Elliott C. Back » Luxury

Hope Diamond Photos (Exclusive Unset!)

Elliott Back — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:37:37 +0000

Did you know that the Hope Diamond, for the first time since it joined the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1958, is displayed unset? That’s right, the world-famous gigantic, 46 carat deep-blue grey diamond, is finally on display in its natural beauty. Sitting on a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder of 3-inch bulletproof glass, you can find it next to the main exhibit in the National Gem Collection.

Close up of the Hope Diamond

The rotating pedestal

Another angle of the gem, different facets

From the other side, again!

The platinum setting, composed of 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, and a chain of forty-five diamonds. The Hope will return to its traditional setting in late 2010.

For more information about the long history of the Hope Diamond, check out the wikipedia article. Its origins, shrouded in theft and mystery, are a fascinating read! If you liked this post, leave a comment, and perhaps I’ll post photos of the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, also on display in the Smithsonian.

Ghost Goblets: Wine Glasses inside Tumblers

Elliott Back — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:54:01 +0000

You have to check out these wine glasses from Cocktail Vibe. A set of four handblown glasses can be bought for just $74.95; the unique design features a glass sculpture holding your drink inside of a clear tumber; absolutely unique!

I know the above reads like ad copy, but these are the most innovative glasses I’ve seen in a while. SO COOL!!

Summize: Web 2.0 Rankings Aggregator

Elliott Back — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:39:52 +0000

Thanks to the often useless Techcrunch for pointing out Summize, a meta-rankings engine with a gorgeous, hip look:

It’s perfect in the way it rates Windows Vista as utter crap, and the Apple iPhone as delicious but flawed. Topically, they focus mostly on Books, Movies, and Music–the classic media triplet–but other products are present as well. In a blog post About Summize they explain the drive behind the site:

We currently provide a Summize Experience for Electronics, Cameras, Books, Movies, Toys, and other useful things you find at Amazon and other top caliber review sites. We provide clean, straightforward, un-duplicated results so you don’t have to piece together the information on your own.

The only problem–people are going to misspell its name as “summarize.”

Seiko Kinetic Watch Glamour Photos

Elliott Back — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:05:10 +0000

These photos of are my slightly worn Seiko Men’s Arctura Kinetic Watch #SKA201 taken on a Canon S3 camera. It has a nice macro mode.

I love the idea that I won’t have to replace this watch’s batteries for many, many years.

Minimum Wage Increase: Only for the poor

Elliott Back — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 01:14:38 +0000

Those workers now making $5.15 an hour, or $10,300 a year, on their minimum salaries have just received a raise of 41%. Over the next few years, if the Senate approves the wage hike, these minimum wage employees will make $14,500.

I’m not sure the economics of this are a good idea. First, it only benefits the 450,000 or so Americans making minimum wage. Second, it does nothing to offset the costs of their employers. Why not let the free market decide wages?

A minimum wage doesn’t do anything for people who make significantly more than it, either. If wages are to be raised, why are minimum wages being raised? If compensation is based on market merit, shouldn’t those making more money get a raise for their hard efforts? If minimum wages are paid to those jobs or individuals who are least useful to the market, shouldn’t they be then paid less?

It seems to me that the minimum wage system is an unnecessary burden to a developed society. If jobs need to be done, people will pay a premium to have them done. Without minimum wage, I find it unlikely that people will as a whole make less money than before. If you look into the history of the minimum wage, you’ll see that it came about as a means of avoiding strikes, thus actually giving corporations the ability to set a low grade of pay. Take back your freedom, vote away minimum wage!