Miley Cyrus has officially confirmed her engagement to Max Morando, and jewelry enthusiasts are buzzing about the singer’s strikingly chunky east-west diamond ring. While fans may have missed it initially — Miley subtly showcased the piece in birthday photos posted to Instagram in late November — the engagement was publicly confirmed following her appearance on the red carpet at the Avatar: Fire and Ash premiere in early December. She also shared more about the ring during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.



The ring, custom-made by Los Angeles designer Jacquie Aiche, is a bold departure from traditional solitaire styles. At its center is a cushion-cut diamond, estimated between 3 and 5 carats, set in an east-west orientation. This horizontal setting gives the piece an architectural, modern flair, subtly turning the classic engagement ring silhouette on its side — literally. The diamond is enveloped in a chunky 14-karat yellow-gold band that widens at the top, creating a bombe-style bezel setting that is both sculptural and substantial.



The choice of a chunky yellow-gold band also aligns with a growing preference for rings that make a statement. Thick, sculptural bands are increasingly popular, particularly among celebrities, signaling a shift toward personalized, fashion-forward pieces rather than strictly traditional designs. Stars, such as Zendaya and Dua Lipa, have similarly embraced bold, non-traditional engagement rings, cementing this style as a leading trend. Jewelry-industry experts report that flush-set stones and east-west designs have been surging.

Even Miley herself commented on the ring’s distinctive style with her signature humor, joking to Fallon that it was a “Black Friday deal,” despite it being a serious, custom creation.

She acknowledged that the ring doesn't fit in with her usual whimsical jewelry — she typically favors gummy bear or unicorn rings — but she's been embracing her newest bauble as a reflection of her new life chapter with Morando.

Cyrus, 33, and Morando, 27, first met in 2022 on a blind date arranged through mutual friends. From the start, their connection was immediate, blending both personal chemistry and shared creative sensibilities.

Morando, a Los Angeles-based music producer, has built a reputation for his work in pop and contemporary music, collaborating with a range of artists on production, songwriting and mixing. While he and Cyrus are both deeply involved in the music industry, they have not formally worked together on any professional projects prior to their engagement.

Ultimately, Miley Cyrus’s diamond engagement ring is more than a piece of jewelry — it’s a bold statement. With its east-west diamond setting, chunky gold band, and modern design, it perfectly captures today’s most on-trend engagement ring style.

Credits: AI-generated conceptual rendering of Miley Cyrus's engagement ring by The Jeweler Blog using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3. Miley Cyrus photo by Raphael Pour-Hashemi, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists have just revealed a sparkling new twist in the story of how diamonds make their extraordinary 90-mile journey from deep within the Earth to the surface. It's well known that these gems don’t travel alone — they hitch a ride inside a rare, gas-charged magma called kimberlite. Think of it as Earth’s own diamond delivery service… but one that only works if the recipe is mixed just right.



New modeling — highlighted this month by Earth.com based on research published in Geology — shows that kimberlite magma must contain at least 8.2% carbon dioxide, plus a good helping of water, to stay buoyant enough to rocket upward. Without that crucial dose of dissolved CO2, the magma becomes too dense, stalls deep underground, and the diamonds never see daylight.

Here’s the fun part: dissolved carbon dioxide and water act as secret “lift” ingredients. They make the magma lighter than the solid rock around it, allowing it to rise quickly — very quickly. Scientists say the ascent must happen within hours, not days, or the diamonds will begin to change back into graphite, the soft carbon form that’s stable at shallow depths. In other words, if the kimberlite elevator doesn’t whoosh upward fast enough, those precious crystals lose their sparkle before the ride even ends.

As the magma rises, its dissolved gases expand dramatically, creating explosive, champagne-like bursts that carve out deep volcanic pipes. These structures — called kimberlite pipes — are the primary source of the world’s mined diamonds. The new research, led by Ana Anzulović of the University of Oslo, found that only when kimberlite is richly loaded with CO2 and water can it power through the crust-mantle boundary, a geological “gatekeeper” that stops slower, denser magmas in their tracks.

If the volatile levels aren’t high enough? No eruption. No pipe. No diamonds. It’s a high-stakes recipe where even a small mismeasure means the gems remain hidden forever.

But when the chemistry is perfect, kimberlite becomes the ultimate express elevator — lifting diamonds from 90 miles down and delivering them, intact and sparkling, to the surface in explosive style.

Credit: Russia's Mir mine in Mirny, Yakutia. Photo by Staselnik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome to Music Friday when we spotlight songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we revisit one of the greatest narrative songs of the 1970s — “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by the Looking Glass. The 1972 chart-topper is packed with evocative imagery, lyrical storytelling and, most importantly for us, jewelry symbolism that turns a simple silver locket into the emotional centerpiece of the song.



Frontman and songwriter Elliot Lurie sings, “Brandy wears a braided chain / Made of finest silver from the North of Spain / A locket that bears the name / Of the man that Brandy loved.”

Those four lines alone make “Brandy” a Music Friday classic. The braided chain, the Spanish silver, the engraved locket — all serve as tangible reminders of a sailor who stole Brandy’s heart, even though the sea ultimately claimed his.

For years, fans debated whether “Brandy” might be rooted in real history. A popular theory tied the song to the legend of Mary Ellis, an 18th-century New Jersey woman who famously fell in love with a sea captain. Sadly for Ellis, the captain never returned because his "life, lover and lady" was the sea. The coincidence that Mary Ellis’s grave rests just two miles from Rutgers University — and that the Looking Glass formed at Rutgers in 1969 — only fueled that romantic speculation.

But as Lurie has patiently explained over the years, the Mary Ellis connection is only a myth. And in a delightful 2024 YouTube interview with Meredith Marx, he finally put the theories to rest, sharing the real origin of “Brandy.”

According to Lurie, the fictional Brandy was originally named Randy, his high school girlfriend. But as he began shaping the story, the name didn’t feel right. “The girl's name can’t be Randy,” he told Marx. “First of all, that’s ambiguous — it could be a boy or a girl. And if she’s a barmaid, she should be Brandy.” And just like that, Randy became Brandy, and a pop-rock classic was born.

The line about the silver chain from “the North of Spain” has also intrigued listeners for decades. While many assumed it was simply poetic flair, historians confirm that northern Spain did, in fact, produce significant quantities of fine silver, with the Iberian Peninsula serving as a major source of the metal since antiquity. That means the lyric is not only lovely — it’s surprisingly accurate.

Released as a B-side to “Don’t It Make You Feel Good,” “Brandy” might have disappeared into obscurity if not for WPGC program director Harv Moore in Washington, D.C., who flipped the record and gave the song heavy airplay. Within hours, the station’s phone lines were overwhelmed. Within weeks, “Brandy” was climbing the charts. And soon it became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, forever anchoring the Looking Glass in pop-music history.

More than 50 years later, Lurie — now 77 years old — continues to perform. Recent shows have taken him to Monroe, NC; Ledyard, CT; and San Diego, CA, with upcoming dates scheduled in New Jersey, Delaware and beyond. After years working as a film and television music supervisor on projects such as Alien 3, A Night at the Roxbury and Spanglish, Lurie has returned to the stage, where he now performs alongside yacht-rock and classic-rock lineups. His voice, like Brandy’s silver chain, remains polished by time.

Be sure to check out the video of the Looking Glass performing “Brandy.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)”
Written by Elliot Lurie. Performed by The Looking Glass.

There’s a port on a western bay
And it serves a hundred ships a day
Lonely sailors pass the time away
And talk about their homes

And there’s a girl in this harbor town
And she works layin’ whiskey down
They say, Brandy, fetch another round
She serves them whiskey and wine

The sailors say, “Brandy, you’re a fine girl” (you’re a fine girl)
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“Yeah, your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea”

Brandy wears a braided chain
Made of finest silver from the North of Spain
A locket that bears the name
Of the man that Brandy loved

He came on a summer’s day
Bringin’ gifts from far away
But he made it clear he couldn’t stay
No harbor was his home

The sailors say, “Brandy, you’re a fine girl” (you’re a fine girl)
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“But my life, my lover and my lady is the sea”

Yeah, Brandy used to watch his eyes
When he told his sailor stories
She could feel the ocean fall and rise
She saw its ragin’ glory
But he had always told the truth, Lord, he was an honest man
And Brandy does her best to understand

At night when the bars close down
Brandy walks through a silent town
And loves a man who’s not around
She still can hear him say

She hears him say, “Brandy, you’re a fine girl” (you’re a fine girl)
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“But my life, my lover and my lady is the sea”
It is, yes it is,
“Brandy, you’re a fine girl” (you’re a fine girl)
“What a good wife you would be” (such a fine girl)
“But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea”



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube/CandidDirector.

A rare moment in the world of high jewelry electrified Christie’s London on Tuesday, when Fabergé’s 1913 Imperial Winter Egg achieved a staggering £22.9 million ($30.2 million) — setting a new world auction record for any Fabergé object. The dazzling result followed an intense three-minute bidding war that had collectors in the room and on the phones vying for one of the most celebrated Imperial Easter Eggs ever created.



Bidding opened at £17 million before vaulting upward in rapid increments. Multiple international bidders remained engaged as the price hit £19 million, prompting a brief but breathless pause. Then, a final flurry of competing bids culminated in a decisive £19.5 million offer from a collector seated in the saleroom. With the premium and fees, the price rose to £22.9 million. Christie’s confirmed that the successful buyer has elected to remain anonymous.

“This result sets a new world auction record for a work by Fabergé,” said Margo Oganesian, head of Christie’s Fabergé and Russian Works of Art. “It reaffirms the rarity, brilliance and enduring cultural significance of this masterpiece.”



The Imperial Winter Egg is widely regarded as Fabergé’s most artistically original creation. Commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the 1913 piece channels the ethereal fragility of a Russian winter.

Its design was conceived by Alma Theresia Pihl, one of the only female designers to work in Fabergé’s St. Petersburg workshops — and today recognized as one of the firm’s most innovative artists. Only 25 at the time, Pihl was inspired by frost patterns crystallizing across her workshop window. She translated these fleeting ice formations into a jewel-encrusted language of snowflakes and shimmer that still feels modern more than a century later.



Carved from rock crystal as thin and clear as glass, the egg is overlaid with 4,500 rose-cut diamonds set in platinum. It rests on a sculpted rock-crystal base that resembles a melting block of ice, its surface streaked with diamond-set rivulets that suggest spring’s first thaw. Inside lies the signature Fabergé “surprise”: a delicate basket of white quartz anemones, complete with demantoid garnet pistils and nephrite leaves.

Between 1885 and 1916, the House of Fabergé produced only 50 Imperial Easter Eggs for the Russian royal family. Today, just seven remain in private hands. Most are owned by museums, national collections or are missing entirely — a reality that makes any auction appearance of an Imperial Egg an event of global interest.

The 1913 Winter Egg has appeared at auction only twice before, and always at Christie’s. In 1994, it sold in Geneva for 7.3 million Swiss francs (about $9 million). In 2002, it broke its own record when it earned $9.6 million in New York. With this year’s landmark £22.9 million ($30.2 million) result, the egg has once again reset the Fabergé market.

Credits: Images courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd 2025.

Visitors to Rockefeller Plaza will see a renewed holiday glow this year as the famous Prometheus statue — often billed as the fourth-most recognizable statue in the US and the most photographed artwork in New York City — has just emerged from an extensive regilding. The restoration, completed in time for the 2025 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony tonight (Dec. 3), returned the 18-foot, 8-ton bronze figure to its original brilliance using 23.75-karat gold leaf.



Hidden for weeks behind a massive dropcloth, Prometheus received what Marc Roussel, principal conservator on the project, described in The New York Times as “a lot of work” — and not merely a touch-up. The team from New York-based Roussel Art Conservation first stripped away the statue’s weathered coating, revealing the raw bronze beneath. They then brushed on a yellow-tinted epoxy primer that cures overnight. Only then did the delicate gilding begin: an astonishing 20,000 sheets of gold leaf, each just 0.0002 inches thick, applied meticulously by hand. Working section by section, gilders followed a subtle grid pattern to avoid a patchwork effect.

“You’re not just taking a leaf and putting it anywhere,” principal gilder Bill Gauthier explained to The Times.

After each panel was completed, the team gently buffed the surface with lamb’s-wool cloths dipped in ice water — an ancient technique that coaxes the whisper-thin sheets to adhere cleanly without tearing or dulling the finish. Amazingly, 20,000 sheets of gold leaf weigh less than a pound. At recent market prices, the gold value is approximately $60,000.



Prometheus has undergone several regildings during his 91-year tenure at Rockefeller Center, but the statue’s backstory is as fascinating as its modern upkeep. Created by sculptor Paul Manship and unveiled in 1934, the work depicts the Greek Titan who stole fire for humanity — a symbol that resonated with the Center’s guiding theme of “New Frontiers and the March of Civilization.” John D. Rockefeller Jr., reportedly dissatisfied with the original bronze patina, insisted on gilding to emphasize the figure’s dramatic motion.

The model who helped inspire that motion wasn’t an artist, dancer or actor, but a young New Rochelle lifeguard named Leonardo Nole. As reported by Talk of the Sound and recounted in Nole’s later writings, the 26-year-old was paid $1 an hour to hold a challenging, airborne pose for months — though he claimed he mostly worked with Manship’s assistants.

Encircled with zodiac signs and inscribed with the ancient Greek text “Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought fire to mankind,” the gilded Titan continues to embody human creativity, knowledge and aspiration.

According to nbc.com, Prometheus at Rockefeller Center is regarded as the fourth most recognizable statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore.

With his radiant new finish unveiled for the 2025 holiday season, Prometheus once again lights the way — both metaphorically and, now, more brilliantly — over Rockefeller Plaza’s iconic rink.

Credits: Close-up photo by Michael Slonecker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Night shot by Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

For thousands of years before diamonds or emeralds dazzled Europe, one of the most prized gemstones was a vivid green mineral called variscite. Ancient communities treasured it for its luminous color and carved it into beads, pendants, bracelets and rings. But while archaeologists have long uncovered variscite jewelry across Western Europe, one question remained stubbornly difficult to answer: Where did these eye-catching green stones actually come from, and how did they travel so far from their points of origin?



A team of archaeologists and artificial-intelligence specialists from Spain and Portugal has now brought modern technology to this ancient mystery. Their newly published study combines traditional fieldwork with advanced chemical analysis and machine-learning tools to trace variscite artifacts back to their geological sources. The result is a clearer picture of prehistoric trade networks — and an unexpected story of how these green gems moved across Europe thousands of years ago.



Variscite, whose vibrant green color can range from pale mint and seafoam to deeper emerald hues, is naturally rare and was especially valued between the sixth and second millennia BC. Its color made it a symbol of status and personal adornment. Until recently, researchers could only make educated guesses about where a particular bead or pendant had originated. Mines in Encinasola, Gavà, and Aliste on the Iberian Peninsula were all considered likely sources, but the relative importance of each site was unclear.

The new research changes that. The team began by gathering more than 1,800 geological samples from known variscite deposits and comparing them with 571 artifacts recovered from archaeological sites across modern-day Spain and beyond. Each sample was analyzed using portable X-ray fluorescence, a non-destructive technique that measures the tiny chemical variations locked inside the stone.

These chemical fingerprints — slight differences in elements such as aluminum, phosphorus, and trace minerals — turn out to be unique enough to identify the mine of origin. But because the dataset was so large, the researchers used a machine-learning method called a random forest algorithm to find patterns no human could easily spot.

In simple terms, the AI learns the “signature” of each mine and then predicts where an ancient bead came from. The system achieved 95% accuracy, a remarkable level of precision for artifacts thousands of years old.

With the origins finally mapped, a new trade picture emerged. The study shows that the Gavà and Aliste mines were far more important than previously believed, while Encinasola played a smaller role. Even more surprising, variscite beads found in northern France likely traveled overland from northern Spain, crossing the Pyrenees along long-distance routes. Earlier theories had emphasized maritime trade, but the AI-driven analysis suggests that land-based exchange networks were significant and highly organized.

The project’s open-science framework — making all data and code freely available — sets the stage for future work. Researchers hope to apply the same approach to other materials, from amber to early metals, building a richer understanding of how beauty, craftsmanship and commerce shaped prehistoric societies.

And while the ancestors who wore variscite couldn’t have imagined artificial intelligence, their cherished green gemstones are now helping scientists tell a very modern story: how technology can illuminate the human connections of the distant past.

Credits: Photo of Smithsonian specimen by Jstuby at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of gold and variscite 2nd century AD earrings by Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

When influencer and gaming superstar Pokimane buys herself a diamond engagement ring, the internet takes notice. With a combined following of more than 30 million across Twitch, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, she’s one of the most visible creators in digital culture — and her latest jewelry purchase has sparked a lively debate about empowerment, self-expression and modern luxury buying behavior.



In a 73-second video shared across her social media channels, the Moroccan-Canadian creator — born Imane Anys — revealed a sparkling white gold and diamond bypass ring, sliding it onto her finger in a playful “self-proposal.” The tone is light, humorous and intentionally dramatic. Kneeling slightly toward the camera, she asks herself, “Will I be with me for the rest of my life?” before answering, “Yes, I have no choice.”



Pokimane explained that the idea emerged directly from her audience. After she mentioned admiring a ring in an earlier post, fans flooded her comments urging her to “just buy it” and not wait for someone else to make the moment happen.

Initially hesitant because the ring felt “like way too much to get for myself,” she came around to the decision while reflecting on a message that resonated with millions: “The person that you are engaged to the most in your entire lifetime is your damn self.”

But Pokimane also made it clear she hasn’t given up on romance. She hopes to be engaged one day — and is already planning to buy a “sick” diamond engagement ring for her future husband. “You guys know how much I love gift-giving,” she said, smiling.

The reaction from her community was immediate and mixed. Supporters called the move empowering, with many praising her for promoting emotional independence and self-care. “Promising that you’ll take care of yourself is HUGE,” one follower wrote. Others said they were inspired to buy their own milestone diamonds, with one user commenting, “You know what — you’re right. I’m gonna get myself one too.”

Not everyone approved. Skeptics questioned whether self-engagement crosses into self-indulgence.

Still, in the jewelry world, self-purchased diamond rings are far from new. The Diamond Producers Association’s “For Me, From Me” campaign, launched in 2019, formally embraced women as the natural diamond industry’s fastest-growing consumer segment. Research at the time showed that women buying for themselves accounted for one-third of US diamond jewelry sales — a share that has continued to rise as gifting norms evolve.

Pokimane’s video may be playful, but the cultural conversation it sparked is very real. Diamonds are no longer reserved for romantic milestones. Increasingly, they’re becoming symbols of achievement, autonomy and self-worth.

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube / pokimane.

Isidor and Ida Straus’s devotion to one another has echoed through more than a century of Titanic lore, survivor accounts and popular culture. Now, the pocket watch recovered from Isidor’s body — a symbol of both personal love and historic tragedy — has set a new world record for Titanic memorabilia, selling on Saturday for £1.78 million ($2.34 million) at Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England.



The 18-karat gold Jules Jurgensen watch, engraved with Isidor’s initials, was far more than a gentleman’s accessory. It was a birthday gift from Ida to her husband on the occasion of his 43rd birthday in 1888, the same year he and his brother Nathan became full partners in New York’s now-iconic Macy’s department store. The watch reflected not only the couple’s prosperity but also their shared journey — from European immigrants to pillars of American commerce and philanthropy.

The timepiece was still in Isidor’s pocket when his body was recovered in the days following the sinking of the Titanic on April 14–15, 1912. When his personal effects were logged and returned, the watch remained with the Straus family for more than 110 years, lovingly preserved across generations. Before it crossed the auction block, it had never been publicly seen.

Its sale captivated collectors and historians not simply because of its intrinsic beauty or rarity, but because of the extraordinary story tied to its owner.

Isidor and Ida Straus were among the wealthiest couples aboard Titanic and, as first-class passengers in their late sixties, were offered seats on a lifeboat once the scale of the disaster became clear. Isidor refused his seat, insisting that younger men deserved the chance to live. Ida, offered a place moments later, made a fateful and unforgettable choice to remain with her husband.

Witnesses later recounted her saying, “Where you go, I go.” Her maid was directed into a lifeboat and Ida handed her own fur coat to the young woman. Surviving passengers saw the Strauses last as they stood shoulder to shoulder on the sloping deck, arm in arm, choosing unity over survival.

Their story, one of the most poignant human moments of the tragedy, was dramatized in James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) and has remained an enduring symbol of commitment amid catastrophe. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, whose firm has handled numerous Titanic artifacts, called the Strauses “the ultimate love story.”

“The world-record price illustrates the enduring interest in the Titanic story,” Aldridge said.

The sale of the Straus watch surpassed the previous Titanic record — also achieved by Henry Aldridge & Son — set by the £1.56 million ($2.05 million) watch presented to the captain of the rescue ship RMS Carpathia. Saturday’s auction also included a rare letter written by Ida aboard the Titanic, which fetched £122,500 ($161,400), and several additional artifacts that brought the day’s total to approximately £3 million ($3.95 million).

Credits: Images courtesy of Henry Aldridge & Son Auctioneers.

Consumers and retailers are gearing up for one of the biggest holiday shopping seasons in US history. According to new data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), a record 186.9 million Americans are planning to shop between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, surpassing last year’s all-time high. And for the first time ever, holiday spending for November and December is expected to exceed $1 trillion, with sales forecast to grow 3.7% to 4.2% over 2024.



“The holidays are an important part of many consumers’ budgets, and that trend is especially true this season,” said Katherine Cullen, NRF’s Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights. “Retailers are prepared to meet the needs of consumers with great value and convenience.”

This year, Black Friday continues to reign supreme, with 130.4 million shoppers — about 70% of holiday weekend participants — planning to shop that day. Cyber Monday follows as the second-most-popular event, attracting 73.9 million. Even Small Business Saturday is expected to shine, with 80% of Saturday shoppers saying they want to support local businesses.

Phil Rist, Executive Vice President of Strategy at Prosper Insights & Analytics, noted that shoppers are motivated by a combination of value and tradition. “Of those planning to take advantage of sales, over half say it’s because the deals are too good to pass up,” he said. “Others point to the tradition or simply say they like to start their holiday shopping during the long weekend.”

NRF’s broader 2025 holiday forecast paints an equally robust picture. Total holiday spending is projected to reach $1.01 trillion to $1.02 trillion, driven by solid wage growth, historically low unemployment levels and strong consumer balance sheets.

Consumers plan to spend an average of $890 on gifts and seasonal items, and gift cards remain one of the most popular choices, with total gift-card spending expected to top $29 billion.

Despite pockets of economic uncertainty, NRF analysts emphasize that consumer spending remains the strongest pillar of the U.S. economy. “This is an above-trend forecast,” NRF economists noted, “reflecting a consumer who continues to prioritize holiday spending for their loved ones.”

Credit: Image by BigStockPhoto.com

Welcome to Music Friday, when we spotlight great songs that sparkle with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in their title or lyrics. Today, we revisit John Anderson’s joyful, self-deprecating 1981 hit, “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)” — a song that turns a famous gemological myth into a poignant metaphor for personal transformation.



Written by iconic Texas songwriter Billy Joe Shaver and delivered in Anderson’s unmistakable Southern style, the tune uses coal-to-diamond imagery to describe a man committed to improving himself until he shines “blue pure perfect.”

Anderson sings, “Now I’m just an old chunk of coal / But I’m gonna be a diamond someday / I’m gonna grow and glow till I’m so blue pure perfect / I’m gonna put a smile on everybody’s face.”

Aspirational? Absolutely. Gemologically accurate? Not even close — though that’s part of the fun.

For generations, popular culture has repeated the idea that diamonds are made from coal. Superman famously squeezed a lump in his bare hands to produce a sparkling gem. And you’ve probably heard the expression, “a diamond is just a chunk of coal that handled pressure really well.” It’s a great metaphor, but scientifically it doesn’t hold water — er, carbon.

While coal and diamond are both carbon-based, coal is a messy mixture of carbon plus hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and a rogue’s gallery of trace elements. Diamonds, on the other hand, form as pure carbon crystals under extraordinary heat and pressure approximately 100 miles beneath Earth’s surface, in geologic conditions completely unrelated to coal beds. No matter how heroically Superman squeezed — or how deeply metaphorical the song may be — a lump of coal will never become a diamond. Still, the phrase endures because it captures something hopeful, humble and human: the desire to make ourselves better.

And that brings new depth to Anderson’s performance, especially with the perspective of recent years. The country legend quietly battled a life-threatening health crisis in 2017–2018, with his future as a singer far from certain. Astonishingly, he recovered — crediting his faith, his family, and the healing power of music. That hard-won resilience lends fresh resonance to a song about polishing rough edges, finding purpose and believing in brighter days.

In 2024, Anderson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, a milestone that recognizes a career spanning more than four decades, 40-plus charting singles, and unforgettable hits such as “Swingin’,” “Wild and Blue,” and “Straight Tequila Night.” Last year also saw him embark on a celebratory tour and release a new musical project — the kind of gift artists give when they know fans have walked the long road with them.

“I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal” soared to #4 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1981 and earned Anderson a Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. More than 40 years later, its earnest charm and self-effacing humor continue to resonate. And yes — pop culture footnote — the song even turns up in the animated film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001).

So please enjoy the audio track of Anderson performing “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday).” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)”
Written by Billy Shaver. Performed by John Anderson.

Hey, I’m just an old chunk of coal
But I’m gonna be a diamond someday
I’m gonna grow and glow till I’m so blue pure perfect
I’m gonna put a smile on everybody’s face

I’m gonna kneel and pray every day
Lest I should become vain along the way
I’m just an old chunk of coal, now Lord
But I’m gonna be a diamond someday

I’m gonna learn the best way to walk
I’m gonna search and find a better way to talk
I’m gonna spit and polish my old rough edged self
Till I get rid of every single flaw

I’m gonna be the world’s best friend
I’m gonna go ’round shaking everybody’s hand
Hey, I’m gonna be the cotton pickin’ rage of the age
I’m gonna be a diamond someday

Now I’m just an old chunk of coal
But I’m gonna be a diamond someday
I’m gonna grow and glow till I’m so blue pure perfect
I’m gonna put a smile on everybody’s face

I’m gonna kneel and pray every day
Lest I should become vain along the way
Hey, I’m just an old chunk of coal, now Lord
But I’m gonna be a diamond someday



Credit: Photo by eagle102.net, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.