The Blue Hope
45.52 carats
A
dark, steely blue stone from India, the diamond eventually
named the Hope is more notorious than any other diamond. It
was originally purchased by a French merchant traveler, who
sold it to King Louis XIV in 1668. Set in gold and suspended
on a neck ribbon, the king wore the "Blue Diamond of the Crown"
or "French Blue" on ceremonial occasions. During the French
Revolution in 1792, when Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempted
to flee France, the French Blue was stolen.
Evidence suggests that it was acquired in the early 1800s
by King George IV of England, and likely sold at his death
in 1830 to help pay off his debts. The diamond was subsequently
purchased by Henry Philip Hope, from whom it takes its name.
While in the possession of the Hope family, the diamond acquired
its grim reputation for bad luck: The entire Hope family died
in poverty.
Henry Thomas Hope's possession of the diamond was uneventful.
However, one of his heirs who came to own it, Lord Francis
Hope, was in financial difficulties due to a penchant for
gambling. After numerous attempts (and despite the opposition
of other family members) he finally succeeded in selling the
Hope diamond in 1901.
The diamond was purchased by a New York diamond merchant,
Simon Frankel. At this point, the diamond was said to be involved
in several bizarre events, although none have been substantiated.
First, a French broker by the name of Jacques Colot was said
to have bought the stone before becoming insane and committing
suicide.
Next, a Russian or Eastern European prince, Ivan Kanitowsky,
supposedly loaned or gave the diamond to an actress at the
Folies Bergère, who was shot the first time she wore it. The
prince himself was stabbed to death by revolutionaries; a
Greek jeweler who sold the diamond to the Sultan of Turkey
was thrown over a cliff while riding in a car with his wife
and child.
Again, it is difficult to separate the fact and fiction. It
is known that after several owners, the Hope diamond was sold
by Cartier's to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean of Washington, D.C.
Some researchers believe it was Pierre Cartier who popularized
the story that the stone brought misfortune to its owners
- and anyone who touched it.
Mrs. McLean was the daughter of Thomas F. Walsh, who amassed
a fortune in gold mining. She spent her early childhood in
mining camps in Colorado and South Dakota, but was later educated
in Washington D.C. and in Europe. She married Edward Beale
McLean, son of the owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer and the
Washington Post. Although Mrs. McLean refused to believe in
the legendary Hope "curse" she also endured a number of family
tragedies.
Her brother died young; her nine-year-old son was run over
by a car and killed; her ex-husband drank heavily and died
in a mental institution; and her only daughter died of a drug
overdose at age 25. Mrs. McLean never recovered from the latter
tragedy, and passed away only a year later.
Upon
her death, Mrs. McLean's extensive jewelry collection was
purchased by Harry Winston Inc. of New York City. After exhibiting
it among other notable gems for the next 10 years, the firm
donated it to the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains
one of its premier attractions.
The
Koh-I-Noor
(Mountain
of Light)
Current Weight: 105.60 carats Original Weight: 186 carats
Dated through legend from before the time of Christ, this
oval-cut diamond is the most famous of all diamonds. It has
been said that whoever owned the Koh-I-Noor ruled the world.
It was first reported in 1304 as a diamond owned by the Rajah
of Malwa. Following wars in the 1500s, it ultimately fell
into the hands of the Sultan Babur, and for the next 200 years
the 186-carat diamond was one of the precious jewels of the
Mogul Emperors.
It
was believed to have once been set as one of the peacock's
eyes in the famous peacock throne of Shah Jehan, who reigned
in the early 1650s. In 1739, Nadir Shah, who built Persia
into a major power, invaded Delhi. He obtained the Koh-I-Noor
- along with the sumptuous Peacock Throne - from the vanquished
Indian Emperor Mohammed Shah.
Allegedly,
when his pillage of Delhi failed to uncover the huge stone,
he was told by one of the harem women that the conquered Mogul
emperor had hidden it inside his turban. Taking advantage
of an Oriental custom, Nadir Shah invited his captive to a
feast and suggested they exchange turbans. Following the feast,
he unrolled the turban and released the great gem. Seeing
it, Nadir Shah cried, "Koh-I-Noor," which means mountain of
light. Nadir Shah took the gem back to Persia, and following
his assassination in 1747, the diamond was fought over by
his successors.
When
the state of Punjab was annexed to British India in 1849,
the East India Company took it as insurance for the Sikh Wars.
As part of its 250th Anniversary festivities, the East India
Company presented the Koh-I-Noor to Queen Victoria in 1850.
The stone was displayed at the famous Crystal Palace Exposition,
but visitors were disappointed that the diamond did not show
more fire. So Victoria had the stone recut, reducing the diamond
to its present size.
In
1911, a new crown was made for the coronation of Queen Mary
featuring the Koh-I-Noor as the center stone. In 1937, it
was transferred to the crown of Queen Elizabeth (now Queen
Mother) for her coronation. Currently, it is on display in
the Tower of London with the British Crown.
The Cullinan Diamonds
3,106 carats (rough)
The
largest gem-quality diamond ever found was discovered on January
26, 1905 in the Premier Mine in South Africa. The original
rough of the Cullinan Diamond measured 3,106 carats and weighed
about 1 1/3 pounds. It was notable for its exquisite color
and exceptional purity. Just as interesting, the stone possessed
a surprisingly smooth cleavage face on one side, leading many
experts to believe that the huge stone was only a piece of
a larger diamond that was broken up in the weathering process.
The
diamond was named for Sir Thomas Cullinan, who opened the
Premier Mine. The Transvaal Government bought the diamond
rough for $750,000 and presented it to England's King Edward
VII on his birthday in 1907. The next year, King Edward sent
the stone to the renowned Asscher's Diamond Co. in Amsterdam
for cutting.
Following
months of exacting study, the rough stone was cleaved into
nine major gems, with the largest two retained by the Royal
Family for the Crown Jewels. The rough also yielded 96 smaller
brilliant-cut stones and 9 1/2 carats of unpolished pieces.
The two largest stones are known as the Cullinan I and Cullinan
II: The Cullinan I (also known as the Great Star of Africa):
530.20 carats The Cullinan I is a magnificent pear-shaped
diamond with 74 facets. It is the largest stone cut from the
Cullinan rough and, until recently, the largest cut diamond
in the world. (That record is now held by the Unnamed Brown,
a golden brown cushion shape diamond weighing 545.67 carats.)
King
Edward called it "The Great Star of Africa" and ordered it
to be set in the British Imperial Scepter, which had to be
redesigned to accommodate it. The Scepter is on permanent
display in the Tower of London. The Cullinan II (also known
as the Lesser Star of Africa): 317.40 carats A cushion-cut
brilliant, the Cullinan II is the fourth-largest cut diamond
in the world. Nicknamed the Lesser Star of Africa, it is also
part of the British Crown Jewels. This square stone is set
in the British Imperial State Crown, on display in the Tower
of London.
Millennium
Star
203 - carats
Imagine
a diamond so flawless and so great in size that the world’s
diamond experts cannot put a price on it. The De Beers Millennium
Star.
Discovered
in the Republic of the Congo, De Beers mined the Star in the
early nineties. It took over three years for their diamond
cutters to shape the stone with lasers. What emerged was the
world’s only internally and externally flawless, 203-carat,
pear-shaped diamond.
Harry
Oppenheimer, the doyen of the diamond industry, describes
the De Beers Millennium Star as “the most beautiful diamond
I have ever seen.” Appropriately called the De Beers Millennium
Star, it was unveiled as the centerpiece of the De Beers Millennium
diamond collection. The entire collection includes eleven
equally rare blue diamonds totaling 118 carats, as well as
the 27-carat Heart of Eternity.
The Regent
140.50
carats
This
great stone, originally a diamond rough of 410 carats, was
said to be discovered in 1701 by an Indian slave near Golconda.
Golconda was a mountain fortress and a center for trading
in India that included a diamond storehouse.
The
diamond was first owned by William Pitt, the Prime Minister
of England, but the circumstances surrounding his acquisition
of the gem have been called into question several times. Pitt
arranged for the stone to be cut into its current cushion-shaped
brilliant by the only person in England considered capable
of the task, which took two years. The result was a stunning
gem that is considered the most perfectly cut of all the celebrated
diamonds of old.
The
Regent is characteristic of the finest Indian diamonds, and
has a beautiful light blue tinge. Known at the time as the
Pitt, the diamond was sold to the Duke of Orleans, Regent
of France, who was at first hesitant to purchase the gem because
of the perilous state of the Treasury. Ultimately, the Duke
of Orleans relented, and shortly thereafter, the stone was
renamed "The Regent."
Later,
it was set in the coronation crown of King Louis XV, and later
in a headband worn by his Queen. Many of the French Crown
Jewels were reset numerous times at the behest of the queen.
Sadly, in September 1792, the Regent and other great diamonds
in the Crown Jewel collection were stolen, some disappearing
forever.
Fortunately,
the Regent reappeared in a Paris attic a year later. After
coming to power in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the diamond
set in his sword hilt, which he carried at his coronation
two years later. Today, the Regent can be admired at the Louvre
in Paris.
The Centenary
273.85 carats
The 100-year anniversary of De Beers Consolidated Mines coincided
with the fortuitous discovery of an extraordinary diamond
rough. At its centennial banquet, the De Beers chairman announced
the recovery of "a diamond of 599 carats which is perfect
in color - indeed, it is one of the largest top color diamonds
ever found. Naturally, it will be called the 'Centenary Diamond.'"
The
Centenary diamond was found at South Africa's Premier Mine
on July 17, 1986 using an electronic x-ray recovery system.
In its rough form, the stone resembled an irregular matchbox,
with angular planes, a prominent, elongated protrusion at
one corner, and a deep concave on the largest flat surface.
Clearly, it would be daunting to cut, with no obvious approach
readily apparent.
It
took a master cutter three years to transform the stone into
the largest modern-cut flawless diamond. The Centenary has
75 facets on top, 89 on the bottom and 83 on the girdle, for
a total of 247. The amazing result was achieved using a combination
of some of the oldest cutting methods and the most sophisticated
technology.
Today,
this marvelous gem, exemplifying the ultimate in fire and
brilliance for which the diamond is prized, is part of the
British Crown Jewels. It was presented at the Tower of London
in 1991, where it is on permanent display.
The Orlov
300 carats (original rough)
189.62 (as shown)
The
history of this famous diamond is characterized by legend,
fact, speculation and theory. But it is considered one of
the most important items in the Treasures of the USSR Diamond
Fund, one of the world's greatest collections of gems and
jewelry.
The
USSR Diamond Fund comprises many of the historical jewels
that were amassed by the rulers of Russia before the Revolution
of 1917, along with exceptional diamonds unearthed in the
former Soviet Union during the last three decades.
The
Orlov's shape has been likened to half of a pigeon's egg.
It has roughly 180 facets and is mounted in the Imperial Scepter,
fashioned during the reign of Catherine the Great.
The
Orlov has been confused with the Great Mogul, a fascinating
Indian gem that apparently disappeared without a trace. Another
account holds that the earliest known fact about the Orlov
is that it was set as one of the eyes of an idol in a sacred
temple located in the South of India. Another tale suggests
that it was set as the eye of God in the temple of Sri Rangen,
and was stolen by a French soldier disguised as a Hindu.
The
stone takes its name from Count Grigori Grigorievich Orlov,
a Russian nobleman and army officer who caught the fancy of
the Grand Duchess, destined to become Catherine the Great.
Catherine ascended to the throne after her husband was dethroned
and murdered in a coup carried out with the help of Orlov.
After she purchased the stone, it was set beneath the golden
eagle.
Another
legend suggests that upon entering Moscow, Napoleon sought
the gem, which was concealed in the tomb of a priest in the
Kremlin. Reportedly, when one of Napoleon's lieutenants attempted
to secure the Orlov, the invaders were cursed by the ghost
of the priest, and Napoleon and his bodyguards fled empty-handed.
The
Idol's Eye
70.20 carats
Echoing
the legend of the Orlov, this flattened, pear-shaped stone
the size of a bantam's egg was once set in the eye of an idol
before it was stolen.
Legend
also holds that it was given as a ransom for Princess Rasheetah
by the Sheik of Kashmir to the Sultan of Turkey, who had abducted
her. Despite abundant unproven accounts of its early origins,
the first authenticated facts of this diamond's history were
associated with its appearance at a Christie's sale in London
in 1865. At the sale, it was sold to a mysterious buyer later
identified as the 34th Ottomon Sultan, Abd al-Hamid II.
Hamid
II was ultimately defeated by opposition that became known
as the Young Turks. One version of events holds that in exile,
he entrusted his jewels to a servant who betrayed him and
sold them in Paris, including the large diamond known as the
"Idol's Eye."
The
Idol's Eye re-emerged at the end of World War II, when it
was acquired by a Dutch dealer, and subsequently by Harry
Winston in 1946. Winston sold it to Mrs. May Bonfils Stanton,
the daughter of the publisher and co-founder of the Denver
Post. It was reported that Mrs. Stanton lived in isolation
in a palatial mansion and wore the Idol's Eye to her solitary
breakfast every morning.
After
her death, the diamond went through a succession of owners,
until it was sold with two other important stones to a private
buyer.
The Taylor-Burton
69.42 carats
As
many people today remember, this was the spectacular pear-shaped
diamond the late actor Richard Burton bought as a gift for
his fifth wife, Elizabeth Taylor.
The
stone came from a rough piece of 240.80 carats that was purchased
by Harry Winston. Once it was cut, the larger piece yielding
the pear-shaped stone was sold to Mrs. Harriet Annenberg Ames,
whose brother, Walter Annenberg, was the American ambassador
in London during Richard Nixon's presidency.
Mrs.
Ames felt uncomfortable wearing such a large diamond, and
sent it to auction in New York in October, 1969. The diamond
was purchased at auction for a then-record $1,050,000, with
the understanding that it could be named by the buyer.
Cartier
of New York proved the successful bidder and immediately christened
it "Cartier." However, the next day, Richard Burton bought
the stone for Elizabeth Taylor for an undisclosed sum. She
first wore the gem as a pendant at Princess Grace's 40th birthday
party in Monaco. In 1978, following her divorce from Mr. Burton,
Miss Taylor announced that she was putting the diamond up
for sale, with the proceeds dedicated to building a hospital
in Botswana.
Due
to the tremendous costs of showing it, prospective buyers
were required to pay $2,500 just to inspect the diamond. Miss
Taylor eventually sold the Taylor-Burton for a reported figure
of $5 million in 1979.
The
gem was purchased by Robert Mouawad, a diamond dealer in Saudi
Arabia.
The
Sancy
55 carats
This
pear-shaped stone with a confused heritage disappeared during
the French Revolution in 1782. It was originally owned by
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who lost the diamond in
battle in 1477. It was named after a later owner, Seigneur
de Sancy, a French Ambassador to Switzerland during the late
16th century.
There
are numerous questions regarding how Mr. Sancy obtained his
diamond, but most likely, he acquired it on his travels in
the Far East. Nicholas de Sancy served two French monarchs
loyally: He loaned the diamond to the French king, Henry III,
who strategically placed it on his cap to conceal his baldness.
It was also pledged by Sancy for the purpose of raising troops
in Switzerland. He employed his diamond again on behalf of
his sovereign, now Henry IV, the first of the Bourbon dynasty.
By
1596, Sancy himself was in need of money and eventually sold
the large diamond to King James I of England. In 1625, Charles
I disposed of other diamonds but retained the Sancy, which
was taken by Queen Henrietta Maria along with other jewels
in the Royal Treasury.
It
later came into the possession of Cardinal Jules Mazirin,
acting First Minister of the Crown, who bequeathed the Sancy
and another stone to the French Crown. Following the French
Revolution, a stone believed to be the Sancy found its way
to a Spanish nobleman, and eventually in 1828 to Prince Nicholas
Demidoff, whose family owned industries and silver mines in
Russia. The
Sancy passed to his son, who gave it to his Finnish bride.
Following
additional travels around the world, the Sancy was purchased
by William Waldorf Astor in the 1890s for his wife, Lady Astor.
Lady Astor, the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament
in the House of Commons, wore the Sancy set in a tiara at
numerous state occasions.
In
1978, the four Viscount Astor sold the Sancy, reputedly for
$1,000,000. It is now on view at the Louvre in Paris.
The Dresden Green
41 carats
This
almond-shaped stone is the largest apple-green diamond known.
Its green color is attributed to the crystal’s close contact
with a radioactive source at some point in its lifetime.
The Dresden Green, which probably originated in a rough crystal
of 100 carats or more, is unique among world-famous gems for
not only its color, but also its elongated shape. The Dresden
Green gets its name from the capital of Saxony where it has
been on display for more than 200 years.
Although
of Indian origin, nothing was known of the diamond until Frederick
Augustus II of Saxony purchased it at the Leipzig Fair in
1743 for about $150,000. Set in an elaborate shoulder knot,
the stone was exhibited with the other Crown Jewels of Saxony
in the famous Green Vaults under the Dresden Palace.
After
World War II, these gems were confiscated by the Russians,
but they were returned to Dresden in 1958, and are again on
display in the palace.
The Jubilee
245.33 carats
The
Jubilee is a magnificent, colorless cushion-cut diamond that
at one time ranked the sixth largest diamond in the world.
More importantly, many gemologists consider the Jubilee the
most perfectly cut of all large diamonds. That is because
its facets are so exact that the gem can be balanced on the
culet point, which measures less than 2 millimeters across.
The
original rough stone weighed 650.80 carats and was an irregular
octahedron in shape, lacking definite faces. It was found
in late 1895 at the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa, and
acquired by a syndicate of London diamond merchants who sent
it to Amsterdam for polishing.
The
first cleaving of the rough yielded a fine pear-shaped diamond
in excess of 13 carats that was presented by the king of Portugal
to his wife. The remaining large piece was polished into the
stone known as the Jubilee. During the cutting period, when
the stone's exceptional size and purity became evident, there
were initial plans to present the diamond to Queen Victoria
upon completion, but this did not occur.
However,
the following year, 1897, marked the Diamond Jubilee of Queen
Victoria. Therefore, the gem was appropriately renamed the
Jubilee to commemorate the occasion. Its introduction was
also significant in the world of diamonds, which saw its first
diamond with the characteristics of both the rose and brilliant
cuts - which would subsequently be known as the Jubilee cut.
In
1900 the syndicate displayed the Jubilee at the Paris Exhibition,
where it was an immensely popular attraction. Shortly thereafter,
it was purchased by an Indian industrialist and philanthropist,
Sir Dorabji Jamsetji Tata, whose family was instrumental in
modern India's economic development. Tata's heirs sent the
Jubilee to Cartier for sale.
Cartier
exhibited it with other historic diamonds prior to selling
it to a Paris industrialist and arts patron, M. Paul-Louis
Weiller, who sold it to Robert Mouawad, a diamond dealer in
Saudi Arabia. Mouawad has said that the Jubilee is his favorite
diamond because of how well it was cut for its period in history.
Wisconsin
Diamonds
Description:
Most diamonds form within the earth's mantle at depths of
100 to 200 km. They are brought to the surface by the action
of deep-seated magma which crystallizes to form pipe to dike
shaped bodies of the igneous rock called lamproites. Since
diamond is physically and chemically resistent it survives
weathering and can be transported long distances from its
source by rivers or glaciers.
When deposited it occurs with the denser minerals such as
magnetite, garnet and gold. A number of diamonds, however,
have been found through the years in glacial drift and river
sediments in Wisconsin. Recently, a diamondiferous lamproite
was discovered in the subsurface in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This
suggests a local source for at least some of the drift diamonds,
although others could have been transported longer distances,
from Michigan or Canada
DANE COUNTY: A grayish green 3.34 (3.83?)
carat diamond was found in the drift of the Johnstown moraine
2.5 miles southwest of Oregon on the Charles Devine farm in
1893. It is described as "a rhombic dodecahedron, deeply
pitted with circular elongated reniform markings" (Kunz,
1894, Hobbs, 1894, 1901; Cannon and Mudrey, 1981).
LANGLADE COUNTY: Panning in 1987 turned
up several tiny diamonds in stream sediments near Antigo.
One such examined by
the author was a clear sharp octahedron approximately 1 mm
in diameter.
KENOSHA COUNTY: A subsurface diamond-bearing
lamprophyre diatreme has been discovered in Kenosha. The body
has an area of about 50 acres. Drill core samples have small
but "sharp-edged octahedra or macles, some showing intricate
growth patterns and trigons". Associated minerals include
pyrope (both low Cr and high Cr), Cr-diopside, picroilmentite,
Cr-spinel, serpentine, calcite and micas. Traces of millerite,
clestine, barite and apatite are also reported. (Carlson and
Adams, 1997).
OZAUKEE COUNTY: A white 6.57 carat diamond
was found in 1881 near the Milwaukee River, about 4 km. north
of Saukville. The diamond is described as rounded, almost
spherical with dodecahedral faces (Olson, 1958; Vierthaler,
1958; Cannon and Mudrey, 1981).
MANITOWOC COUNTY: Several uncut diamonds
were found in 1913 in the cabin of a desceased hermit near
the town of Collins. Cannon and Mufrey (1981) suggest that
the diamonds were found in local gravels.
PIERCE COUNTY: At least 10 small yellowish
diamonds were found from1890 to 1892 during gold placering
operations in near the junction of Plum Creek and Rock Elm
Creek near Rock Elm. A second find in 1906 has been alleged
to be bogus (Cannon and
Mudrey, 1981; Cordua, 1987).
RACINE COUNTY: In 1903, an irregular
rounded 2.11 carat diamond was found in Burlington (Hobbs,
1901; Cannon and Mudrey, 1981). Previously a 2.06 carat white
twin was reported found there in 1897 (Eckert, 1980).
WASHINGTON COUNTY: The Theresa diamond,
weighing 21.5 carats, was found in 1888 on or near the Green
Lake Moraine near Kohlsville. The diamond was half cream yellow
and half colorless. It has since been cut into 10 separate
stones by the owner (Cannon and Mudrey, 1981).
WAUKESHA COUNTY: A 16.25 carat diamond
of a "warm sunny color" was reportedly found by
drilling in 1876 near Eagle. The diamond has a dodecahedral
form with triagular and circular markings on the faces. The
locality was later salted with diamonds and other stones,
a situation finally debunked by George Kunz. The Eagle diamond
was in the American Museum of Natural History until stolen
in 1964 ( Kunz, 1894; Olson, 1953, Cannon and Mudrey, 1981).
