What a terrific day! After a number of email exchanges, I bought Ben Siegel's diamond ring (EBay #3622865516.) I spent about three hours with its former owner, Jim Smith who was Mickey Cohen's associate from the mid fifties until Mickey's death in the 70's (although much of this time Mickey was in prison.) Jim was articulate and gracious. He was on a first name basis with a number of interesting people including Johnny Rosselli, Tony Spilotro, Jimmy Fratianno and Johnny Stompanato (Lana Turner's beau.) He and Mickey went to Vegas many times. Mickey often spoke to him about his experiences with Mr. Siegel. He and I got along well and he agreed to meet soon for dinner and another long conversation. You can bet I'm going to brush up on my LA mob history. Oh boy, I'm still pretty excited!