Auction house Sotheby’s Dubai has unveiled a diamond that’s literally from out of this world.
Sotheby’s calls the 555.55-carat black diamond — believed to have come from outer space — “The Enigma.” The rare gem was shown off on Monday to journalists as part of a tour in Dubai and Los Angeles before it is due to be auctioned off in February in London.
Sotheby’s expects the diamond to be sold for at least 5 million British pounds ($6.8 million). The auction house plans to accept cryptocurrency as a possible payment as well.
Sophie Stevens, a jewelry specialist at Sotheby’s Dubai, told The Associated Press that the number five bears an importance significance to the diamond, which has 55 facets as well.
“The shape of the diamond is based on the Middle-Eastern palm symbol of the Khamsa, which stands for strength and it stands for protection,” she said. Khamsa in Arabic means five.
“So there’s a nice theme of the number five running throughout the diamond," she added.
Stevens also said the black diamond is likely from outer space.
“With the carbonado diamonds, we believe that they were formed through extraterrestrial origins, with meteorites colliding with the Earth and either forming chemical vapor disposition or indeed coming from the meteorites themselves,” she said.
Black diamonds, also known as carbonado, are extremely rare, and are found naturally only in Brazil and Central Africa. The cosmic origin theory is based on their carbon isotopes and high hydrogen content.
Few in the music industry have harnessed the hit-making power of social media as successfully as the K-pop artists who brought South Korean culture to the American mainstream. "I think there's always a lot of trends that you see in K-pop that then later on go on to other genres of music as well," says Angela Killoren, the COO of KCON, the largest celebration of Korean culture in the U.S.
As K-pop rises, so too does fans' admiration. More and more, ardent fans are choosing to interact with their idols on social media, said Jenny Zha, a senior engagement manager at Rakuten Viki, a popular platform for Korean videos.
These are the headlines you Need2Know on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
An investor with a sizable short position in Tesla said Elon Musk's most recent statement on taking the company private "was almost a confession that he committed securities fraud." The investor, Will Chamberlain, is part of a class-action lawsuit alleging the Tesla CEO didn't have sufficient basis for saying he'd take the company private at $420 a share. Chamberlain's lawyer, Reed Kathrein, says it's "pretty clear funding was not secured" before Musk's original tweet announcing his intentions.
A year after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, the country continues to see an upsurge in racism, says Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter. But Cullors also says she sees more people "joining together in this moment to stand up for our rights."
Marc Lotter, former press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence, says Omarosa Manigault Newman's decision to record a conversation with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in the Situation Room was a violation "of every protocol
[and] procedure." He also says allegations in Manigault Newman's book contradict the former "Apprentice" contestant's previous statements about President Trump.
These are the headlines you Need2Know.
The owners at Buffalo Wild Wings may have found a way to boost the sales of chicken wings and beer during the upcoming football season by organizing sports betting in its restaurants.
The CEO of video app Cameo, Steve Galanis, said he created his platform because "selfies are the new autographs." For the right price, users can get a video shout-out from celebrities – actress Bella Thorne and NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, to name a couple.
Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" opened nationwide on Friday, on the eve of the anniversary of the Charlottesville riots ー and that's no coincidence. The movie recalls the true story of Ron Stallworth, a black Colorado Springs police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.
