Eyes of the Demon Idol - real world version, yes, for real

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/international/2012/01/17/can-twenty-five-pound-emerald-found.cbc

The link is to a CNN video about a 25 pound cut emerald (meaning it was bigger before being cut and polished). It has been appraised at about 1.15 million dollars value and is going on the auction block very soon. The starting bid was set at half a million dollars and even before bidding officially opens, two people are offering 1 million for the gigantic gem. One bidder is a private collector from Houston, Texas. The other is from Dubai. It is easy to see how something like this easily fits into our games.

The emerald in the video is pretty close to the size of the ruby eye the thieves are trying to prise free of the demon idol from the 1st edition Players Handbook. For that kind of profit I might risk a fight with some lizardmen too! The tavern tales alone would be great fun. "twas a great green emerald, big as a halflings torso an bigger than yer head!"

Says the dwarf to the others "This is why we dig."