Famous Fancy Colored Diamonds
PostBy Avi Paz Group At 05.09.2010
Black Orlov Diamond: The 189.62-carat Black Orlov diamond measures 47.6 x 34.92 x 31.75 mm and is fashioned in the traditional rose cut, with approximately 180 facets. The stone's quality indicates that it was originally mined at Golconda in southern India, but the precise date is unknown. More than one version of the stone's journey from India exists, but eventually Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, former lover of Empress Catherine the Great, purchased the diamond for her. The diamond was eventually set in the royal scepter and today is part of the Kremlin Diamond Fund.
Pumpkin Diamond: While relatively small (5.54 carats), the Pumpkin Diamond is the largest fancy vivid orange diamond certified by the GIA. The Pumpkin Diamond was mined in 1997 and cut and polished by William Goldberg. That same year, Ronald Winston paid $1.3 million for it at Sotheby's. The Pumpkin Diamond was last sold in 2005 to an unidentified buyer and was valued at $3 million.
Steinmetz Pink Diamond: The Steinmetz Pink Diamond, like the Pumpkin Diamond, is new among famous fancy colored diamonds. The cushion cut, 59.60 carat diamond is the third-largest pink diamond in the world and the largest diamond graded Fancy Vivid Pink. To preserve the diamond's weight and unusual pink color, a team of eight master diamond cutters and polishers from the Steinmetz Group worked on the diamond over the course of 20 months. The finished diamond was introduced to the world at a 2003 ceremony in Monaco.
Dresden Green Diamond: The pear-shaped Dresden Green diamond is the largest natural green diamond discovered to date, weighing a total of 40.70 carats and measuring 29.75 X 19.88 X 10.29 mm. The Dresden Green diamond was mined near Golconda, India in the 18th century and purchased by diamond dealer Marcus Moses, who brought it to England to sell to the king. The monarch admired the diamond but declined to buy it, and Moses sold it to another merchant, who later sold it to Frederick Augustus II in 1741. The green diamond has been kept in Dresden ever since, except when it was removed to Moscow during World War II and stored in the Green Vault.
Hancock Red Diamond: Discovered in a Brazilian alluvial deposit, the .95 carat diamond was named the Hancock Red after its purchaser, Warren Hancock, an expert on colored diamonds. The Hancock Red Diamond is certified as Fancy Purplish-Red, the strongest color ever registered for a natural red diamond with the exception of the .59 carat Rob Red Diamond, whose color is classified as Fancy Intense Red. In 1987, the Hancock Red broke the record for per-carat price when it was sold at Christie's for $880,000 – a record that stood until the sale of the Moussaieff Jewelers' Unnamed Blue Diamond.
Moussaieff Jewelers' Unnamed Blue Diamond: While comparatively small at 6.04 carats, this internally flawless emerald cut diamond is certified as fancy vivid blue by the GIA. Its ideal cut, color, and clarity ratings make it the most expensive gem in the world per carat – the unnamed blue diamond sold at auction in 2007 for $7.98 million, breaking the 20-year-old record for per carat price held by the Hancock Red.
Kahn Canary Diamond: Arkansas jeweler Stan Kahn bought this rare canary yellow diamond from George Stepp, who discovered it in 1977 in the Crater of Diamonds State Park. The Crater of Diamonds, located near Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is the only public diamond prospecting site in the world. Visitors pay and entrance fee that allows them to search for diamonds and other precious stones and guarantees them the right to keep what they find, regardless of the stone's value. The Kahn Canary Diamond is one of the few fancy colored diamonds to remain uncut – the stone's features a natural three-sided pillow shape and has a brilliance deemed equal to that of a cut diamond.
