A backstage worker at the 50th Annual CMA Awards in Nashville in November found a pretty pear-shaped stone sitting on top of a band cart and dropped it in his pocket, reasoning that it was merely a worthless prop.
The "prop" turned out to be a 13.73-carat colored diamond that had come loose from a ring worn by Beyoncé after her show-stopping performance with the Dixie Chicks. The gem had been borrowed from designer Lorraine Schwartz and was said to be worth "hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Even though the show's organizers alerted many members of the stage crew about the missing diamond and spearheaded a frantic search, Jesus Lopez was not aware of the loss and went about his normal routine of unloading band carts at the Bridgestone Arena — with the gem safely tucked in his pants pocket. After the show, he gifted the stone to his wife.
"I've been doing CMA for the last 12 years, and I have seen a lot of different jewelry, fake jewelry, rhinestones," Lopez told Nashville's News Channel 5. "I gave it to my wife thinking, of course, it was a rhinestone."
On the day after the show, Lopez's son, who also was a member of the stage crew and had heard rumblings about the lost gemstone, told his dad, "Do you know what you found? You found Beyoncé's diamond."
Lopez knew that the right thing to do was to return the gem to its rightful owner, but he hoped that his granddaughter might benefit from his honesty.
"When I heard it was Beyoncé, I said, 'Well, maybe my granddaughter can meet Beyoncé and give it to her herself,'" Lopez told Nashville's News Channel 5.
Lopez soon learned that the diamond had been on loan from Schwartz and that the diamond had to be returned to the designer. A meeting with the singer was not in the cards. Schwartz's representative picked up the diamond from Lopez and presented him with an undisclosed reward.
Lopez told a reporter that he still held out hope that his granddaughter could meet Beyoncé one day, but even if she doesn't he's pleased that the valuable diamond was able to find it's way back to its rightful owner instead of being lost or thrown away.
Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com; Newschannel5.com.
