Why Mom Deserves A Diamond Contest on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The "Why Mom Deserves a Diamond" contest is an American 
Michael "Diamond Mike" Watson was born and adopted in Indianapolis in 1958. He spent his early life in New Albany, where his adopted parents raised him. The foundation of the contest began while Watson was searching for his own birth mother when he was 17.
About the same time he started his quest, Watson entered the jewelry industry as an errand boy for a store in New Albany. He joined a retail chain and worked in jewelry stores in Indiana, Kentucky and Kansas City, then moved to California in 1989.
In 1991, Watson opened Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers in Costa Mesa, California.
Watson obtained a copy of his hospital bill from Community Hospital, which showed his mother's name (Betty Price) and age. Armed with this information, he embarked on a search that lasted nearly 20 years. Watson found the judge who had presided over the adoption only to learn that the records were sealed. The judge did, however, give Watson the report by the Department of Public Welfare, which contained information about his birth mother. The report listed names and a wedding date, and he contacted every county in Indiana to locate a wedding license. In mid-1994 he heard from the courthouse in Coatesville that the information on the license matched. He found that his birth mother's maiden name was Stewart, and also discovered her parents' address and telephone number. When calling his biological grandmother, she said that no one knew he was alive because his birth mother told the family he was stillborn. He learned that his mother had died in 1981.
Watson then learned he had an infant sister that vanished before he was born. Thus began a new journey to find his missing sibling. With the help of five genealogical researchers in which Watson named the Fabulous Five, Watson finally found his missing sister alive and well in 2017. That same year, with the miracle of DNA matching, Watson discovered his paternal Syrian Jewish roots and that he came from a long ancestry of distinguished rabbis from Aleppo, Syria. His great great grandfather was Hakham Mordechai Abadi.
From 1993 to 2012, Watson published the winning entries in an annual book to raise money for the local county's library. Over the years, thousands of children submit their essays to the company's headquarters in Santa Ana, California, and come to Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers every year.
Watson earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from
CBS News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Why Mom Deserves A Diamond Contest Writing contests Recurring events established in 1993 1993 establishments in California
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
contest
Contest may refer to:
* Competition
* Will contest
* Contesting, amateur radio contesting (radiosport)
Film and television
* ''Contest'' (2013 film), an American film
* Contest (1932 film), a German sports film
* " The Contest", a 1992 season ...
founded by Michael "Diamond Mike" Watson in Costa Mesa, California in 1993. The contest was established in honor of Watson's adoptive mother and the birth mother he had never known. In a limited number of words, children are asked to write essays explaining why their mother deserves a diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
.
Hundreds of thousands of American children have participated, and dozens of children have won the grand prize of a diamond to give to their mothers (and other precious gems
Gems, or gemstones, are polished, cut stones or minerals.
Gems or GEMS may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Gems'' (Aerosmith album), 1988
* ''Gems'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1994
* ''Gems'' (Michael Bolton album), 2011
* Gems TV, ...
). The first winner was sophomore Margaret Ketchersid, from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California. On Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...
1993, she was awarded the grand prize of a quarter-carat diamond to give to her mother, Ruth.
Founder
Michael "Diamond Mike" Watson was born and adopted in Indianapolis in 1958. He spent his early life in New Albany, where his adopted parents raised him. The foundation of the contest began while Watson was searching for his own birth mother when he was 17.
About the same time he started his quest, Watson entered the jewelry industry as an errand boy for a store in New Albany. He joined a retail chain and worked in jewelry stores in Indiana, Kentucky and Kansas City, then moved to California in 1989.
In 1991, Watson opened Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers in Costa Mesa, California.
Watson obtained a copy of his hospital bill from Community Hospital, which showed his mother's name (Betty Price) and age. Armed with this information, he embarked on a search that lasted nearly 20 years. Watson found the judge who had presided over the adoption only to learn that the records were sealed. The judge did, however, give Watson the report by the Department of Public Welfare, which contained information about his birth mother. The report listed names and a wedding date, and he contacted every county in Indiana to locate a wedding license. In mid-1994 he heard from the courthouse in Coatesville that the information on the license matched. He found that his birth mother's maiden name was Stewart, and also discovered her parents' address and telephone number. When calling his biological grandmother, she said that no one knew he was alive because his birth mother told the family he was stillborn. He learned that his mother had died in 1981.
Watson then learned he had an infant sister that vanished before he was born. Thus began a new journey to find his missing sibling. With the help of five genealogical researchers in which Watson named the Fabulous Five, Watson finally found his missing sister alive and well in 2017. That same year, with the miracle of DNA matching, Watson discovered his paternal Syrian Jewish roots and that he came from a long ancestry of distinguished rabbis from Aleppo, Syria. His great great grandfather was Hakham Mordechai Abadi.
From 1993 to 2012, Watson published the winning entries in an annual book to raise money for the local county's library. Over the years, thousands of children submit their essays to the company's headquarters in Santa Ana, California, and come to Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers every year.
Watson earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Indiana University Southeast
Indiana University Southeast (locally known as IUS or IU Southeast) is a public university in New Albany, Indiana. It is a regional campus of Indiana University.
History
The Indiana University Falls City Area Center was established by Floyd ...
and is a gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and se ...
. He is the author of Moon Over Mountains- The Search for Mom, The Legend of Why Mom Deserves a Diamond, Tales of Imagination- Everything is Real, In Search of Mom- Journey of an Adoptee, and Adopted Like Me- Chosen to Search for a Birthmother.
Intellectual property
The trademark ''Why Mom Deserves a Diamond'' was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark office on July 27, 2001, registration number 2,620,840. The trademark, The Legendary Contest, received registration on April 17, 2007, as "A writing contest in which kids can honor their mothers and have the chance to win a diamond or gemstone." Reg #3229618.Franchise
In 2009, the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond contest became incorporated, and in 2010 it became a franchise with the mission of "giving every child the opportunity to express their words of appreciation to the mothers."Anthologies
From 1993 to 2012, Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers, the founding sponsor of the contest, published an annual anthology of the winners. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these books were donated to the Orange County Library system in Orange County, California. Following are the book titles and the years they were published. * 2012. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - A Gift of Love * 2011. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Legacy Edition * 2010. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Discovered With Great Bliss * 2009. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - The Encouraging Branch * 2008. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - The Crystal Heart * 2007. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Sparkling Treasures * 2006. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Beyond the Goddess Venus * 2005. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Words of Love * 2004. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Twelve Years of Love * 2003. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - The Legendary Contest * 2002. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 10th Anniversary of the Greatest Contest on Earth * 2001. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - The Greatest Contest on Earth * 2000. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - A Millennium Mother's Day Tribute * 1999. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - Seventh Anniversary Edition * 1998. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 1,500 Essay Winners for 1998 * 1997. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 1,002 Essay Winners for 1997 * 1996. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 732 Essay Winners for 1996 * 1995. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 391 Essay Winners for 1995 * 1994. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 1994 Essay Winners * 1993. Why Mom Deserves a Diamond - 1993 Essay WinnersReferences
External links
*CBS News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Why Mom Deserves A Diamond Contest Writing contests Recurring events established in 1993 1993 establishments in California