about their relationship.

The song starts off with the ruby reference: "It was a ruby that she wore / On a chain around her neck / In the shape of a heart / In the shape of a heart / It was a time I won't forget / For the sorrow and regret / And the shape of a heart / And the shape of a heart."

Browne writes about missing the warning signs of his wife's distress, while never really understanding "what she was talking about" or "what she was living without."

In the end, when he realizes she's gone forever, he takes the ruby heart necklace from the bed stand, holds it for a moment, and then drops it through a hole in the wall. He sings, "In the hour before dawn / When I knew she was gone / And I held it in my hand / For a little while / And dropped it into the wall / Let it go, heard it fall."

In reviewing the song for Rolling Stone magazine, Jimmy Guterman wrote that Browne "nails heartbreak to the wall and sends his listeners scurrying for the Kleenex."

Released as the second single from his Lives in the Balance album, "In the Shape of a Heart" peaked at #10 on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Asylum Records pressed a red vinyl promotional single in, you guessed it, the shape of a heart.

Born in Heidelberg, West Germany, the 67-year-old Browne has sold more than 18 million albums in the U.S. and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Among his most famous songs are "These Days," "Running on Empty," "Doctor My Eyes" and "Take It Easy." As a political activist and humanitarian, Browne has supported the efforts of Amnesty International and Musicians United for Safe Energy.

Please check out the video of Browne performing "In the Shape of a Heart" in front of a live audience at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., in 1992. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"In the Shape of a Heart"
Written and performed by Jackson Browne.

It was a ruby that she wore
On a chain around her neck
In the shape of a heart
In the shape of a heart
It was a time I won't forget
For the sorrow and regret
And the shape of a heart
And the shape of a heart
I guess I never knew
What she was talking about
I guess I never knew
What she was living without

People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of
Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove
Speak in terms of belief and belonging
Try to fit some name to their longing

There was a hole left in the wall
From some ancient fight
About the size of a fist
Or something thrown that had missed
And there were other holes as well
In the house where our nights fell
Far too many to repair
In the time that we were there

People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of
Reach out to each other though the push and shove
Speak in terms of a life and the learning
Try to think of a word for the burning

You keep it up
You try so hard
To keep a life from coming apart
And never know
What breaches and faults are concealed
In the shape of a heart

It was the ruby that she wore
On a stand beside the bed
In the hour before dawn
When I knew she was gone
And I held it in my hand
For a little while
And dropped it into the wall
Let it go, heard it fall

I... I guess I never knew
What she was talking about
I guess I never knew
What she was living without
People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of
Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove
Speak in terms of a life and the living
Try to find the word for forgiving

You keep it up
You try so hard
To keep a life from coming apart
And never know
The shallows and the unseen reefs
That are there from the start
In the shape of a heart

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

1,109-Carat Lesedi La Rona Goes Unsold at Sotheby's London; Top Bid of $61M Fails to Meet Reserve Price

The highly touted Lesedi La Rona — the tennis ball-sized rough diamond weighing 1,109 carats — was expected to smash the world record for any gemstone sold at auction. Instead, it went unsold at Sotheby's London yesterday when the bidding stalled at $61 million, short of the undisclosed reserve price.

Experts had conservatively pegged the value of the gem-quality, Type IIa diamond at $70 million or more. Once cut, the rough was expected to yield a 400-carat flawless diamond.

It was an extraordinarily rare occurrence to see a rough diamond offered at a public auction. Typically, these stones are traded among a handful of sophisticated dealers within the diamond industry.

But, Lesedi La Rona was no ordinary rough diamond. It was the largest gem-quality rough diamond discovered in more than 100 years. Because of its "rock star" status, mining company Lucara decided to break with tradition and roll the dice at Sotheby's with a special auction dedicated to one diamond.

Lucara was betting that wealthy individuals outside the diamond industry would want to get in on the excitement. The New York Times reported that Lucara chief executive William Lamb had been working with Sotheby’s and Julius Baer, a Swiss bank, to attract private clients from around the world.

The Sotheby's gallery was nearly filled to capacity when auctioneer David Bennett asked for the starting bid of $50 million. Viewers around the world watched online in real-time via streaming video.

The offers for Lesedi La Rona notched up slowly in increments of $500,000. But only a few minutes later, the bidding ground to a halt at $61 million. Bennett gave fair warning and then hit the gavel.

Soon the audience learned the gem had not reached the auction house's pre-established minimum price. Bennett announced the gem would not be sold and walked away from the podium.

The last time Sotheby’s put a rough stone up for sale was in 2000. In similar fashion, the purple-pink 12.49-carat diamond failed to sell, the Times reported.

Interestingly, Lesedi La Rona's stablemate at Lucara, the 813-carat diamond called The Constellation, was sold privately to Dubai-based Nemesis International for a record $63.1 million back in May. It was the highest price ever paid for a gemstone, rough or polished.

If Lesedi la Rona had earned the same $77,649 per-carat achieved by The Constellation, it would have fetched upwards of $86 million.

For now, the 14.62-carat Oppenheimer Blue, which sold for a record $57.5 million at Christie's Geneva in May, will hold onto its record for the highest priced jewel ever sold at auction.

Had the Lesedi La Rona sold at auction, the buyer would have paid a 12% buyer's premium on the amount over $3 million and a 20% fee on the first $3 million. The reserve price was not made public.

Credits: Images courtesy of Sotheby's. Screen captures via Sothebys.com.

Jennifer Hudson 'Jenniferizes' Gold Heart Necklace by Pairing It With Son's First Baby Tooth

Devoted mom and Dreamgirls Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson turned to Instagram on Friday to show off a one-of-a-kind necklace highlighted by the first baby tooth of her son David. The tiny white tooth dangles from a simple gold heart on a fine chain.

"I like making things my own. I call it jenniferizing! Thank u guys," wrote the 34-year-old singer and actress on Instagram.

The necklace was Hudson's innovative way of transforming one of a parent's fondest memories — the loss of a baby's first tooth — into a cherished keepsake.

Although Hudson's first social media mention of the tooth jewelry was on Friday, a review of her Instagram account confirms that she's been wearing the special necklace for more than two months. In fact, nine weeks ago, Hudson posted a photo of herself and her six-year-old son, whom she calls Munch, in New York's Central Park. Dangling from her neck in clear view is Munch's baby tooth.

Munch's dad is Hudson's fiancé and long-time partner David Otunga. The brawny Otunga, 36, is a Harvard Law graduate, professional wrestler and WWE wrestling commentator.

This was not the first time Hudson, who has been starring on Broadway in The Color Purple, has used the term "Jenniferize." In fact, it's been part of her lexicon for at least 2 1/2 years.

Back in 2014, while promoting her third studio album, Hudson used the term to describe a certain creative energy that makes a project uniquely her own.

“I want it to be more light [and] more loose," she told ABC News. "I call it 'Jenniferizing.' Like I want people to get a sense of who I am as a person through the music more so [than] the public figure. It’s two different people.”

Later that same year, Hudson was on NPR revealing her new approach to music. Instead of just singing the right notes, her music was now a celebration. She called this infusion of energy "Jenniferizing."

In December, Hudson will be playing Motormouth Maybelle opposite Harvey Fierstein's Edna Turnblad in the live NBC telecast of Hairspray.

Credits: Photos via Instagram/Iamjhud.