Elvis Week: Bob Kortz on tracking down a black diamond for The King in the middle of the night (1702 hits)
By Mark Sanders Mon., Aug. 13 2012 at 7:00 AM
This Thursday, August 16 marks the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. The iconic singer spent a great deal of time in the Centennial State and had many adventures. In honor of The King, Backbeat is sharing some of these stories all week.
In the winter of 1975-'76, while on vacation in Vail, Elvis Presley's newfound interest in numerology led him to believe he needed a black diamond ring, immediately. He had a police friend call local jeweler Bob Kortz late in the evening with the odd request -- a request that Kortz heeded, despite having never even seen a black diamond.
Never mind that it was a Saturday, and Kortz, whose family business is in its 118th year, had no idea of where to find such a stone. Elvis sent word to Kortz through his DPD pal that he had two airplanes waiting for the jeweler at Stapleton Airport, ready to fly to Vail once he procured the black diamond.
After a few phone calls, Kortz finally located the gem through another local jeweler and collector of unusual stones. Nowadays they are made synthetically, but, back then, Kortz notes, black diamonds were not so easy to track down. Tinted dark gray due to inclusions of other minerals, the diamonds are only found naturally in Brazil and the Central African Republic.
