Russian Luxury Brand Introduces Solid Gold Fidget Spinner; Price Tag: 999,000 Rubles

A Russian luxury brand famous for its blinged-out, over-the-top iPhones and accessories has just introduced a solid gold version of the world's most popular toy — the fidget spinner.

While many a fidgety kid has doled out less than $10 for his spinner, those with an eye on Caviar's newest release will have to come up with 999,000 rubles — that's $16,840 to you and me.

The top-of-the-line version is crafted from 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of solid gold and is adorned with "Fine Gold" markings on each of the three lobes and the Caviar Royal Gift logo on the center bearing.

The firm is also offering a gold-plated fidget spinner encrusted with diamonds for 99,000 rubles ($1,650) and a simpler gold-plated version without diamonds for 14,900 rubles ($251).

The year 2017 will be forever remembered as The Year of the Fidget Spinner. The toy exploded on the scene this past spring and became an international phenomenon. Kids couldn't put them down and retailers couldn't keep them in stock. On the down side, educators saw them as a distraction and went to great lengths to keep them out of school.

For those of you who have never seen a fidget spinner in action, it's basically a flat, multi-lobed structure made of plastic or metal that resembles the triple heads of an electric shaver. The center consists of a bearing that allows the lobes to spin freely along the device's axis. The user holds the center of the spinner in one hand and propels the lobes with the other.

The fidget spinner gets its name from the type of person who is said to benefit from handling the device. Apparently, the toy is calming to children and adults who have trouble controlling their fidgety nature. Advocates of the fidget spinner claim the device can benefit kids with anxiety, ADHD and autism.

Currently in a pre-order phrase, the solid gold Caviar fidget spinner is scheduled to officially hit the market in August 2017.

Credit: Image via caviar-phone.ru.

52 Years Ago: Gold's Amazing Properties Earns It a Trip With NASA to The Final Frontier

When astronaut Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside his spacecraft and let go, the visor of his helmet was plated with an ultra-thin layer of gold to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. If you look closely at the image below, you'll also notice that his 25-foot lifeline back to the Gemini IV spacecraft was wrapped in gold tape.

It was 1965 and scientists at NASA depended on gold's amazing characteristics to ensure a safe and successful mission. Gold is highly reflective of heat and light, so NASA scientists coated the visors with a gold layer so thin — 0.000002 inches — that astronauts could see through it.

While gold was a largely unsung hero of America's early space program, man's infatuation with this precious metal can be traced back 6,000 years to the ancient Thracian civilization. Worked-gold objects made around 4000 BC were discovered at a burial site near Varna, Bulgaria.

Despite being enchantingly beautiful, gold demonstrates a wide range of extraordinary properties — qualities well known to the jewelry, electronics, medical and dental industries.

For instance, gold is nature's most malleable metal. That means that it can be pounded so thin that one ounce of gold could cover about 100 square feet of a surface. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) calculated that it would take 576 ounces (or just 36 pounds) of gold to completely cover a football field.

Gold leaf typically measures 0.18 microns in thickness (about 7 millionths of an inch), and according to AMNH, a stack of 7,055 sheets would be no thicker than the width of a dime.

Gold is also ductile, which means that it can be made into the thinnest wire. The AMNH notes that one ounce of gold can be drawn into 50 miles of wire, five microns thick.

Of all the gold mined this year, expect 78% of it to be made into fine jewelry. Other industries consume about 12%, and the remaining 10% is supplied to financial institutions. Jewelry designers and manufacturers love to use gold because of its high luster, its ability to be cast into shapes, drawn into wires and hammered into sheets. It possesses a beautiful golden color, but also can be alloyed into many hues, including pink, white and green. And, what's more, it will never tarnish.

Fun fact: The largest accumulation of gold lies 80 feet below street level at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The vault houses $147 billion in gold bullion — a bounty that weighs a staggering 5,000 metric tons.

Credit: Image by NASA/James McDivitt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Music Friday: Brandon Heath Seeks Help From the Almighty to Set His 'Diamond' Free

Welcome to Music Friday when we often shine the spotlight on inspirational songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, five-time Grammy nominee Brandon Heath seeks divine intervention in "Diamond," his 2012 song about a young coal miner who is hardly living up to his potential. He wants to be a better man, but needs God's help to find the "diamond" buried deep inside.

He sings, "I got something down inside of me / That only You can see / Help me dig a little deeper now / And set that diamond free."

For Heath, the diamond symbolizes the ability to bring his life to the next level — a life of clarity, not confusion, of compassion, not cruelty, of ambition, not excuses.

In the last lines of the song, Heath invites the Almighty to seek him out in the coal mine: "Come down with your old flashlight / Underground, black as night / No telling what you’re gonna find in me."

"Diamond" is the fourth track on Heath's fourth studio album, Blue Mountain. The album is unique because each song takes place in the Blue Mountains and is told from the point of view of a particular character. The real and fictional players featured in the songs include his grandfather, his mentor, a farmer, a coal miner and a death-row inmate. Each song weaves a message of hope, love and redemption.

When it was released in 2012, the album earned strong reviews and a #5 spot on Billboard's U.S. Christian Albums chart. It also reached #97 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

“[The songs] are all kind of telling my story a little bit,” Heath revealed to The Clarion-Ledger. “[They talk] about my own fears, and my own desires. As a songwriter, it was more fun to give someone else my own voice. I think the best way to describe a place is to describe its people. And so, all these characters tell a story about what Blue Mountain is and who lives there.”

Born in Nashville, Tenn., Brandon Heath Knell turns 39 next Friday. The son of a police officer dad and hairdresser mom, Heath received his first guitar as a Christmas gift when he was 13. In high school, he converted to Christianity and explored his spirituality by participating in faith missions to India and Ecuador. Those trips helped inspire a career in contemporary Christian music.

Please check out the audio track of Heath performing "Diamond." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Diamond"
Written by Brandon Heath, Ross Copperman and Lee Thomas Miller. Performed by Brandon Heath.

My father’s father broke this ground
Daddy mined till we laid him down
Only God knows what they found beneath
Now here I stand in my own boots
Ax to grind and a point to prove
Tangled up in my own roots, it seems

I got treasure up in Heaven
I got dirt all over me
I have only scratched the surface
Of the man I’m meant to be
I got something down inside of me
That only You can see
Help me dig a little deeper now
And set that diamond free

Why do I do the things I do
All the things that I don’t want to
Act like I don’t fear You at all
Hard head and a heart of stone
Older now but I haven’t grown
Any riches that I have to show are small

Set it free
Set it free
Set it free
Set it free

Come down with your old flashlight
Underground, black as night
No telling what you’re gonna find in me

Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Actress Vivien Leigh's Jewelry and Other Personal Items to Hit Sotheby's Auction Block in September

Gone with the Wind fans will get a fascinating glimpse at "the real, and unexpected, Vivien Leigh" when Sotheby's London brings to auction 250 of the illustrious leading lady's personal items on September 26.

Leigh, who is most famous for her role as Scarlett O’Hara, loved clothes and jewelry, and was not afraid to mix historic jewels with contemporary couture. Highlighted lots include a large mid-19th-century diamond bow brooch/pendant that Sotheby's described as the ultimate accessory. The bow motif appeared frequently in Leigh’s wardrobe, and this piece is expected to yield $32,000 to $45,000 at auction.

A second highlighted jewelry item is a gold ring gifted to Leigh by her second husband, British actor and director Laurence Olivier. The ring has an inscription that reads "Laurence Olivier Vivien Eternally" and is expected to sell in the very affordable range of $515 to $770.

“Behind the guise of the most glamorous and talked-about woman of her age we find a fine art collector, patron, even a bookworm, who was the intellectual equal of the literati, artists and aesthetes she counted among her coterie," commented Harry Dalmeny, chairman of Sotheby’s UK. "This is our chance to discover the real, and unexpected, Vivien Leigh."

Also up for grabs is a silver cigarette box (high estimate of $770) from Myron Selznick, the talent agent who helped Leigh land one of the most coveted roles in cinematic history; Leigh’s copy of Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone With the Wind, complete with a handwritten poem from the author ($9,000); and a bound copy of the original film script ($4,500) from the epic 1939 motion picture.

The two-time Academy Award winner, who was only 25 when she starred with Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, died in 1967 at the age of 53. Her collection had been passed down to her daughter, Suzanne Farrington, who died two years ago. Farrington's sons chose to put their grandmother's possessions up for auction.

Their joint statement read, “We hope people take as much pleasure from this collection as our grandparents, parents and families have done.”

Overall, the 250 lots are expected to yield about $650,000. More information about the September sale will be released later in the summer, according to Sotheby's.

Credits: Photos of auction items courtesy of Sotheby's. Leigh and Clark Gable photo by Deems Taylor, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York (page 319 A Pictorial History of the Movies) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Rose Gold Is a Rising Star, But How Does the Precious Metal Get Its Blush?

It's been a symbol of "tech luxury" since the Apple Watch arrived in 2014 and the metal of choice for Pinterest's most-pinned engagement ring style of 2017. It's a material that conveys opulence, elegance, and its warm glow complements any skin tone. The summer sensation that's grabbing all the headlines is rose gold.

If you're wondering how a precious metal like gold can become pink, we have the answer. Rose gold earns its blush when copper is mixed with pure gold. Yes, the magic is the copper content. Depending on the ratio of copper used, the hue can range from a soft pink to a deep red.

Pure 24-karat gold is a relatively soft metal, so jewelry makers learned early on that mixing gold with other metals would make the end product stronger and more resistant to wear. They also learned that adding specific metallic elements could alter the metal's color.

Typically, 18-karat yellow gold is composed of 75% fine gold, 15% copper and 10% fine silver. To make 18-karat rose gold, however, the recipe changes to 75% fine gold, 22.25% copper and 2.75% silver. Voilà.

In a feature story on Sothebys.com, the author explained that the use of rose gold in fine jewelry can be traced to 19th century Imperial Russia when Carl Fabergé incorporated the material into the designs of his elaborate Fabergé Eggs. The innovative gold hue earned widespread appeal and was originally dubbed "Russian Gold." As other jewelers from around the world caught on to the trend, the material was given the more generic moniker of "pink gold."

Sotheby's explained that throughout recent history, rose gold has fallen in and out of favor based on social, economic and political upheavals. For instance, rose gold had a strong run during the Roaring Twenties, but lost its sheen after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Then, when platinum was declared a "strategic material" during World War II, jewelry designers refocused their attention on yellow and rose gold.

Over the past 50 years, rose gold's popularity has ridden a rollercoaster of changing tastes. Today, it's plain to see that "rose gold" is once again at the top of its game.

Credit: Image by BigStockPhoto.com.

23-Carat Carmen Lúcia Ruby Is One of the World's Most Extraordinary Examples of July's Birthstone

Since 2004, visitors to the National Gem and Mineral Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., have marveled at the Carmen Lúcia Ruby, one of the world's largest and finest examples of July's official birthstone.

At 23.10 carats, the extraordinarily rare Burmese ruby exhibits a richly saturated red color known as "pigeon’s blood.” When the Carmen Lúcia Ruby joined the National Gem Collection 13 years ago, curator Jeffrey Post called the gem "the most important addition to the collection in the 20 years that I’ve been here."

The Carmen Lúcia Ruby is named for Carmen Lúcia Buck, the beloved wife of Dr. Peter Buck, who donated the ring to the Smithsonian after her passing in 2003. Carmen had been undergoing cancer treatments in 2002 and had heard rumors that the magnificent ruby might be coming on the market after being in private hands for decades. Carmen had hoped to purchase the ring to celebrate her recovery. Sadly, she would never wear it.

Knowing how much she admired the ring, Peter Buck, who is now 86, decided to provide the Smithsonian with the funds to purchase it and put it permanently on display. The Carmen Lúcia Ruby would be a gift to the American people and a testament to his everlasting love.

"So it seemed like a really appropriate thing to do, to give it to the nation so people could come and see it," he told The New York Times in 2004. "She would have really liked that people could see it and know it was the Carmen Lúcia Ruby, and that it wasn't locked away in a vault somewhere."

The oval stone was sourced in the fabled Mogok region of Burma in the 1930s and is acknowledged as being one of the largest faceted Burmese rubies in the world. While sapphire, emerald and diamond gems weighing hundreds of carats exist, high-quality Burmese rubies larger than 20 carats are rarely seen.

A nuclear physicist by trade, Peter Buck is famous for making one of the most brilliant investments in U.S. history. In 1965, at the age of 35, Buck loaned $1,000 to his family friend, Fred DeLuca, so he could open a sandwich shop. That shop was intended to help the 18-year-old DeLuca pay for college at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. DeLuca honored his benefactor by naming the shop "Pete's Super Submarines." That single store has since grown into the mammoth Subway chain, with 44,000 restaurants in 112 countries. Buck's net worth is currently estimated at $2.6 billion.

Peter Buck never disclosed how much he donated to the Smithsonian to purchase the ruby. We do know, however, that a similar stone — the 25.59-carat Sunrise Ruby — established a new world record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a ruby when it yielded $30.3 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in May of 2015.

The Carmen Lúcia Ruby can be seen near the Hope Diamond and Logan Sapphire at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, which is part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Credits: Photos by Chip Clark/Smithsonian.

Manitoba Woman Harnesses Power of Facebook to Find Owner of a Diamond Ring Found in West Hawk Lake

Manitoba native Courtney Johnson is harnessing the power of Facebook to find the rightful owner of a three-stone diamond ring her boyfriend found in West Hawk Lake last Tuesday. As of this morning, her Facebook plea had been shared more than 12,000 times.

Johnson and her boyfriend were nearly back to shore after swimming in the picturesque lake, about 160km east of Winnipeg, when the eagle-eyed boyfriend spotted something shimmering on the rocky bottom. He leaned over and scooped up the yellow gold, prong-set diamond ring.

"He was looking down because there's lots of sharp rocks and he saw something shiny so he picked it up," Johnson told CBC News.

At first, Johnson thought that she was in the middle of a surprise marriage proposal, but then realized the ring wasn't part of a ruse. The cherished keepsake had been lost by somebody and she was determined to find the owner.

"It was kind of like ‘Wow. Can this be real?'” Johnson told CTV News Winnipeg. “It looks like it’s been in the water for quite some time because it’s really polished."

Johnson noticed that the ring had a few identifying marks inscribed in the band that would make it easier to confirm the rightful owner.

In a Facebook item dated July 4, 2017, Johnson posted a photo of the ring with this caption: "Found in water at west hawk lake. If you can tell me what is engraved inside then it must be yours. Please share!"

Two days later, she updated the post with a bit more information... "It's engraved with a date and something else. The year is 92."

Johnson also reported her find to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), local jewelers and the region's major media outlets.

Johnson's Facebook page has become a whirlwind of activity. The lost-ring post had been shared more than 12,000 times and a number of Facebook comments focused on Johnson's character.

Wrote Facebook user Aria Dawn, "You're doing an awesome thing by sharing and posting this! The world needs more people like you. Added Kelly Johannsen, "So kind of you! Hope you find the owner!"

Johnson is pleased with the amount of exposure her story has earned.

"I wasn't expecting that at all, but I'm glad it's being shared because maybe the rightful owner or family will come forward for it," she told CBC News. "If I lost a ring, and even if it was 10 years later or 15 years later and somebody found it, I would be so happy."

When one Facebook user asked Johnson if she might sell the ring if nobody came forward to claim it, she told the user that she would never sell it. She wants to keep it available for the rightful owner no matter how long it takes for that person to come forward.

Johnson told CTV News Winnipeg that she intends to turn the ring in to the RCMP.

Credits: Images via Facebook.com/courtney.johnson.9277583. Map by Google Maps.

Music Friday: Blinged-Out Coconut Crab Is 'Shiny' in Disney's Animated 2016 Blockbuster, 'Moana'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, a giant treasure-hoarding coconut crab named Tamatoa boasts that he's the brightest thing that glitters in "Shiny" from Disney's 2016 animated blockbuster, Moana.

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. The crab claims to "sparkle like a wealthy woman's neck."

Among the treasures he's salvaged from the depths are pearls, diamonds, gold and a power-granting magical fishhook that was lost by our 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 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 U.S. Billboard 200 and charted in 17 countries. The single reached #6 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

Miranda is famous for his starring role in the Broadway musical 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 $642 million worldwide.

Please check out the official video of the animated Tamatoa (Clement) performing "Shiny." The video has been viewed more than 114 million times. 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 armour'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

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

Baseball's True Holy Grail: Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series Ring Sells for $2.1 Million

Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series ring marking his record-breaking season playing for what is universally considered the best baseball team in history fetched $2.1 million at the inaugural Lelands.com Invitational Auction on July 1. The auction house had called the ring "baseball's true holy grail."

ESPN.com reported that the Ruth ring set a new auction record for the highest price ever paid for a sports ring, more than quadrupling the previous record held by Julius Erving's ABA championship ring, which sold for $460,741 in 2011.

Actor Charlie Sheen put Ruth's ring up for bid, along with an original copy of the sale document that sent Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees. That document, which is considered the most important document in sports history, was sold for a winning bid of $2.3 million.

The 14-karat gold World Series ring features a slightly chipped bezel-set round diamond stylized as a sun with rays radiating from the center. Framing the diamond is a decorative array of arrow feathers and the title "New York Yankees World Champions." The inscription "G. H. Ruth" can be clearly seen on the inside of the band. G.H. stands for George Herman.

Both the left and right sides of the ring display an American eagle with its wings spread. Above the eagle's head is a baseball and following the contours of the wings are the words "New York." Below the eagle is the year 1927.

Bohemia, N.Y.-based Lelands.com reported that the ring had been obtained from Babe Ruth's widow, Claire Ruth, in the 1970s by baseball collector Barry Halper. Sheen purchased both the ring and sale document from Josh Evans of Lelands for an undisclosed sum in the early 1990s.

"I've enjoyed these incredible items for more than two decades and the time has come," Sheen told ESPN. "Whatever price it brings is gravy."

Babe Ruth's 1927 World Series ring commemorated an epic season during which he hit a then-record-breaking 60 homes runs, batted .356 and drove in 164 runs. He was on a Yankees team that won 110 games. The team's legendary "Murderers' Row" was a lineup of powerful hitters that included seven future Hall of Famers. The team would go on to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.

The highest price ever paid for a sports memorabilia item was a 1920 Babe Ruth game jersey that sold for $4.5 million in 2012.

Credits: Ring images courtesy of Lelands.com. Babe Ruth photo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Charlie Sheen photo by Angela George [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Denver Tattoo Artist Proposes With, You Guessed It, a Tattoo; Video Amasses 12 Million Views

A Denver tattoo artist tricked his girlfriend into applying her first-ever tattoo — on him — and during the nerve-racking process revealed a hidden tattoo that doubled as a surprise marriage proposal. The video starring Vinny Capaldo-Smith and now-fiancée Brooke Wodark has gone viral on Facebook with more than 12 million views.

Wodark, 23, told ABC News that Capaldo-Smith, 30, had convinced her to tattoo a small heart on his ankle. Because she had never applied a tattoo before she felt very anxious because "you're about to put a needle in somebody."

But while Wordark was nervously working on the heart, Capaldo-Smith slid his shorts up a bit to reveal a secret tattoo he had gotten on his thigh the day before. The tattoo of a boy and a girl holding a "Love" balloon mimicked an illustration Wodark had drawn months before.

“It was an idea from elementary school from when you pass somebody a note to check off the boxes,” Capaldo-Smith told ABC News. “She drew it one night at dinner on a paper tablecloth, and I took a picture of it that night.”

Added to the stick-figure illustration was the question, "Will you marry me?" along with two check boxes, one for "Yes" and the other for "No."

“In my mind I was just scared to tattoo in general,” Wodark told ABC News. “He told me I was going to tattoo a heart on his ankle and I was freaking out. When he whipped out the ring I just started crying. I looked at it for a second and I was like, ‘No way. Are you kidding? That’s not a real tattoo.’”

Wodark composed herself and tattooed a red "X" in the "Yes" box.

Capaldo-Smith presented Wodark with a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring. The center stone is surrounded by a diamond halo and the split-shank band is adorned with diamonds.

Wodark said the proposal caught her totally by surprise.

“I had no idea it was going to happen that day," she said. "I was just over-the-top ecstatic. It was everything I ever wanted and more.”

Wodark summed up her exciting day with a Facebook post on June 23.

"My boyfriend Vinny had always told me he wanted me to tattoo him. I was going in to get a small tattoo done and he told me that it was the day I was finally going to tattoo him instead. I drew out a small heart on his ankle only to be surprised with a proposal, a beautiful ring, and my future husband!!"

The couple is planning a fall 2018 wedding.

Check out the viral video below...

Credits: Couple screen captures via YouTube.com. Tattoo image via Facebook.com/brooke.wodark.