Have you ever taken the time to just stop and help someone in need? Trinda Gajek, a local resident of Nanaimo city did just that amidst the busy Christmas season. She had found a man who was having a rough patch in his life, sitting on the ground by the cold streetside. She approached him and asked if she could do anything for him, and if he needed some money. To which the man responded in affirmation, before Gajek opened up her wallet and gave all her change to the stranger.



(Photo of the original ring before the accidental giveaway occurred. News coverage by Chek News.)

One would say that this good deed would be remembered positively, especially as we approach Christmas day. Unfortunately for Gajek, she had unknowingly also handed over her family's precious diamond ring along with her donation.

The diamond ring was accidentally given away along with the change from her wallet, later causing Gajek the stress and hassle of trying to get it back from someone she had only met once before.

Now, She's hoping that the season's spirit will somehow bring her treasured heirloom back into her hands. The ring itself was actually a "You're a great mom" gift from her kids, cast in white gold and lined with natural precious diamonds. Most days, she searches the streets of Nanaimo, scanning the faces and attires of people walking by, wishing that she could find that stranger who has her beloved ring. When asked about the situation, she says that she has faith in that young man she helped out on a cold Wednesday night. Her belief is that he will realize her error and give the ring back.



Another homeless man Raymond Ahlstrom, says that anything can happen during the season. A Christmas miracle might just be on its way for her, and that he would definitely keep an eye out for the stranger she described in her narrations. When asked, Ahlsrom says that if it were him, he would give the diamond ring back to Gajek, without a doubt, seeing how precious the item was to her history.

Gajek says that the moment this stranger brings back her ring, the feeling would be fantastic. It would show the mutual goodness of people despite the harsh conditions being lived out on the streets.

Here in the Philippines, we'd like to think that if someone doing something good were to lose what's precious to them, others would come to help. Generosity should not be met with greed or selfishness, the Christmas season should remind us that goodness warrants goodness in return, especially so that the Filipino community can stand together and better our shared community welfare. Our team here at Gemcamp Laboratories sincerely hopes that Trinda gets her diamond ring back. Some things, regardless of monetary value are truly priceless because of the memories they hold.

Theft is a rampant problem in the jewelry trade, but these people are inventing their own desperate schemes to get away with the loot. Diamonds are popularly known as one of the smallest carriers of big wealth in the world. Due to this fact, jewelry stores are always cautious when bringing their gemstones out of their safety cases and onto store counters. Lately, there has been a new modus-profile for thieves who try to look inconspicuous as they steal diamonds that don't belong to them.



Enter the people who eat diamonds. Quickness and sleight of hand can sometimes nab them a stone, but exiting the store without getting caught is difficult due to the presence of guard checks. These individuals swallow diamond rings whole, and simply don't think about the possible damage a hard mineral like diamond could do to their internal organs.

Swallowing diamonds is a dangerous. It can hurt your insides badly, and does not shield you from the law. X-ray related scanners easily detect diamonds being brought out of a store without permission. Even inside of someone's stomach.

According to some doctors, an ingested diamond has about 30% of slashing through a person's intestines, causing internal bleeding and pain. Thieves ignore this warning and try their schemes out, only falling prey themselves to the detecting capacity of x-ray checkers.

There were reports of a Chinese tourist not too long ago, who swallowed a diamond during a gem expo in Sri Lanka. The stone itself was worth almost fourteen thousand dollars, and weighed approximately 1.5 carats. This incident is not isolated, as we've figured out in our research into the trade. A 52 year old man in Ontario, Canada was also found guilty of swallowing a 20,000 dollar diamond at a jewelry store. Since diamonds do not get damaged by stomach acids, police simply give the thief laxatives and wait for him to pass out the precious gemstone.

Sometimes, thieves replace the swallowed diamonds with an imitation stone, like cubic zirconia or moissanite. Some incidents even detailed the usage of synthetic diamonds- which are very hard to separate from natural stones without the proper gemological tools.



In 2010, there was a man who attempted to smuggle over two thousand diamonds by placing them inside condoms and ingesting them. He was soon caught by the police at an Indian airport. The man, while being detained by authorities, reported that he suffered from abnormal pressure and bleeding, due to the sharp edges of the diamond scraping at him from the inside.



It's not just people who ingest precious stones, but pets too. Many stories have cycled through the internet, going viral because of their sheer weirdness. A beloved pet, usually canine, somehow gets its snout into a jewelry box and swallows stones worth thousands of dollars. Luckily, veterinary clinics with x-ray machines can locate the diamond and assist in its return, while safely ensuring the dog's health and well-being.

We've heard one others story where a man proposed to his girlfriend by putting the ring inside a glass of champagne. This didn't turn out very well in the end, as the girl accidentally drank the champagne straight up, including the ring that was dropped inside. Fortunately she was rushed to the hospital immediately, and the man was able to propose to her while holding up an x-ray scan showing the diamond ring inside her body.

So what's the key lesson here? Don't swallow pointy things. (and keep a look out for people that do so in jewelry stores.)

Image Credits to CNN and Indian Police Departments

Graff, the famous luxury maison, has recently acquired one of the largest rough diamonds unearthed in history. The Lesedi La Rona diamond was sold for a total of 53 million USD, a whopping 47,777 USD per carat. The diamond had previously been owned by the Lucara Diamond Corp, which noted that the price paid had been an improvement on the highest bid received at the Sotheby's auction in June of 2016.

Lawrence Graff is Well Known for Being a Rare Diamond Collector, Aside from Pioneering His High End Jewelry Design House, Graff Jewellers.

Three major diamonds that Lucara has recovered from its famous Karowe mine (2015), have garnered a total value of exceeding 130 million dollars. This amount has been touted to be even more than what it had originally cost to build the mine itself.



It's no secret to the industry that Lawrence Graff's company has a penchant for securing large rough diamonds at auction. He has previously purchased a 373.72 carat rough that was once actually part of the Lesedi La Rona before the piece had split off as a shard during one of the pre-production stages.