Legend has it Cleopatra once dissolved a pearl at the time worth five million sesterces (about $12,500) in soup and drank it, just to win a bet with Marc Antony.

The most expensive piece of jewelry ever designed specifically for a movie was the necklace worn by Nicole Kidman in the musical Moulin Rouge. The $1 million creation was designed by Stefano Canturi of platinum and 1,308 diamonds with a combined total of 134 carats.

The gold mask placed over the mummy of Egyptian King Tutankhamun was still perfectly untarnished when it was found by Howard Carter in 1922 - more than 3000 years after it was first placed over the young king.

The Tiffany diamond is 128.54 carats.

The jewelry industry uses about 1,000 tons of gold per year.

Men were the first to wear jewelry as a status symbol and as good luck amulets to aid them in battle.

Initially, only one ring was used for an engagement and a wedding. Then in 1477, Maximilian of Austria gave an engagement ring to his beloved, Mary of Burgundy starting a tradition.

Although the hardest substance known, diamonds can be chipped. They have a grain line and may be broken by a sharp blow along this line.

Pearls are formed when a tiny bit of sand gets trapped inside an oyster. The oyster produces a "nacre" as a defense mechanism that coats the intruder, layer after layer. A pearl is only found naturally in 1 in every 10,000 oysters. The longer the pearl stays in the oyster the heavier the nacre.

Amethyst. If we were to recreate the Crown Jewels today Amethyst would not have the prominent visibility it has now. This royal purple stone has lost a bit of its monetary value in recent years but it still has a wealth of fascinating history that dates back to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. A maiden named Amethyst used the stones special powers to ward off the drunken advances of Dionysus. In these modern times people use it as protection on the 4th, 6th, and 14th wedding anniversaries.

"A Diamond Is Forever" A young copywright working for the DeBeers company in 1947 coined the phrase "A Diamond Is Forever". 54 years later this famous line was named by Advertising Age the best advertising slogan of the 20th century. This original advertising campaign was effective in creating the popularity of diamonds worldwide and today it continues to live on.