The Emerald story The $400 Million Emerald is a story about a giant one-piece stone which clamed to be one of the biggest emeralds ever found. The “Bahia Emerald” was discovered in Brazil in 2001. Its weight was 381kg and there are around 180000 carats of emerald crystals. The story started with the emerald first buyer, American entrepreneur, Anthony Thomas who purchased it for just $60,000. He went back to U.S. to wait for the stone but he’s never received it. The sellers clamed that the stone was stolen from them. For next several years the giant emerald was stored in a basement of one of the seller’s houses in New Orleans to be able to show it to potential buyers. Once, the sellers listed the emerald on eBay for $75,000,000 but did not find …show more content…
The found emerald was lower quality than for example stones from Colombia. However, there are always people who want the biggest one. One day a billionaire, Larry Biegler appeared with a great for sellers deal – he was going to sell the emerald with 50% commission. In his turn, Larry found Jerry Ferrara, American businessmen, and offered him to sell the emerald share the commission 50% to 50%. Meanwhile, the stone was transferred to California. During the emerald story, Jerry Ferrara and Larry Biegler decided to work together to sell diamonds as well. Jerry had a client Kit Morrison and he offered him to buy diamonds but he had to give money upfront ($1.3 million). They made a deal that if diamonds don’t come Jerry will give him his ownership rights for the emerald. The diamonds didn’t come through. Jerry was not able to reach Larry and Jerry’s ownership to the emeralds was transferred to Kit Morrison. In several days Jerry got a call from Larry who said that he was kidnapped by Brazilians and they claim $500000 to set him free. Apparently Brazilians made him free and he flied to Lass Vegas. Larry went to police and showed them a bill of sale and claimed that it was his stone. Police went to Kit’s house and took away the stone. Jerry and Kit were not afraid because they had ownership certificates to show. Anthony Tomas showed up and said that he has all the rights for the emerald as he was a first buyer. After a little while his house was burned and the bill of sales was gone. Currently, there are 5 parties who claim their ownership for the
In the film The Sapphires, it explores the theme of belonging and shows many different aspects of fitting in. The Sapphires is a film that chronicles the lives of a group of an Aboriginal family and their friend, Dave. These sisters later discovered a job that allowed them to sing and entertain the soldiers in Vietnam. This reunited them with their estranged cousin and enabled them to build new relationships.
The amethyst ring is the most valuable thing Ha’s family has. On page 103, it states,” Mother wants to sell the amethyst ring Father bought back from America, where he trained in the navy before I was
In 1799 young Conrad Reed, a 12 year old boy, found a big shiny rock in Little Meadow Creek on the family farm in Cabarrus county North Carolina. Conrad lugged it home but the Reed family had no idea what it was and used it as a clunky door stop. Thinking that it must be some kind of metal, John Reed, Conrad’s father, took it to Concord North Carolina to have a silver smith look at it. The silver smith was unable to identify it as gold. John Reed hauled it back home. Three years later in 1802 he took the rock to Fayetteville North Carolina where a jeweler recognized it for what it was right away. The jeweler asked him if could smelt it down to a bar for him, John agreed. When John returned to the jeweler had a gold brick measuring six to eight inches long. It’s hard to believe but John Reed had no idea of the metals worth. The jeweler asked him what he wanted for it and John thought that a week’s wages would be fair so he sold it to the jeweler for $3.50. It is rumored that John purchased a calico dress for his wife and some coffee beans with his wi...
My opinion of the book mentioned above is that it is extremely well written and inhibits several unique characteristics. The typical biography or autobiography is written in a sober manner, such that the reader is completely bored by the events of the life of the subject. The author Kristen Kemp, wrote this book so that the audience is excited and anxious to discover what happens in the next chapter in the life of the specified individual. An example of the authors exciting style of writing is evident in this quote referring to Jewel's acceptance to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan; "Just like that, Jewel set out for, possible, her most life changing journey of all." That statement could have been written so that it simply stated that Jewel was going to attend that academy, however, due to Kristen Kemp's writing style, the statement kept me excited to read another chapter.
Up until the 19th century, diamonds were considered to be one of the most prized possessions that could be found, hence they were reserved only for those who are the heads of royal families. However, this all changed when English-born businessman Cecil John Rhodes bought up diamond fields in South Africa as well as claims to the diamonds and began the company ‘De Beers’, named after two brothers who had found deposits of the commodity on their land, which made it possible for the general public to own a piece of this precious stone – at a high price.
The African Diamond Trade is a large cycle of exploitation. An estimated 65% of diamonds mined worldwide originate in Africa (Cahill 2009). In 2016, the U.S. diamond industry grew 4% to reach $40 billion, approximately half of a global $80 billion industry (DeBeers Group 2017). But how do these diamonds make it from African river banks to American engagement rings? According to Time Magazine, there are 6 steps that take diamonds from the ground to the jewelry store; exploration, mining, sorting, cutting and polishing, manufacturing, and retailing (John and Jones 2015). Each of these steps adds value to the final product that is offered in jewelry stores worldwide but this value isn’t added fairly to those who create the most value.
You’re browsing along various websites searching for a new piece of jewelry to add to your collection. Suddenly - you see it. The piece that screams your name. It’s an elaborate piece with large cut diamonds and you just know those can’t be real. But they look so real, so you check out the price.
People are now starting to take small steps in an effort to eliminate conflict diamonds. Recently, the entire diamond industry made clear to the international community of its intolerance towards blood diamonds. An example of this is their introduction of the Kimberley Process, a certification system for tracking the diamond’s origin. The United States is currently working on legislation for the Clean Diamond Act, in order to ban any diamonds from an unidentified origin. Both of these policies are attempts to create a paper trail for the diamonds and to eliminate conflict diamonds from the ma...
Let us briefly suppose that I recently bought a new gold watch. I was particularly happy that my watch was made of the finest, and rarest, gold in the area. Suppose, though, that one day I passed the factory where it was made, and ...
In the Nineteenth Century the jewel was the ultimate exotic object, Collins describes the Moonstone as “a yellow diamond- a famous gem in the native annals of India,” (Collins p.33) and clearly credits influence to the Koh-i-Noor in his preface to the novel. Collins builds upon the alien nature of such an object utilising the perceived mysticism of the Orient linking the jewel to a “four handed Indian God” (Collins p.33) [Said’s “exotic being” ?] and superstition, the notion of the jewel “feeling the influence of the deity who adorned it” (Collins p.33) [“remarkable experiences” to Said?]. Collins rapidly develops the exotic object into the cursed object primarily to create a long involving tale with a successfully satisfying denouement. the novel is, of course foremost a detective story; how memorable or lengthy a tale would it have been if the...
Trevor Rhone's Old Story Time Today's Jamaica seems overly preoccupied with the issues of class and colour. In Old Story Time Trevor Rhone mirrors a Jamaica struggling with the same subject in the Mid Twentieth century. Discuss these concerns of the play in detail making comparisons/contrasts to the current Jamaican and Caribbean societies.
I would like to participate in GEMS this year, so I may enrich my experience in science. I have always been a curious and eager student in science, and loved outdoors. I feel as if science holds so many secrets to this world, and would like to dive deeper into STEM. Science is one of my best classes, and I genuinely enjoy learning more about biodiversity and such. GEMS gives me more time to do science. At school I participate in science olympiad and ecology club, that allows me to do more science. I have done both science olympiad and ecology club for the three years in middle school. Ecology club lets me enjoy the outdoors and learn about organism such as trees, crayfish, and other water bugs. I genuinely enjoy the outdoors and like getting
I read a story, after I finished reading it my mind was still reeling over what I had just read. Stories like this are quite impressive magnificent; they draw the reader into the story and leave them with a strong impact. How we interpret a text is in itself impressive, as every person is different, every interpretation is too. As I read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, I could not help but notice that Kate Chopin uses the window to symbolize the future that Mrs. Mallard has been pinning for all her life. Chopin also uses Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition as a symbol of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage. The short story is consequentially the story of an oppressed woman who had to confine herself to the social norms of marriage. Through Formalism Criticism, we will explore the various symbols that Chopin uses to describe how Mrs. Mallard yearns for freedom, and through the Feminist Criticism, we will explore how the institution of marriage oppresses our heroin.
As Auður Eva Guðmundsdóttir said, “Fairytales are mystical, magical stories and it’s quite unusual for them to be based on real life events.” The tale of Anastasia, however, proves to be very distinct from all other fairy tales. The real story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia is an enchanted tale with a doomed finish and proves to be unlike any other fairy tale. Another point which verifies this story as a different type of fairy tale is that it is actually based on events that occurred in history. So how much of the story of Anastasia is fictional, and how much is history?