- In some cultures people would swallow pearls whole to relieve sickness
2. The largest pearl ever found was 14 pounds
3. Tiffany and Co. engagement rings had a price tag of $40 in 1896
4. The Queen of England’s jewelry collection is worth an estimated $57 million dollars.
5. The Heart of the Ocean, from James Cameron’s “Titanic” was not completely fictitious – it is believed that a rather large sapphire went down with Titanic on that fateful night.
6. All diamonds turn to graphite over an extremely long period of time
7. While diamonds are one of the hardest substances in nature (although recent research has proved otherwise), synthetic nanomaterials have been created that are much harder.
8. Although diamonds are hard, they are not strong. If you hit one with a hammer it will shatter.
9. Engagement rings were declared necessary for marriage by Pope Nicholas I in 860 A.D.
10. Opals can actually be up to 30% water
11. Cartier introduced platinum to jewelry in 1896
12. Extremely high quality emeralds are more valuable than diamonds
13. Pure gold is always yellow and changes color when different metals are added to it
14. One of the largest sapphires is known as the Star of Asia, which is currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
15. All the gold ever mined in the history of the world can be compressed into an 18-yard cube, roughly 1/10 of the Washington Monument
16. There are 10 billion tons of gold in all the oceans
17. Pearls are only formed in 1 out of every 10,000 oysters
18. One in a million mined diamonds become jewelry
19. The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of diamonds
20. 3 out of 4 American brides receive engagement rings with gold and diamonds
21. All diamonds are over 3 billion years old
22. The most expensive piece of jewelry created for a movie was Nicole Kidman’s necklace in Moulin Rouge. It is expected to sell for $1 million.
23. The twelve birthstones came from the twelve tribes of Israel
24. Wedding bands are worn on the “ring finger” because people used to believe that there is a vein connecting to the heart within it
25. After millions upon millions of years, it is assumed that the Sun will become one large diamond-star!
