Why Mom Deserves a Diamond contest

The First Diamond Winner

On Mother’s Day, May 9, 1993, sophomore Margaret Ketchersid from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California was awarded the grand prize of a quarter-carat diamond to give to her mother, Ruth. Following is her winning essay.

Her love is not blind - it is clear and forgiving Her touch is all-knowing - her joy life giving This angel, my mother, gives of herself And illuminates me with compassion’s true wealth

A symbol of courage and strength she remains And understands all my joys and pains To gaze at my mother, who strives beyond duty Is to see radiate her unique, warming beauty!

The sweet voice of mother - her strong, safe, embrace I long to possess her pure, natural, grace My Mother, my guide, and gemstone so rare Deserves out of likeness a diamond as fair

The 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. [Source: “For the Love of Mom.” Daily Pilot. April 30, 1992.]

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. [Source: “Watson Strikes Gold with Diamond Shop.” Tribune. Pg 6. August 6, 1992.]

His first job ended when the store was sold and the next one when the store went out of business. In 1991, Watson opened Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers in Costa Mesa, California. [Source: “Mother’s Day Contest Builds Business and Goodwill.” Jewelers Circular Keystone. April 1996.]

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. [Source: Ibid. pg. 144.]

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. [Source: “One Man’s Search.” New Albany Tribune. 1995.]

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 parent's address and telephone number. [Source: “The Search is Finally Over.” Newport Beach/ Costa Mesa Daily Pilot. September 16, 1994.]

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 then learned that his mother had died in 1981. [Source: “Surprising Twists in Two Searches for Family Roots.” Los Angeles Times. January 28, 1998.]

The Why Mom Deserves a Diamond contest became increasingly important for Watson to allow kids to express their appreciation for their own mothers, especially while they are still living.

Over the years, the Why Mom Deserves a Diamond contest brought thousands of ethnically diverse families to Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers. In an effort to educate people of a broadened concept of mutual love and respect for people of foreign countries, Watson conceptualized a word that would mean, "the intense love and respect of persons from diverse backgrounds.” In 2016, with the help of wordsmith Doug Lowry, the word “uniphilarsian” was created, meaning “one who loves, regards, and watches over the unique aspect of every other person.”

From 1993-2012, Watson published the winning entries in an annual book to raise money for the local county's library. “Area Library Shines from Essay Sales.” Costa Mesa Daily Pilot. September 2, 1997. To date, approximately 20,000 kids submit their essays to the company's headquarters in Santa Ana, California, and nearly four thousand families come to Gallery of Diamonds Jewelers every year. [Source: “Why Mom Deserves a Diamond Expands Contest to Jewelers.” Diamond News. January 30, 2012.]

Watson earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Indiana University Southeast and is a gemologist from the Gemological Institute of America. 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. “Search for Birth Mother Results in Special Book for Watson.” New Albany Ledger Tribune. May 10, 1998. The Orange County Register newspaper named him the winner of the "Holiday Spirit Award" in 1995, awarded to business owners who display the holiday spirit throughout the year. “It’s Your Business.” [Source: Orange County Register. December 25, 1995.]

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.

The 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." [Source: “Why Mom Deserves a Diamond Expands Contest to Jewelers.” Diamond News. January 30, 2012.]

Annual Anthology Book Publications

From 1993-2012, 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.