The Florida Panthers celebrated their first-ever Stanley Cup title with a 14-karat yellow gold ring set with 554 diamonds, 17 rubies, 37 yellow sapphires and nine blue sapphires, for a total weight of 15.6 carats.



Players, coaching staff and ownership received their deeply symbolic rings during a private ceremony at the newly-renovated War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

With the team's back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, and its memorable game-seven victory at home against the Edmonton Oilers, the 2024 Panthers bolstered the claim that Florida is truly the “State of Hockey.” And the Jostens-designed championship rings include a number of elements that honor Florida and Broward County.

“The incredible achievement of this team was the inspiration for the Viola family when crafting the franchise’s first Championship ring,” said Panthers President & CEO Matt Caldwell. “This ring represents the culture, hard work and leadership of this winning team, our home in Broward County, the vibrant South Florida lifestyle and shows the immense pride we all hold in our hearts for this historic team.”

Unlike most championship rings that are either round or oval, the shape of the Panthers' ring top mimics the iconic shield design of the Panthers logo and proudly features the Panthers mark intricately set with brilliant white diamonds, as well as dazzling blue and yellow sapphires. The team’s new title of “STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS” is rendered in diamonds at the top and bottom of the ring. Exactly 187 diamonds cascade from the ring top down the edges, creating a border around the side panels.



The left side of the ring features the recipient’s name in raised block letters. Below the recipient’s name is a tab which contains either PANTHERS or the person's title within the organization. The tab is a nod to the Panther’s tradition of “earning your tabs,” just as each player who comes out of training camp earns the FLORIDA tabs found on the sleeve of his home jersey.

Under the tab, is the shape of the state of Florida fully executed in diamonds and a single ruby. The location of the ruby honors the Florida Panthers' home in Broward County, while the diamonds represent the significant growth of the sport of hockey within the state of Florida. Completing the left side of the ring is the player's jersey number set in white diamonds.



The right side of the ring features “FLORIDA” in block letters across the top. Below the state name is the coveted Stanley Cup, flanked by the year 2024, all set with diamonds to pay tribute to the team’s first-ever title. The right side is completed with a beach and palm tree background, in homage to the unique South Florida Stanley Cup Parade and beach-front celebrations that took place in the wake of the team’s historic win.

The interior of the ring features an array of uniquely symbolic icons. One is a depiction of the official WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and NHL Stanley Cup Championship Belt. The graphic honors the Florida Panthers for being the first NHL team to have its name added to this championship belt.

Below the belt are the results from the Panthers' playoff run. The results are readable but are shown with a strike-through, a design borrowed from one of the rally towels that energized the home fans during the playoff games at Amerant Bank Arena. And below the scores is the date of the Stanley Cup-winning Game 7: 6-24-24.

In addition, the word "Freedom" on the interior of the band is a nod to what coach Paul Maurice kept saying to his team during their Stanley Cup run. He told them to "play with freedom," meaning he wanted them to stay within themselves and "play loose."

Finally, to the left of all those items on the interior of the band is a representation of a rat, which pays homage to one of the longest standing fan-led Panthers traditions celebrating each Panther win.

"The rat trick" has its origins before the first game of the 1995-96 season, when player Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room using his hockey stick. Mellanby went on to score two goals during the home opener using that stick. At the next home game, a fan threw a plastic rat onto the ice after a goal, and from then on it became a tradition to throw plastic rats on the ice after a home win.

Credits: Images courtesy of Jostens.

Last week, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas took the wraps off its newest exhibit titled “Topaz: A Spectrum in Stone.” The presentation, which will run through October 2025, features more than 100 exquisite topaz specimens from every corner of the world, including the 332-carat "Imperial Flame."



“This exhibit — my first at the Perot Museum — highlights the beauty and significance of topaz, especially Texas topaz, alongside other locations from around the world,” said Caroline Im, Director of Gems and Minerals since September of 2023. “Visitors will be captivated by the stunning range of colors, shapes and sizes of this rare mineral, including the [Texas] state gem with its distinctive ‘Lone Star Cut,’ the only gemstone cut specific to any US state.”



Im and museum CEO Linda Silver previewed "Topaz: A Spectrum in Stone" for the press and museum patrons during a Tuesday luncheon at the Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals Hall, which is one of the Perot Museum’s most popular attractions.



The one-of-a-kind collection displays the spectacular scope of crystal structures and colored stones within the topaz family, including the following:

-- The Imperial Flame topaz: A magnificent 332-carat carving from Ouro Preto, Brazil. Carefully shaped and faceted over four weeks by the artisans of Kreis Jewellery in Germany, the rare red-orange gem is recognized as the largest and finest stone of its caliber in the world.

-- A stupendous 9,630-carat marquise-cut gem from Brazil.

-- The largest known “Lone Star Cut” of a Texas topaz: a 234-carat gem featuring a five-point star carved into the pavilion, or bottom, of the stone. The carved star reflects throughout the gem.

-- A 15-pound blue topaz from Brazil.

-- An etched topaz showing intricate surface patterns resulting from the topaz being partially dissolved in hydrothermal fluids.



“Topaz: A Spectrum in Stone” includes New England minerals from both Im’s alma mater, Harvard University, and a treasure from the University of Texas, topping 900 carats. There’s also a selection of topaz crystals from Volyn, a renowned region in Ukraine, famous for its large caverns of massive topaz. The exhibit also includes specimens from Pakistan, Argentina, Namibia, Brazil, Russia and many other countries.

Like many of the gems and minerals at the Perot Museum, these specimens are on loan from generous and renowned private collectors, who were willing to share their awe-inspiring specimens with the public.

According to dmagazine.com, the museum's loan partners for this exhibit include Diane and Keith Brownlee, Carabas Collection, Mark Oran Carter, Aleksander Chournousenko, Diane Eames, Judith and James Gibbs, Harvard University, Lyda Hill, Kreis Jewellery, Larson Collection, Rob Lavinsky, Somewhere in the Rainbow, Gail and James Spann, and The University of Texas.

Located in the heart of Dallas, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to inspiring minds through nature and science. Visitors will find everything from dinosaurs to diamonds, packed into five levels of hands-on discovery and adventure. The museum welcomes more than one million visitors per year, 150,000 of which are schoolchildren.

Credits: Imperial Flame photo courtesy of Kreis Jewellery. Topaz luncheon and Caroline Im photos courtesy of Perot Museum. Texas topaz courtesy of UT Austin.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we turn the calendar back to 2017, when a fresh-faced 16-year-old named Billie Eilish has just released her debut single, “Ocean Eyes.”



In the song, the artist portrays a young woman suffering through a devastating breakup. She still loves her ex-boyfriend and is longing for his brilliant “diamond mind” and his dreamy “ocean eyes.”

She sings, “I’ve been walking through / A world gone blind / Can’t stop thinking of your diamond mind / Careful creature made friends with time / He left her lonely with a diamond mind / And those ocean eyes.”

The official music video of the song has been viewed on YouTube an astounding 514 million times.

Co-written by her brother, Finneas Baird O’Connell, “Ocean Eyes” was originally recorded for a dance class in 2015, when Eilish was only 14 years old. The intention was to have her dance teacher choreograph a routine to the music.

“We put it on SoundCloud with a free download link next to it so my dance teacher could access it,” Eilish told Teen Vogue. “We had no intentions for it, really. But basically overnight a ton of people started hearing it and sharing it.”

The song soon went viral with 35 million streams on Spotify alone.

“Ocean Eyes” was featured as the lead single from Eilish’s debut EP, Don’t Smile at Me, which was released in August of 2017. One month later, she made her national TV debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and Apple Music named Eilish the UPNEXT artist of the month in October 2017.

A little more than two years later, at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Eilish would become only the second artist to sweep all the General Field categories in the same year. She won Best New Artist, Best New Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell was born in Los Angeles in 2001 to a family of actors and musicians. She began writing songs at age 11, following the footsteps of her older brother, who was already performing original songs with his band.

Please check out Eilish’s official music video of “Ocean Eyes.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Ocean Eyes”
Written by Arron Carl Davey and Finneas Baird O’Connell. Performed by Billie Eilish.

I’ve been watching you
For some time
Can’t stop staring at those ocean eyes
Burning cities and napalm skies
Fifteen flares inside those ocean eyes
Your ocean eyes

No fair
You really know how to make me cry
When you gimme those ocean eyes
I’m scared
I’ve never fallen from quite this high
Falling into your ocean eyes
Those ocean eyes

I’ve been walking through
A world gone blind
Can’t stop thinking of your diamond mind
Careful creature made friends with time
He left her lonely with a diamond mind
And those ocean eyes

No fair
You really know how to make me cry
When you gimme those ocean eyes
I’m scared
I’ve never fallen from quite this high
Falling into your ocean eyes
Those ocean eyes

No fair
You really know how to make me cry
When you gimme those ocean eyes
I’m scared
I’ve never fallen from quite this high
Falling into your ocean eyes
Those ocean eyes



Credit: Photo by Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Last week, Zachary Ashworth was all set to pop the question to girlfriend Katherine Carver at Mississippi's 28th annual "Cruisin' the Coast" event, which is billed as "America's Largest Block Party."



Each year, tens of thousands of car enthusiasts from 40 states, plus Canada, Germany and Puerto Rico, converge on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a week to showcase their rides and to cruise the picturesque 30-mile stretch of beach-side highway, with special events taking place across 12 cities in South Mississippi.

The day was perfect, the venue was perfect, but when Ashworth reached into his pocket to pull out the three-stone diamond engagement ring, he knew something was very wrong.

“I went to feel for the ring in my pocket and I realized the ring was missing,” the Pensacola, FL, native told Biloxi TV station, WLOX. "I literally just dropped my drink on the ground, and she looks at me and goes, ‘Are you okay?’"

Ashworth wasn't OK. The last time he had successfully felt the ring in his pocket, the couple was enjoying a Trucks and Tacos event in Long Beach.

The couple retraced their steps, but finding a ring amidst the thousands of people and hundreds of cruisers was a daunting task. They gave up the search and decided to post a plea on the Cruisin' the Coast Facebook page.

He wrote, "If anyone here was at Coastal Daiquiris (bar & grill) today in Long Beach Thursday the 10 between 3-4 pm and found a 14k 3-stone diamond ring with a sizer on it, I would love to have it back. It was my engagement ring I was going to give my girlfriend today."



Meanwhile, Cruisin' the Coast attendee Sonya Becnel was dealing with challenges of her own after she noticed something shiny peeking out from under a truck tire.

“I looked down… and I saw a ring," she told WLOX. "Just sitting there right on top of the grass, gold."

“I said, ‘Look I got a problem,’” Becnel recounted. “I found a ring and I have no idea what to do with it. How will I find the person out of 10,000 people? How will I find this person?”

Becnel and her friend, Annette Cortez, decided to check out the Cruisin' the Coast Facebook page.

“Later on that night we were scrolling through Facebook… and saw Zachary’s post," Cortez said. "I was like, ‘Oh my god! We have your ring.’”



The Good Samaritans wrote to Ashworth on Facebook and arranged to meet up with the relieved couple at an Ocean Springs event the next day.

Ashworth got the ring back and thanked the Good Samaritans with a reward. A video posted to the WLOX website documented the emotional, hug-filled reunion.

“It was awesome," Becnel told the station. "We were excited. He was so excited. That was our main goal, to get this guy his ring back.”

Credits: Screen captures via WLOX.com.

A suite of bridal jewelry played a pivotal role in Friday's episode of Tia Mowry: My Next Act on We TV.



Mowry, who became a household name as a teenager starring on the ABC/WB sitcom Sister Sister, is now a 46-year-old actress struggling with the challenges of managing her career while co-parenting two young children.

In Season 1, Episode 2, the actress discusses her divorce from Cory Hardrict after 14 years of marriage and how her close friends have helped her through the emotional healing process.

"I have the best friends," Mowry said. "They threw me an incredible healing party. It did what it was supposed to do."

One friend suggested that she throw her wedding dress into the fire, but that just didn't feel right for her.

"But I did think of something else," she said. "What came up for me was my wedding band."



What she was actually describing was her diamond engagement ring, a multi-row diamond wedding band and plain gold band.

"I haven't worn [the jewelry] for almost two years now, and it just doesn't feel right to sell it," Mowry said. "But what I am wanting to do is change my wedding band into something for my kids. Pass it down, you know, to my kids, because they have been my biggest gift."



Mowry seemed to be holding back tears as she mulled her decision, staring at the three rings stacked on her index finger.

"It was very pretty," she said.

"[Do] you want another day to think about it?" asked her producer.

"No, because if it's made into something else, then it's put to use," she said. "It's sad, you know what I mean? Because this is a symbol of a marriage, and it's no longer. I would rather the kids have something."

The actress said that it was hard for her not to think about Corey when she decided to repurpose her rings.

"It was 2006, December 25th," she recalled. "I was proposed to. I was at my mother's house around Christmas dinner, and a song by Jagged Edge started playing. Corey got down on one knee in front of my whole entire family and asked to marry me. I was so surprised."

Mowry added, "but I am learning that at the end of the day, I need to make this decision for me. And I think because it's going to the kids, he'll be okay."



Mowry explained to a Los Angeles jeweler that she wanted the wedding jewelry turned into something special for her 12-year-old son, Cree, and her five-year-old daughter, Cairo.

The jeweler recommended a dog tag necklace for the boy and a bracelet for the girl, adding that he could make a "connection" between the pieces.

"I just think it's so beautiful to transform something that was given out of love and to give it to your children," Mowry said. "It just makes me feel like my marriage wasn't a waste."

The jeweler quickly rendered a diamond-studded dog tag necklace on his computer.

"So, what do you feel about this design with some diamonds," asked the jeweler.

"I love this," Mowry said. "Oh, my gosh. That's fire."

"That's good?" asked the jeweler.

"That fire," she repeated with a laugh. "That's what the kids are saying now."

Tia Mowry and her twin sister, Tamera, co-starred on Sister Sister, a sitcom about twins that were separated at birth, but then reunited as teenagers. The show made its debut in 1994 and ran for six season.

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube / Salim Gameplay.

A 5.02-carat internally flawless fancy deep blue diamond is set to headline Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale at The Henderson in Hong Kong later this month. The marquise brilliant-cut stone is flanked by trilliant-cut white diamonds in a platinum setting and carries a pre-sale estimate of $7 million to $10.3 million.



Christie's writes, "Infused with trace amounts of boron that give rise to its captivating, deep blue hue, this diamond embodies nature’s most mesmerizing wonders."

According to the Museum of Natural History, “less than one boron atom per million carbon atoms is sufficient to produce the blue coloration.”

Blue diamonds consistently fetch the highest prices at auction.

In April 2022, the 15.10-carat “De Beers Blue” nearly set a world record for the priciest vivid blue diamond ever sold at auction. The hammer price of $57.47 million ($3.8 million per carat) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong was just short of the $57.54 million ($3.9 million per carat) achieved by the 14.62-carat “Oppenheimer Blue” at Christie’s Geneva in 2016.

Back in 2015, “The Blue Moon of Josephine,” a 12.03-carat internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond, sold for $48.5 million ($4 million per carat) at Sotheby’s Geneva.

Scientists believe that blue diamonds form about 400 miles below the surface, four times deeper than about 99 percent of all other diamonds.

Other notable lots at Christie's Hong Kong auction include the following:



-- "Oriental Sunrise." The property of a private collector, this lot includes a pair of earrings featuring matching fancy vivid orange-yellow diamonds accented by shield and tapered baguette-cut white diamonds in a platinum setting. The fancy-colored diamonds, which weigh 12.20 carats and 11.96 carats respectively, are described as having an oval mixed cut. The larger diamond has a clarity grade of VVS2, while the smaller one is rated VS1. The earrings carry a pre-sale estimate of $6.4 million to $10.3 million.



-- Magnificent Ruby and Diamond Necklace. Twenty-six oval-shaped rubies ranging in weight from 1.27 carats to 5.38 carats glimmer in this head-turning platinum and gold neckpiece. The rubies are complemented by pear- and marquise-shaped diamonds in a floral motif. The diamonds range from 1.00 carat to 1.21 carats in weight and D to F in color. Christie's is estimating that this piece will sell in the range of $5.2 million to $7.7 million.



-- Spectacular Emerald and Diamond Bangle. An octagonal step-cut emerald weighing 38.51 carats is accented by marquise and round diamonds in this bangle designed by Etcetera. The emerald is of Colombian origin and displays no indication of clarity enhancement. The total weight of the diamonds is 7.37 carats. This piece carries a pre-sale estimate of $2.3 million to $3.6 million.



-- Superb Ruby and Diamond Ring. Designed by Boghossian, this ring spotlights a cushion-shaped ruby weighing 6.24 carats. Sourced in Burma (now Myanmar), the ruby boasts a "pigeon blood red" color and a pre-sale estimate of $2.1 million to $3.2 million.

In total, Christie's will be offering 124 lots at The Henderson in Hong Kong on October 29.

Credits: Images courtesy of Christie's.

Hurricane Milton tore across central Florida last week, flooding roadways, damaging property, spawning tornadoes and forcing mandatory evacuations from coast to coast.



Laura and Basil Yorio left their Palm Coast home just before the hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 storm last Wednesday, and didn't know what to expect when they were allowed to return the next day to assess the damage.

As Laura and her dog entered the backyard, the homeowner noticed something glinting in the grass.

“I looked down and saw a silver ring and thought it was like a key ring,” she told Fox 35 Orlando. "And it was just sitting there. It was a little bit embedded in the dirt."



On closer inspection, she realized this was no key ring. It was her husband's gold wedding band — a ring that went missing nearly a decade ago.

Basil remembered losing the beloved keepsake during a backyard construction project nine years ago.

"It just disappeared," he said.

Laura explained that the whereabouts of the wedding band continued to be a mystery despite being right underfoot.

"We've been here [in the backyard] a thousand times over the last nine years," she said. "I have a landscaper who has come by once a week, every week for nine years, and nothing."

But all that changed after Milton dumped nearly six inches of rain on already-saturated ground in this city of 100,000, which lies on Florida's east coast, about halfway between Jacksonville and Orlando.

It's well known that metal detectorists and sea-bound treasure hunters love to pursue their passions right after a major weather event. Heavy rain, battering winds and violent waves can erode soil and sand, revealing items that have been lost for decades, or even centuries.

Milton's relentless downpour effectively washed away enough soil to expose Basil's wedding band.

"We are very mindful that a lot people are going through like terrible, terrible things, and I feel almost a little guilty feeling happy about all this, but it was something good," Laura said. "After a rough couple of days, it was a really happy ending."

Credits: Screen captures via FOX 35 Orlando.

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you popular songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Taylor Swift wants to wear her new boyfriend’s initial on a chain around her neck in the introspective 2017 hit, “Call It What You Want.”



Written in late 2016 by Swift and collaborator Jack Antonoff, this deeply personal tune recounts how falling in love again helped her recover from a very dark time when her “castle crumbled overnight.”

She sings, “I want to wear his initial / On a chain round my neck, chain round my neck / Not because he owns me / But ’cause he really knows me.”

Her new boyfriend at the time was British actor and model Joe Alwyn, and Swift had been spotted wearing a script initial “J” engraved on a silver charm pendant.

Following her split from Tom Hiddleston and an emotionally draining public feud with Kanye West, Swift stepped out of the spotlight to make new music and hit the reset button. What resulted was the 15-track Reputation, an album that topped the charts in 14 countries and sold more than 2 million copies in its first week.

“Call It What You Want” is the penultimate song on an album that takes the listener on an emotional journey from rebellion and anger to true love. The single topped out at #27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #24 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart. The single was named the 20th best song of 2017 by Rolling Stone.

Swift fans will notice similarities between the lyrics of “Call It What You Want” and her 2008 hit, “Love Story.” In both songs, the heroine wants to run away with her boyfriend…

In “Love Story,” she sings, “Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone / I’ll be waiting, all that’s left to do is run / You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess / It’s a love story, baby just say yes.”

In “Call It What You Want,” she sings, “I recall late November, holdin’ my breath / Slowly I said, ‘You don’t need to save me / But would you run away with me?’ / Yes.”

Swift and Alwyn broke up in April of 2023 after dating for six years.

More recently, Swift, 34, has been wearing a diamond and gold "TNT" friendship bracelet that she received from her newest boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce had matching bracelets made for him and his girlfriend just before Christmas 2023. "TNT" stands for "Travis 'n' Taylor."

Swift often complements the bracelet with a diamond-embellished "87" pendant necklace, which is a nod to her 35-year-old beau's jersey number.

Born in Wyomissing, PA, Swift was not an average schoolgirl. By the time she was 11, Swift was already performing regularly at karaoke contests, festivals and fairs near her home in Berks County. When she was 14, her parents moved the family to Nashville, where Swift would be better positioned to pursue a career in country music. At the age of 17, Swift was topping the country charts.

Swift is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 114 million albums and 162 million single downloads. She has won 14 Grammy Awards, one Emmy, 39 Billboard Music Awards and 12 Country Music Association Awards.

Please check out the official lyric video of “Call It What You Want.” You can also follow along, below…

“Call It What You Want”
Written by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff. Performed by Taylor Swift.

My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took the crown, but it’s alright
All the liars are calling me one
Nobody’s heard from me for months
I’m doing better than I ever was, ’cause

My baby’s fit like a daydream
Walking with his head down
I’m the one he’s walking to

So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby’s fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene
Loves me like I’m brand new

So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to

All my flowers grew back as thorns
Windows boarded up after the storm
He built a fire just to keep me warm

All the drama queens taking swings
All the jokers dressing up as kings
They fade to nothing when I look at him

And I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right
I did one thing right
I’m laughing with my lover, making forts under covers
Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right
Starry eyes sparkin’ up my darkest night

My baby’s fit like a daydream
Walking with his head down
I’m the one he’s walking to

So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby’s fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene
Loves me like I’m brand new
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to

I want to wear his initial
On a chain round my neck, chain round my neck
Not because he owns me
But ’cause he really knows me
Which is more than they can say, I
I recall late November, holdin’ my breath
Slowly I said, “You don’t need to save me
But would you run away with me?”
Yes (would you run away?)

My baby’s fit like a daydream
Walking with his head down
I’m the one he’s walking to
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to
My baby’s fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene
Loves me like I’m brand new
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to

Call it what you want, yeah
Call it what you want
Call it what you want
Call it what you want
To



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

In Francis Ford Coppola's newly released sci-fi thriller, Megalopolis, Aubrey Plaza portrays a scheming enchantress named "Wow Platinum." Since the 85-year-old master filmmaker and storyteller is renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and symbolism, his decision to call Plaza's character Wow Platinum left a lot of fans scratching their heads.



But just after Megalopolis was released on September 27, Coppola set the record straight during a Q&A he hosted via the official Megalopolis X (formerly Twitter) account.

"Hi Mr. Coppola, What was the idea behind naming a character “Wow Platinum”???," wrote X user @mrhenrywaffle.

Coppola responded, "I met a southern young lady who told me her great grandmother was so beautiful that her name evolved as 'WOW.' I asked if she had a picture of her. A while later I heard back from her and she attached a photo of a painting and when I looked at it I said, 'Wow!'"

By combining "Wow" with "Platinum," Coppola was not only describing a woman of extraordinary beauty, but also one who embodies many of the precious metal's characteristics. She's awe-inspiring, timeless, strong, rare and desired — a character destined to leave an enduring legacy.

"Wow Platinum was a name meant to spark a feeling of wonder and admiration, reflecting the character's ability to captivate those around her," wrote Alexis Zaccaria on screenrant.com. "Plaza's Wow Platinum is designed to embody that sense of awe, leaving a powerful impression on the audience, much like the Southern great-grandmother whose beauty inspired the writer/director to carry her story forward in his own way."

The film follows the ambitions of architect Cesar Catilina (portrayed by Adam Driver), who wants to rebuild a dystopian city into a utopian New Rome after a disaster. The glamorous and scheming Wow Platinum is Catilina's former lover, who masterminds a power grab by marrying Cesar's rich uncle, bank CEO Hamilton Crassus III (played by Jon Voight).

In describing her powerful character, Plaza told The New York Times, "Even in the car on the way to that set, I would transform into Wow. I would go, 'OK, I'm terrified right now, I'm having a nervous breakdown as myself, but Wow's not. She can handle anything.' And I would switch like a lightbulb: 'It's Wow time.'"

Coppola, who is best know for directing The Godfather (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979), is a 14-time Academy Award nominee and a five-time Oscar winner.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

At 8 a.m. on Friday, September 27, an amateur prospector arrived at Crater of Diamonds State Park eager to find a precious gemstone at the only diamond site in the world that is open to the general public.



For $15, the visitor rented a "Basic Diamond Hunting Kit," which included an army shovel, screen set, and 3.5-gallon bucket. This searching method is called wet sifting, and involves washing dirt from diamond-bearing gravel through two screens.

The screen set features a large, quarter-inch mesh above a fine, 16th-inch mesh. The two screens work together to separate gravel by size, enabling the user to process a lot of dirt at one time.

After a few unsuccessful hours of wet sifting, the visitor decided to take a different, less strenuous tack.

“If I find a diamond today," the visitor told park officials, "it will probably be right here on the surface.”

And the conditions for surface searching happened to be ideal on September 27.

Not only was it a beautiful sunny day, allowing the sunlight to reflect off a diamond just right, but the search area had recently been plowed and had received rainfall just two days before.

“We periodically plow the search area to loosen the diamond-bearing soil and promote natural erosion," Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox said. "As rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals and diamonds near the surface.”



While scouring the ground just west of the covered North Wash pavilion, the guest spotted something sparkling on the surface.

“From far away it shined so clearly,” the visitor said. “I thought it might be a piece of trash or a bug. It was so much shinier than anything else out there.”

After a quick inspection, the prospector realized it was not a bug or a piece of trash, but a glimmering stone. The guest had it checked by park staff at the Diamond Discovery Center before leaving for lunch.

Park Interpreter Sarah Reap was stationed at the rock and mineral identification counter when the finder placed it calmly on her desk.

“Even after a few years of working here, I am still surprised when a finder pulls a large diamond out of a pocket so nonchalantly,” Reap said.

Reap confirmed the specimen to be a silvery-white diamond weighing 2.30 carats. The roundish stone has a pitted surface and is the about the size of a pencil eraser.

This is the third diamond over two carats registered this year and the second-largest diamond registered in 2024.

On an average day, one or two diamonds are discovered in the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area, which is actually the eroded surface of an extinct, diamond-bearing volcanic pipe. Since it opened as a state park in 1972, Crater of Diamonds has welcomed more than 4.6 million visitors, who have unearthed more than 35,000 diamonds.

As of this writing, 548 diamonds — weighing more than 82 carats — have been registered by park guests in 2024.

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an early mining operation on the land that later became Crater of Diamonds State Park.

Named Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. It was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. Uncle Sam is now part of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the National Museum of Natural History.

Nearly 99% of the diamonds discovered at the park fall into one of three color categories: white (clear), brown or yellow. According the Crater of Diamonds’ official stats, exactly 62% of diamonds found to date were white, 20% were brown and about 17% were yellow. Slightly more than 1% were classified as “other.”

Diamonds unearthed at the park average 1/6th of a carat, but about 21 each year will weigh in at 1 carat or more.

Credits: Images courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.