Music Friday: Selena Gomez's Suitors Are Wrapped Around Her Finger Like a 'Ring'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, pop star Selena Gomez drives home a message of self-empowerment and self-worth in her Latin-infused 2020 release, "Ring."

In the song, the 28-year-old former Disney Channel actress turns up her nose at insincere suitors because she's "one in a billion." Diamond and jewelry references amplify her sentiments, and, at one point, she even compares herself to basketball legend Miichael Jordan — the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time).

She sings, "I'm breakin' hearts like a heart attack / Got him right where the carats at / Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring / They just like puppets on a string, string, string."

Written by Gomez and five collaborators, "Ring" has been compared favorably to Camila Cabello's "Havana," Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Santana's "Smooth."

The song appeared as the fifth track on her chart-topping, third solo studio album, Rare. It was the third time in a row that a Gomez album reached #1 on the US Billboard 200 Albums chart.

Born in Grand Prairie, TX, in 1992, Gomez and her teenage mom struggled financially. The singer tells the story of walking with her mom to the local dollar store to buy spaghetti for dinner.

Gomez competed in pageants as a child, but her life would change dramatically when she was cast as a 7-year-old on the children's TV series Barney & Friends. After she aged out of that series, she earned a cameo role in the film Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. That opportunity opened the door to a starring role in 2007 on The Wizards of Waverly Place. At age 16, she signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records, the same label that signed Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato.

Today, the singer's net worth is said to be at least $75 million. She was named to the "Forbes 30 Under 30" list at the age of 23.

In 2017, Gomez underwent a kidney transplant due to lupus complications and now she speaks publicly about her treatment and recovery.

"I've gone through a lot of medical issues," Gomez told Interview magazine, "and I know that I can reach people who are going through similarly scary things — an organ transplant, or being on dialysis, or going away for treatment."

Trivia: Gomez loves everything about pickles. She revealed on a UK talk show that she's obsessed with them. "That is my thing and I drink the juice from the jar too," she said. "They sell them at gas stations and movie theaters in Texas. I go to the movies and have popcorn and pickles."

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

"Ring"
Written by Selena Gomez, Sean Douglas, Julie Frost, Breyan Isaac, David Ciente and Nolan Lambroza. Performed by Selena Gomez.

You all in your feelings, baby, all into me
I'm one in a billion, baby, don't you agree?

Obviously, you know, I'm aware of that
I'm breakin' hearts like a heart attack
Got him right where the carats at

Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring
They just like puppets on a string, string, string
I put it down, they call me up
They doin' way too much
So I'll just let it ring, ring, ring (Oh-oh)

Yeah, I received your message, all twenty-three (Twenty-three)
You know I'm Jordan with it, G-O-A-T (G-O-A-T)

Obviously, you know, I'm aware of that
I'm breakin' hearts like a heart attack
I got him right where the carats at (Yeah)

Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring
They just like puppets on a string, string, string
I put it down, they call me up
They doin' way too much
So I'll just let it ring, ring, ring
Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring
They wanna give me everything, thing, thing
I put it down, they call me up
Oh, no, no, no, no, no
So I'll just let it ring, ring, ring

Circlin' me, they just like satellites (Ooh)
Circlin' me all day and every night (Ooh, yeah)
Circlin' me, I'm sure you sympathize (Ooh)
A-la-la-la-la-la-la-la (Ooh)
Oh, na-na

Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring
They just like puppets on a string, string, string
I put it down, they call me up
They doin' way too much
So I'll just let it ring, ring, ring
Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring
They wanna give me everything, thing, thing
I put it down, they call me up
Oh, no, no, no, no, no
So I'll just let it ring, ring, ring

Credit: Image by Lunchbox LP, Culver City, California, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

New Agreement Signals Karowe Mine Will Be Generating High-Value Diamonds Until 2046

Botswana's Karowe mine, the only mine in history to have yielded two 1,000-plus-carat diamonds, will be turning out high-value rough gems until 2046 under a renewed licensing agreement between Lucara Diamond Corp. and the Government of Botswana.

The 25-year deal will pave the way for the underground expansion of the prolific Karowe mine, which has been the world’s foremost source of Type IIa diamonds in excess of 10.8 carats since it began production in 2012.

The mine's largest and highest-profile diamonds are the 1,758-carat Sewelô (2019) and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona (2015). Other exceptional finds include a yet-to-be-named, 998-carat head turner that was revealed this past November and the 812-carat Constellation (2015). When considering the largest rough diamonds of all time, the Botswana mine accounts for the #2, #3, #4 and #9 positions. The #1 spot is held by the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered in South Africa in 1905.

The concept of moving the mine operations underground is predicted to extend its productive life by 20 years. In 2019, a feasibility study concluded that a capital investment of $514 million would result in the production of 7.8 million carats by 2040. The underground expansion is expected to take five years, with the first ore being extracted in 2016.

The current open pit mine has a depth of 324 meters. The underground operation is expected to extend the depth to 750 meters below the surface.

Type IIa diamonds have exceptional optical transparency and are the most chemically pure variety of diamonds. They contain no measurable trace of other elements, such as nitrogen, which could alter the color.

"Lucara is grateful for the confidence and support demonstrated by the Government of Botswana as we work to expand our operations at Karowe underground, for the benefit of the Government and the people of Botswana together with Lucara's shareholders," noted Eira Thomas, Lucara's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to continued cooperation and a mutually rewarding partnership with the Government of Botswana."

Credits: Karowe mine, Sewelô and Lesedi La Rona images courtesy of Lucara Diamond.

7-Year-Old Finds a Diamond and Inspires the Journalist Who Got It Back

Jessica Amis, an Emmy-winning digital journalist for CBS-affiliate THV11 in Little Rock, recently found herself at the center of a story about a lost diamond, a precocious 7-year-old and the significance of "things" that remind you of stuff you never want to forget.

Amis had been enjoying a meal with two co-workers in the outdoor picnic area of Hill Station, a popular restaurant in the Hillcrest neighborhood of the capital city, when a bent prong on her vintage engagement ring allowed the center diamond to become dislodged.

The diamond disappeared into a bed of gravel — a ground cover that Amis described as the "tiniest and shiniest gravel I’ve ever seen."

Her diamond blended in so perfectly that it was impossible to see. She even returned multiple times to sift through the gravel, but all of her attempts came up empty.

Enter the hero of our story: 7-year-old J. Harley Calloway.

The precocious youngster explained how easy it was to find the diamond, about a month after Amis had lost it.

“I just dig some dirt, and then I found the diamond,” he told the interviewer, who happened to be Amis. “I just looked down when I was grabbing the dirt and I said, ‘Mommy, I found a diamond.’”

Calloway remembered that his mom said, “That’s not real!”

Well, it was very real.

Fortunately, Amis had shared her story and contact information with the restaurant's management, and Calloway's family was considerate enough to turn the stone in. The staff at Hill Station immediately made the connection and called Amis with the good news.

In the her two-minute report, Amis waxed poetic about how people perceive "things" as they grow older. Some things are just things, but others are things that remind you of stuff you never want to forget.

The diamond in her ring is a "thing" that holds memories of "getting engaged, of dancing the night away, of building a life," she said. “And now it’s a reminder of the goodness in others and the hope that comes from just that.”

Amis rewarded Calloway with a Rock and Gem Dig kit from the Smithsonian gift shop.

Please check out the report at this link…

Credits: Screen captures via Youtube.com.

Hey, January Babies! Rhodolite Garnet Is the Pink Variety of Your Official Birthstone

Entombed with the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, garnets have been coveted by kings and commoners alike for thousands of years. The fabulous and versatile January birthstone comes in a wide array of natural colors, including deep red, purple, orange, yellow, violet, green, black, brown — and a vibrant raspberry pink.

This ultra-feminine pink variety of garnet is called "rhodolite."

According to the Smithsonian, pink garnets were discovered by mineralogist William Earl Hidden in the Cowee Valley of Macon County, NC, in the late 1800s and were named rhodolite because their color resembled the blossoms of the local rhododendron plant. "Rhodon" in Greek means "rose-like."

In addition to the rhodolite garnet, other varieties commonly seen in jewelry include pyrope, almandine, andradite, demantoid, grossularite, hessonite, tsavorite, spessartine and uvarovite. Garnets achieve their range of color from trace amounts of iron, manganese, calcium or aluminum in their chemical makeup.

Rhodolite is described as the variety of garnet with a coloration and chemistry that bridges pyrope (red) and almandine (red to brownish or purplish-red). Rhodolite contains more magnesium than iron in its chemical structure, thus the color leans more to pyrope. Rhodolite is available in a range of shades from violet to red, including lavender pink, raspberry rose, raspberry red, purplish-violet and purplish red.

This variety of garnet became a popular one for fine jewelry because of its brilliance, color range, transparency and durability. Garnet rates 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. By comparison, diamond rates a 10, sapphire a 9 and topaz an 8.

The most important sources of top-quality rhodolite garnet are Sri Lanka, Tanzania, India and Zimbabwe.

Credit: Image by YippeeD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Rhododendron plants by TriviaKing at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Leibish Wins 16 Stones at Penultimate 2020 Pink Argyle Diamonds Tender

Leibish, the New York-based colored diamond specialist, upped its bids this year by 20% to secure 16 of the 62 gems offered by Rio Tinto at the penultimate 2020 Pink Argyle Diamonds Tender.  

The company's biggest prize was "The Argyle Sakura Diamond," a 1.84-carat, pear-shaped fancy vivid purplish-pink stone that had been touted by the mining company as one of the six "hero" diamonds from 2020's offering.

The tender, which represents a collection of the rarest diamonds from a year’s worth of production at the Argyle mine in the remote east Kimberley region of Western Australia, was momentous because the mine ceased operating in November.

During its 37 years of production, the mine famously accounted for nearly 95% of the world’s pink and red diamonds.

Leibish is calling its 2020 tender cache the "Pink Sunset Collection" in homage to Argyle's last days of mining and its historic finale. Leibish's acquisition included 11 of the 21 stones that weighed in at greater than 1 carat. These represented the rarest and most valuable pink diamonds in the group.

Leibish noted that each diamond in the "Pink Sunset Collection" will be elegantly displayed in its own presentation case, accompanied by its provenance.

"As next year (2021) will be the last Argyle tender, we bid on all stones, since the goods will become super rare, in high demand and expensive," said Leibish executive Shmulik Polnauer in a recent Rapaport Magazine report.

Polnauer estimated that asking prices at the 2020 tender were 15% higher than the previous year, so Leibish upped its bids 20% and more to ensure that the company would secure a substantial share of the lots.

The 2020 Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender — titled “One Lifetime, One Encounter” — included 62 diamonds weighing a total of 57.23 carats. The final Argyle tender is expected to take place later this year.

Credits: Images courtesy of Leibish.

Best for Last: Hope Diamond Is the Final Stop on 2020's Gem Gallery Virtual Tour

More than 200 million visitors to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, have marveled at the beauty and majesty of the Hope Diamond since jeweler Harry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. In yesterday's column, we recounted how and why Winston decided to use the US Postal Service to ship the 45.52-carat gem from New York to DC.

The weathered brown paper mailing wrapper — showing $2.44 in postage, but also $142.85 for $1 million worth of insurance — is a popular exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. But, 1.3 miles away on the National Mall, the Hope Diamond is the prize of National Gem Collection.

When the Smithsonian's gem gallery was renovated in 1997, the Hope Diamond necklace was moved onto a rotating pedestal inside a case made of 3-inch-thick bulletproof glass. The display sits in the center of an expansive rotunda, adjacent to the main entry of the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals. The 7,500-plus gemstones in the collection range in size from less than a half-carat to 23,000 carats.

In a normal year, 4.2 million people would pass through the Smithsonian's most popular museum, but this has not been a normal year. The Smithsonian museums remain closed in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.

During the pandemic, we have hosted 13 virtual tours utilizing 360-degree viewing technology provided by the Smithsonian. Previous stops have included the “Zuni Tribe Turquoise,” “Picasso Kunzite Necklace,” “Marie Antoinette Earrings,” “Hall Sapphire Necklace,” “Victoria-Transvaal Diamond,” “Carmen Lúcia Ruby,“ “Chalk Emerald,“ “Gifts from Napoleon,“ “Stars and Cat’s Eyes,“ “Logan Sapphire,“ “Dom Pedro“ aquamarine, “Steamboat“ tourmaline and a grouping of enormous topaz.

Here’s how to navigate to the Hope Diamond.

— First, click on this link…

The resulting page will be a gallery called “Geology, Gems & Minerals: Precious Gems 1.”

— Next, click the double-left-arrow two times to navigate to the gallery called “Geology, Gems & Minerals: Hope Diamond 1.”

When you arrive, you will see a single, glass-encased exhibit at the center of a rotunda.

– Touch the Plus Sign to zoom in.

(You may touch the “X” to remove the map. This will give you a better view of the exhibit. You may restore the map by clicking the “Second” floor navigation on the top-right of the screen.)

Researchers believe the Hope Diamond’s origin can be traced back to 1642, with the discovery in India of a beautiful blue rough diamond. It was crudely finished and weighed 115 carats when it was purchased in 1666 by French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, at which time it became known as the Tavernier Diamond.

French King Louis XIV bought the Tavernier Diamond in February 1669 and ordered it to be recut. The result was a 69-carat heart-shaped stone that would be known as the French Blue.

In 1792, the French Blue was stolen from the royal treasury in Paris. Its whereabouts remained unknown until a large blue diamond appeared in 1839 in the collection of Henry Philip Hope, a London banker and gem collector. Gem historians believe the French Blue had been. once again, recut. The 45.52-carat gem became known as the Hope Diamond.

After going through numerous owners, it was sold by French jeweler Pierre Cartier to Washington socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean in 1911. In 1949, McLean's heirs sold the stone to Winston, who exhibited it throughout the US for a number of years. In 1958, he decided to donate it to the Smithsonian.

According to the Smithsonian, Winston envisioned the institution assembling a gem collection to rival the royal treasuries of Europe -- "crown jewels" that would belong to the American public.

"Other countries have their Crown Jewels," Winston reportedly said. "We don't have a Queen and King, but we should have our Crown Jewels, and what better place than here in the nation's capital at the Smithsonian Institution."

Credits: Hope Diamond photo by Studio Kanji Ishii, Inc. / Smithsonian. Screen captures via naturalhistory2.si.edu.

In 1958, Hope Diamond Was Sent From NY to DC Via Registered Mail for $2.44 in Postage

The Hope Diamond may be the most famous gemstone in the world, but when NBC’s Harry Smith recently visited the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, he highlighted the surprising story behind the parcel that ferried the priceless 45.52-carat gem in 1958 from Harry Winston's New York headquarters to its new home in the US capital.

In the six-minute piece that aired on NBC's TODAY show earlier this week, we learned that when the esteemed Fifth Avenue jeweler decided to donate the gem to the Smithsonian, his preferred carrier was — not an armored vehicle — but the US Postal Service. The registered First-Class postage cost him just $2.44, but he also paid $142.85 for $1 million worth of insurance. The total payment of $145.29 is equivalent to $1,289 today.

“It’s the safest way to mail gems,” Winston told The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.). “I’ve sent gems all over the world that way.”

Winston was right. The package arrived in DC safe and sound.

In Washington, the package stamped "Fragile" was delivered to the Natural History Museum by local letter carrier James G. Todd. Reporters were on hand to witness Todd plucking the valuable package from his mail satchel and presenting it to Smithsonian Secretary Leonard Carmichael and Smithsonian curator George Switzer. Also attending was Edna Winston, the jeweler's wife.

While the Hope Diamond is the most popular exhibit at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals, only 1.3 miles away at the National Postal Museum, the post-stamped mailing wrapper remains one of its most cherished artifacts.

"The National History Museum can have the diamond. I want the box it came in," said Dan Piazza, Curator of the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. "I kind of think we got the better end of the deal."

Smith and Jeffrey Post, the Curator-in-Charge of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian, shared a nervous laugh when discussing the credibility of the "Hope Diamond Curse." Within a year of completing his delivery in November of 1958, Todd was plagued by a series of tragic events. He suffered a crushed leg and head wound in two separate automobile accidents, his wife died of a heart attack, his dog strangled on his leash and Todd’s home was partially destroyed by fire.

The Hope Diamond has been a permanent resident of the National Gem Gallery for 62 years. Over that time, it has left the safe confines of the museum only four times, according to the Smithsonian. In 1962, it was exhibited for a month at the Louvre in Paris, as part of an exhibit entitled "Ten Centuries of French Jewelry." In 1965, the Hope diamond traveled to South Africa where it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. In 1984, the diamond was lent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary celebration. In 1996, the diamond returned to Harry Winston for a cleaning and some minor restoration work.

See the TODAY show segment at this link.

Credits: Hope Diamond mail wrapper and package delivery shots courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Hope diamond image by Chip Clark / Smithsonian.

Fossicker's Paradise: Queenslanders Seek Gold Nuggets, Sapphires, Emeralds and Opals

Queensland's resource minister is encouraging residents to pursue a heart-stopping, Eureka moment in the Australian state's hotspots known to bear precious metals and gems. All it takes is a AU$8.65 license, a few tools and a lot of luck.

“Whether you’re hunting for gold in Charters Towers and Clermont, searching for sapphires around Emerald or looking for the vibrant and colorful gemstones of Agate Creek, and western opals at Yowah and Opalton, Queensland is a fossicker’s paradise,” said Resources Minister Scott Stewart.

Fossicking is the term Aussies use to describe amateur prospecting, especially when carried out as a recreational activity. The Queensland Government is promoting fossicking as a popular outdoor activity the whole family can enjoy. It is currently the summer season in Australia.

“It’s been a tough year for Queenslanders,” he said, “but we’re encouraging everyone to get out and support our regional communities and explore our state’s natural beauty by urging more families to put fossicking on your must-do list these holidays.”

According to the Queensland Government, there has been an upsurge in the number of people fossicking for gold and precious gems. More than 18,000 fossickers’ licenses have been issued in just the past two years.

The Queensland countryside is filled with stories of Eureka moments...

• In 2017, an amateur fossicker discovered a yellow sapphire the size of a golf ball near Anakie. Named the "Pride of Tomahawk," the gem was one of the rarest and most significant discovered in Queensland during the past decade.

• One the largest sapphires ever discovered in Queensland is "The Stonebridge Green," a 202-carat gem that is owned by a fourth-generation gem miner at Anakie. It was originally unearthed by gem miner Frederick Max Stonebridge in 1938 and continues to be the star of an annual gem festival in central Queensland.

• Also, in 2017, a prospector found a 1.17 kg (2.57 lbs) gold nugget in a paddock in the Charters Towers region. It was just 15cm (5.9 in) below ground and was discovered using a metal detector.

Stewart clarified that fossickers are permitted to use hand tools, such as picks, shovels, hammers, sieves, shakers, electronic detectors and other similar tools.

“You can collect gemstones, ornamental stones, mineral specimens, alluvial gold — including nuggets and some fossil specimens, but not meteorites or fossils of vertebrate animals,” he said.

A month-long license will cost a family just AU$12.40 or AU$8.65 for an individual.

Credit: Image courtesy of the Queensland Government.

Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' Singalong Is Guaranteed to Bring a Smile to Your Face

Welcome to an unusual edition of Music Monday, as we bend the rules in an unconventional year to present a fabulous video that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and might even make you cry.

(We normally feature music on Fridays, but since Christmas Day came out on a Friday this year — and because you need to end the year on a high note — we've implemented this temporary change.)

Regular readers also know that the music offered up in this column usually contains jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we're including music by an artist with a gemstone in his name. Yes, we're talking about Neil Diamond.

Diamond is keenly aware that 2020 has been an extremely difficult time for everybody worldwide, so the legendary 79-year-old singer staged a way to spread joy and togetherness. What you are about to see is Diamond's global "Sweet Caroline" singalong, created from real fan submissions.

At the beginning of the video, a caption laid over a background resembling the facets of a black diamond explains how and why the musical piece was assembled.

“2020 has been a tough year for everyone," Diamond wrote, "so we wanted to bring people together the best way we knew how: Through music.”

Diamond added, "To inspire people to come together, we challenged fans all around the world to sing along to 'Sweet Caroline'.”

Fans were encouraged to upload their videos to the now-expired site, sweetcarolinesingalong.com, and they delivered in a big way. Thousands responded.

The edited clip shows people of all generations, nationalities and ethnicities pouring their hearts into the song, some playing instruments, others dressed like Diamond impersonators. We see toddlers singing with their parents, school kids singing with their buddies, Santa singing with his iPad, a stadium full of fans shouting “So good, so good, so good," and even an elderly couple serenading each other while dancing closely. Clearly, some of the clips were captured before COVID-19 gathering restrictions were implemented.

As the song builds to a crescendo, the individual performers on the screen shrink and multiply to reveal the thousands of participants singing in harmony. The image then dissolves into a photo of Diamond superimposed over the same black diamond graphic that opened the presentation.

Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," which was originally released in 1969, has been spotlighted in this column twice in 2020. Back in March, as the pandemic started to wreak havoc on our lives, Diamond spun up some new lyrics to the song in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

While performing in self-quarantine, Diamond replaced the popular pre-chorus, “Hands, touching hands / Reaching out, touching me, touching you,” with these health-conscious alternative lyrics, “Hands, washing hands / Reaching out, don’t touch me, I won’t touch you.”

Diamond, who stopped touring in 2018 due to a Parkinson’s diagnosis, just released his latest album, Neil Diamond with The London Symphony Orchestra, Classic Diamonds.

Please check out the video of Diamond's fans singing "Sweet Caroline." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

“Sweet Caroline”
Written by Neil Diamond. Performed by his fans.

Where it began
I can't begin to knowin'
But then I know it's growin' strong

Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who'd have believed you'd come along

Hands, touchin' hands
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I…

…look at the night
And it don't seem so lonely
We fill it up with only two

And when I hurt
Hurtin' runs off my shoulders
How can I hurt when holdin' you?

Warm, touchin' warm
Reachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh, no, no

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
Sweet Caroline
I believed they never could

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com.

Set With 804 Gems, LA Lakers' Championship Rings Are the Most Elaborate in NBA History

The LA Lakers received their 2020 championship rings — the most elaborate in NBA history — on Tuesday night before their home opener at the Staples Center. Designed by Jason of Beverly Hills with an assist from streetwear designer Don C, each ring glistens with 180 grams of yellow gold and 804 gemstones. It also conveys the narrative of a season like no other.

The gemstones — which include white diamonds, yellow diamonds and purple amethysts — weigh a total of 16.45 carats.

The face of the ring features a prominent Laker "L" logo rimmed in gold and filled with 17 custom-cut amethysts weighing .95 carats. The number 17 represents the number of NBA titles won by the franchise (tied with the Boston Celtics for the most in league history) and the .95 carats represents the 95 days the team spent in the "bubble," the Walt Disney World facilities in Orlando where all the playoff teams competed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The yellow diamonds outlining the "L" filling the basketball of the Lakers' logo weigh exactly 0.52 carats, a nod to the team's 52 regular season wins.

One of the most unique features of the ring is a ball-bearing-enabled removable top that, when opened, reveals a graphic representation for the Staples Center rafters — every one of the franchise's retired jersey numbers superimposed over a black mamba pattern. Among the retired numbers are 8 and 24, the ones worn by Kobe Bryant, the beloved Laker who tragically passed away January 26 in a helicopter accident. Black Mamba was Bryant's nickname.

The shoulder of the ring displays the jersey numbers of every player who suited up for the Lakers during the 2019-2020 season. Each number is spaced by a tiny Larry O’Brien championship trophy.

On one side of the ring is the player's name and number written in raised gold letters. A Black Mamba snake seems to be wrapping itself around the player's number. Also incorporated into the design is the Lakers' playoff slogan, "Leave A Legacy," in LeBron James' own handwriting.

The other side of the ring shows the team's playoff series records against Portland, Houston, Denver and Miami, along with the team's regular season record (52-19), the Larry O’Brien trophy, the year and the NBA symbol tucked into the first zero of 2020.

A unifying theme is the snakeskin-textured background behind the graphics on the right and left sides of the ring.

Credits: Images by Jason of Beverly Hills.