Illustrious

The Must-See Gems!

Diamond! What is it? My own immediate response to that answer is a gem that is every bit as radiant and brilliant in appearance as anything you've ever seen. An illustrious gem. I make this statement based upon my own observation and belief that it is the most distinguished of all the gems I have beheld. Additionally, it is rather difficult to escape the luster which is conferred by diamond.

Its is luminous and bright in the palm of my hand or embedded in a ring, pendant or as it is situated on a velvet cloth. Mine is not the description of a jeweler, miner or stone cutter but merely an admirer with an eye for beauty and diamond as my birthstone. I therefore set out to learn what diamond professionals had to say about one particular diamond.

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My objective was to find more than just a diamond I wanted to locate the largest, most beautiful and superb diamond in the world. "The peerless 'king of gems' that glitters, dazzles and symbolizes purity and strength". This description was bestowed on such a diamond by the American Museum of Natural History during a November 1, 1997 – August 30, 1998 exhibition.

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According to the museum's 'The Nature of Diamond's' Web page display, "It is after diamond is presented to the King in 1997 that it receives its identity." The king referred to is King Bhumibol of Thailand and the name bestowed was the "Golden Jubilee” - named for the occasion on which it was presented to him as a gift to celebrate his 50th anniversary as reigning king of that country.

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Golden Jubilee was not always the polished, impressively sized, rich golden-yellow colored diamond however. Accomplish this result required the talent of a skilled stone cutter combined with state-of-the-art stone cutting technology. According to the Antique Jewelry University there was only one man skillful enough to be entrusted with the task of transforming the diamond from a rough brown diamond which weighed 755.50 carats (151g) upon its discovery in 1985 to the polished weight of 545.67 carats (109.13g). which is the present weight.

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"Gabi Tolkowsky, the great nephew of Marcel Tolkowsky - the inventor of the modern round brilliant" was the stone cutter chosen to work on the diamond and the technology provided by De Beers which at the time "...regarded this as an opportunity to test new cutting technologies. With the success of this new technology in cutting the future Golden Jubilee diamond the same knowledge could later be used in the cutting of the Centenary Diamond, a smaller (273.85 carats) but a much more obviously beautiful flawless and colorless rough diamond".

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The meticulous work lasted a full two years and finished in May of 1990, at which point "...Tolkowsky dubbed his new creation a 'Fire-Rose cushion-shape' having 55 crown facets, 64 pavilion facets and 24 girdle facets, all perfectly symmetrical. Tolkowsky’s skillful hands had miraculously taken a rough brown diamond and coaxed from it a stone with a rich golden-yellow color." Golden Jubilee, the world's largest and most impeccably polished diamond is what I set out to find learned that it currently resides in the crown jewels of Thailand's King.

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Of course Golden Jubilee was not always the largest diamond in the world, the title was previous held by "Cullinan I or the First Star of Africa" which was "530.2 carats (106.0g) and at the time was "...the largest polished diamond in the world..." as indicated on Wikipedia and retained the "largest polished diamond" title until 1985 when it was rendered to second largest position by The Golden Jubilee.

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Both of these stones are illustrious, beautiful beyond measure; irreplaceable; one-of-a-kind; unique and valuable gems. Diamond! The most valuable of all gems.

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Cutting Gems

Gem cutting! What is it? And how it has changed over the years (50% of the original rough diamond is lost during the cutting of a round brilliant gem). How does a lump of mineral or crystal become a dazzling diamond, ruby or sapphire? It’s an amazing process called gem cutting or lapidary and makes all the difference in the final value of the stone.

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It was developed first in Venice in the early 1300’s and was seen in Paris and Bruges in the mid-1400s. Good cutting is a precise art that catches the light just so, and captures the beauty of the gem. Poor cutting destroys it.

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Most gems start out actually being sawed with a special lapidary saw into a rough shape, such as square, round, pear or marquise. It’s then ground with a diamond-infused wheel to further refine the shape. The gem cutter uses a series of finer and finer abrasives to get closer to the clear heart of the gem. Cabochon gems are polished to a smooth overall surface, sometimes held by hand, but more often fixed or “dopped” with wax or adhesive to a dowel to hold it while the lapidarist polishes the stone.

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Transparent stones are most often faceted, a process where flat planes of the stone are cut and polished over the surface in a precise, symmetrical pattern. It’s critical that the planes match up perfectly, or the beauty of how the light is captured by the facets will be lost.

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If a stone is cut too flat or not polished, the brilliance of the gem will also be lost. When a stone is properly faceted, it captures the light so it bounces around inside the stone, giving it the sparkle we love and that helps determine the value of the gem. If the stone is cut too flat, or the facets don’t meet precisely, the light doesn’t bounce off the angles in the facets to maximum effect.

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The Many Colors of Gems

Gems come in every color of the spectrum. While sapphires, rubies and emeralds are what come to mind first when one thinks of a colored gem, there are so many other beautiful colored gemstones to consider. Even among gems normally associated with one color, there are gradations and variations to them. A sapphire, for example, comes in many different hues of blue, depending on where it’s from. But sapphires can also come in pink, yellow and green.

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The most highly prized colored gems are in the very deepest, richest hues of the color. While sapphires can range from pale blue to near-black, the most valuable are a rich, deep blue. The same holds true for rubies. While they too can range in color from pale to very dark and murky, the most highly-valued color is what’s called pigeon’s blood, a deep blood-red ruby that is mined in what was once known as Burma.

The most expensive emeralds are a deep green, although emeralds themselves come in a broad spectrum of hues, from yellow-green to blue-green. All colored gems, and clear gems, depend on expert cutting and polishing to showcase the colors in all their subtleties and brilliance.

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Generally the deeper and richer the color, the more valuable the stone. The best amethysts will be a dark, royal purple. A lighter-colored amethyst simply isn’t as valuable.

But many people prefer these lighter or darker gradations in color. And, they tend to be more affordable. A slightly lighter-colored amethyst is much easier to obtain than the “ideal” color, but is still a beautiful gemstone.

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Oddly enough, diamonds are rated by how colorless they are. The less color, the higher the grade of diamond. Unless of course it’s a defined color such as a pink diamond or a canary diamond. These are almost as highly prized as a near-colorless diamond.

Famous Diamonds

Around the world there are many diamonds that have been talked about or written about in various stories and official documents. Famous diamonds are part of our world's history, and have been found in various parts of the world, by all types of people. From royalty to the gods, famous diamonds are often as well known as the people who owned them. For centuries diamonds, famous or otherwise, were used in the armor of warriors and the crowns of our kings and queens as a symbol of fearlessness, some of which historic mentions follow:

The Mountain of Light
One of the few oval shaped famous diamonds, the “mountain of light” was first mentioned in the year 1304. It weighed an astounding 186 carats, and it is said that the diamond was set in the peacock throne of Shah Jehan as an eye of one of the peacock's. During Queen Victoria's reign, the famous diamonds shape was altered a bit and it was recut to weigh 108.93 carats. The diamond is currently one of the British Crown Jewels.

The Orloff
When the Orloff diamond was found, it was said that it weighed around 300 carats. This gemstone of the famous diamonds is held at the Diamond Treasury of the former Soviet Union located in Moscow. A story about the Orloff claims that the diamond was actually placed in the eye of a god, in the temple of Sri Rangen, which is how it became known as one of the world's famous diamonds.

The Regent
Before this incredibly large diamond of the famous diamonds was cut it weighed 410 carats! Originally called “The Pitt”, after the English Prime Minister, William Pitt, it was cut into a rounded shape and consisted of more than 140 carats. In 1717, the diamond was sold to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France. It was then that the diamond was renamed “The Regent”. When Louis XV had his coronation, the stone was set into his crown. When the French Revolution ended, “The Regent” was owned by Napoleon Bonaparte, and was placed into the hilt of Bonaparte's sword. Currently, the diamond is on display for all to enjoy in the Louvre.

The Blue Hope
The most well known of all famous diamonds, the Blue Hope is currently in the Smithsonian Institution located in the state of Washington. It was owned by Louis XIV, and at the time was called “the blue diamond of the crown”. Sometime during the French Revolution, the Blue Hope diamond was stolen. It was later found in London in the year 1830, where it was later purchased by Henry Philip Hope. The blue hope diamond received it's name from this individual, as well as it's reputation for causing bad luck to those who owned it. While Henry Philip Hope owned the precious blue diamond, each of his family members died in extreme poverty. Continuing with the bad luck, a later owner of the Blue Hope, Mr. Edward McLean also lost many family members to poverty while he possessed the diamond.

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