Portuguese Diamond

There’s something so exciting about these incredibly large and perfect stones. Sometimes they have well-documented histories and we know where they came from and who owned them and when. But others have a past that’s not as well-known, and that only adds to the romance and mystique surrounding them.

One such diamond is called the Portuguese Diamond and is a 127-carat, cushion-cut diamond, shaped in an octagonal emerald shape. It’s nearly flawless. While it’s called the Portuguese Diamond, with a story that it was mined in Brazil and became part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels, there’s really no true documentation that says definitively that that’s where the diamond was mined. Must of the diamond’s history is pure legend and conjecture. One can only imagine who wore this incredible stone!

One part of the diamond's history that is well-documented is that in February 1928 Peggy Hopkins Joyce traded a $350,000 pearl necklace for the diamond and $23,000 in cash. According to New York newspaper accounts, it was mounted on a diamond-studded platinum choker to be worn close around the throat (probably the same necklace described above). Miss Joyce performed in the Ziegfeld Follies, and had six husbands, at least five of whom were wealthy. She was said to be almost as fond of jewels as of men. Sometime prior to 1946 Miss Joyce placed the diamond on consignment to the group of jewelers mentioned above, in an unsuccessful attempt to sell it.

Harry Winston acquired the Portuguese Diamond from Miss Joyce in 1951, and for the next several years it traveled the country as part of his "Court of Jewels" exhibition. In 1957, Winston sold the diamond to an international industrialist, who then traded it back in 1962. In 1963, the Smithsonian acquired the Portuguese Diamond from Mr. Winston in exchange for 2,400 carats of small diamonds. 

Spanish Inquisition Necklace of Diamonds

One doesn’t normally associate beautiful jewelry with the time of the Spanish Inquisition. But in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of gems, there is an exquisite necklace of diamonds and emeralds.

It is a spectacular double row of diamonds and emeralds ending in a chandelier of emeralds. There is unfortunately very little information about the provenance of this necklace. The large diamonds and Columbian emeralds were most likely cut in India in the 17^th century. This would make them one of the earliest examples of cut gemstones in the Smithsonian’s Collection. There are really only legends surrounding this necklace. They indicate that it was worn at times by Spanish and French royalty. In the early 20^th century, it was purchased by the Maharajah of Indore, whose son sold the necklace in 1947 to Harry Winston. Winston subsequently sold the necklace to Mrs. Cora Hubbard Williams of Pittsburgh. She bequeathed it to the Smithsonian in 1972.

Emeralds are a form of crystal known as beryls. Beryls are normally clear crystals, but when infused with chromium or vanadium, they attain various gradations of green. The purest green are the rarest emeralds and many people actually prefer an emerald that has a blue-green tint.

Before the 16^th century, the only known emerald deposits were in Cleopatra’s Egyptian mines. But after emeralds were discovered in Columbia, those became the “gold standard” in emeralds. Columbian emeralds have been discovered by archaeologists among artifacts of such tribes as the Inca, Maya, Aztec, Toltec and the lesser-known Chibcha Indians. Emeralds are among the rarest of gemstones and can be more expensive per carat than even the finest diamonds! They are a hard mineral, with a Moh’s hardness scale of 7 or 8 (compared to a diamond’s 10). While most emeralds are found in Africa, Russia and Africa, there have been discoveries of emerald deposits in North Carolina!

Blue Heart Diamond.

There is a spectacular diamond in the Smithsonian Collection called the Blue Heart Diamond. Fans of the movie Titanic might think the “Heart of the Ocean Diamond” was based on this stone, and it may have been! However, this diamond hasn’t been cast in the ocean, but is safe and sound at the Smithsonian!

It has also been called the Eugenie Blue Diamond, although it’s uncertain that the Empress Eugenie ever owned this particular stone. It was cut in Paris between 1909 and 1910, but the stone’s origin – Africa or India – is unclear.

It is an enormous heart-shaped, blue diamond weighing 30.82 carats. Its current setting is in a platinum ring, surrounded by white diamonds. It changed hands among famous jewelers – such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels -  and owners until it was bought by Harry Winston in 1959 who mounted the diamond in its current ring setting. Winston sold the ring to Marjorie Merriweather Post. Mrs. Post donated the ring to the Smithsonian and it remains there with other famous blue diamonds, including the Hope Diamond and the Heart of Eternity Diamond.

These famous blue diamonds have recently gone through a grading and examination process, to classify their colors and to determine the source of the color. The Hope Diamond is classified as Fancy Deep Grayish-Blue. The Heart of Eternity has been classified as a Fancy Vivid Blue. The Blue Heart Diamond has not yet been classified, but some experts categorize it as either Fancy Vivid Blue or Fancy Deep Blue. Blue diamonds are of particular interest to scientists not only because of the color and the impurities that create it, but because blue diamonds also have an electric conductive property that makes them unique among clear and other colored diamonds. 

Spectacular Diamond of Napoleon Necklace

One of the most spectacular all-diamond pieces of jewelry in the Smithsonian Insitution is the Napoleon necklace. Thought to have originally been owned by Catherine the Great of Russia, it was presented by the Emperor Napoleon of France to his second wife, Marie-Louise of Austria on the birth of their son in 1811. The silver and gold set necklace contains172 diamonds weighing 275 carats - 28 oval and cushion-cut diamonds, dangling 19 briolette-cut oval and pear shaped diamonds and accented by small, round diamonds and diamond set motifs in a silver and gold setting. The diamonds are cut in "old mine" style, the precursor to the modern brilliant cut, and have a high degree of fire (flashes of color as the stone moves in light), but less brilliance due to less light refraction through the top of the stone.

The necklace has an estimated total gem weight of 275 carats, and the largest single diamond on it weighs approximately 10 carats. When Marie-Louise died in 1847, the necklace was given to her sister-in-law, Archduchess Sophie of Austria, who removed two stones to shorten the necklace. Earrings were made with the two removed stones, the whereabouts of which are unknown.

In 1872, the necklace was bequeathed to the Archduchess' son, Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria. In 1948, Archduke Ludwig's grandson, Prince Franz Joseph of Liechtenstein, sold the necklace to a French collector who then sold it to Harry Winston in 1960. Marjorie Merriweather Post obtained the necklace from Winston and donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1962.

It’s difficult to value a piece like this in today’s market. However, in 1993, the auction house Christie’s in Geneva sold another necklace that Napoleon had given to Marie-Louise that was composed of rubies and diamonds. This necklace sold for $13 million.

The Hope Diamond

Is there anyone who hasn’t at least heard of the famous Hope Diamond? Many people are surprised when they first learn that this famous stone isn’t a clear diamond, but instead is a brilliant blue stone, surrounded by white diamonds and suspended from a diamond necklace.

It first appears in history in the mid 1600s when it was purchased by a merchant named Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who sold the stone to Louis XIV of France. At that time it was a 112-carat stone, described as having a beautiful violet color. It was recut into a 67-carat stone and the color was named French Blue. During the French Revolution, the diamond was stolen during a looting of the crown jewels. It reappeared in 1812, but recut once again and was acquired by George IV of England who had to sell the stone to pay off debts. The exact transaction is unknown, but the diamond is next found as an entry in the collection of Henry Philip Hope, whose name is attached to the diamond to this day.

Eventually the stone was owned by the Cartier jewelry firm in Paris and purchased by Evalyn Walsh Maclean of Washington, DC. It was at her request that the stone was reset and made into the necklace that we know of today. It was acquired by Henry Winston who purchased it from Mrs. Maclean’s estate in 1947 and eventually became part of the Smithsonian Collection.

There is a long-standing legend of a curse attached to the Hope Diamond, which the story says was plucked from an idol in India. True or not, many who have owned the Hope Diamond have met with misfortune, including the Hope family, who supposedly went bankrupt from owning the diamond. It’s possible that the whole concept of the curse originated with Pierre Cartier who sold it to Mrs. Maclean with the story of a curse, because she thought objects surrounded with bad luck were actually good luck for her. Sadly, Mrs. Maclean’s first son was killed at age 9 in a car accident and her 25-year old daughter committed suicide. Her husband was declared insane and was institutionalized until his death in 1941. Was it part of a curse?

Royalty Diamonds

When did diamonds first become recognized as precious stones and used for jewelry? The earliest reference to them has been found in a Sanskrit document dated around 300 BCE. They were associated with the gods and were used to decorate religious icons and statues. In India, only kings, the highest caste, were allowed to own them.

Although diamonds were traded east and west of India, they were still prized in their natural crystal state, or polished to increase the shine and luster of them. The first guild of diamond cutters was established in 1375, and it was then that the practice of cutting the stones and faceting them was developed.

From the earliest times, diamonds were the province of kings and queens. In fact, in the 13^th century, Louis IX of France decreed that only royalty could own diamonds, a dictate which faded away about 100 years later. By the late 15^th century, they were used as wedding rings.

The largest diamond ever found was a 3106-carat diamond discovered in 1905 in a mine owned by Thomas Cullinan, for whom the stone was made. It was cut into smaller stones, the largest being made into the 530-carat Great Star of Africa diamond, cut by the Asscher Brothers, a famous diamond firm to this day. It’s also called the Cullinan I diamond, and is set in the Scepter of the Cross of the United Kingdom. A smaller stone cut from the Cullinan diamond is called the Lesser Star of Africa. It weighs 317 carats and is part of the Imperial State Crown. Both gems can be seen as part of the British Crown Jewels which are displayed in the Tower of London. The rest of the Cullinan diamond was cut into 11 smaller-weight stones and a number of fragments.

While the Cullinan diamond is the largest diamond ever found, there is a rumor that the man who discovered the diamond actually broke off part of the diamond before presenting it to the mine’s owner. This diamond, if the rumor is true, would have been 5,000 carats!

TIPS to CARE fof DIAMOND

Diamonds are durable and strong, but should be cared for as though they were fine breakable china or more fragile gems. They can chip or scratch if you’re not careful, and they can get quite dirty with oils from your skin and cosmetics, hair sprays or perfumes.

There are several ways to clean and store your diamonds. You can clean a diamond pretty quickly with a commercial jewelry cleaner that you either dip your jewelry in or soak them in a tub that gives it an ultrasound bath. Cold water and ammonia also work very well to dissolve oils that accumulate on your stones.

You can use a soft brush like an eyebrow brush to clean in between the prongs of the setting. Hold the diamonds by their settings and don’t touch the stones. If you’re cleaning them in the bathroom, be sure to close the stopper on the sink! You don’t want to go fishing in the plumbing for your valuable jewelry!

We’ve also used a mild toothpaste and soft toothbrush to clean gemstones. Rinse them under cold water, also using a soft brush to get any toothpaste particles from the gaps in between the stones and the setting. Some experts don’t recommend this and there is risk of scratching the stone, so if you choose this method, make sure it’s a low-abrasive. The best solution really is a commercial preparation or ammonia and water.

Rinse the jewelry in a tea infuser or under running water and dry it on a lint-free surface or towel. When you put your jewelry away, put it in a soft, velvet-lined box. Keep rings separate and don’t lump them in with all your other jewelry, to help protect the setting and the stones.

When you travel with your jewelry, make sure it’s in a soft, lined jewelry roll or a case specially designed for jewelry.  Even if you wear your engagement and wedding rings all the time, take care of them. Don’t wear them if you’re using harsh cleaning chemicals or solutions or doing work that might cause them to knock against furniture or walls.

Diamond Certification

 Diamond certification is essential when you're buying a diamond and is different from a jeweler’s appraisal, although the certification is part of any appraisal. Many diamonds look the same, but not all of them are going to be of the quality you might like. Diamond certification is the written proof of a diamond's attributes. Without it, you have no assurance that the diamond you are buying is of the quality you're paying for. With it, you know the precise grading for each of the 4Cs – color, cut, clarity and carat weight, and, therefore, the diamond value.

Certification gives you the information you need to assess a diamond's value compared to other diamonds. It also allows you to make an intelligent comparison with other diamonds either in the same jewelry store or in another.

Diamond certificates are issued by independent gemological laboratories, not your jeweler. There are several grading laboratories, the most prominent being: the International Gemological Institute (IGI); the Gemological Institute of America (GIA); the American Gem Society (AGS); the European Gemological Laboratories (EGL) and GemEx Systems.

When you buy a diamond, be sure to question the sales associate first about the characteristics or attributes of the stone. Ask to see the diamond certification that will accompany the diamond when you purchase it. If you do some comparison shopping, you will note that the quality of the diamonds each jeweler carries varies depending on the store.
A diamond certification will also give you indicators about other diamond qualities, such as fire, brilliance and scintillation, also called Return of Light. These qualities refer to how light is refracted back to the viewer when held stationary or when in motion. The certification will also give you a measure of the stones fluorescence. These factors also impact the beauty and brilliance of your diamond.

Diamond Clarity

Diamond clarity is one the 4Cs of diamond qualities. It refers to any flaws, or inclusions in the diamond, and how visible or detectable they are. Inclusions can be foreign substances, or minute cracks or flaws. It also refers to the appearance of any surface flaws or scratches. As with the color grading scales, clarity also has a grading scale, with FL used to denote a flawless diamond. What FL means is that there are no flaws or inclusions that can be seen when the stone is examined under 10X magnification, the standard for examining for flaws.

Other clarity designations are:

IF stands for internally flawless. This means there are no internal flaws or inclusions, although there may be small surface flaws.

VVS1 and VVS2 stand for Very Very Slight inclusions that are difficult to see under magnification.  VS1 and VS2 indicate Very Slight inclusions that can be seen under magnification but are invisible to the naked eye.

SI1 and SI2 denote Slight Inclusions that may or may not be visible to the naked eye.

I1, I2 and I3 are "imperfect", with inclusions clearly visible to the naked eye. For I3, the inclusions impact the brilliance of the diamond and are large and obvious.

In most cases, there is nothing that can be done about flaws or inclusions, although in recent years lasers have been used to enhance some inclusions or fractures in diamonds by filling them in, much the way small dings in a windshield are filled in.

Certainly the most highly valued diamonds are those that are flawless – FL - or internally flawless – IF. But excellent values can be obtained at the VVS and VS grades, as these are flaws not visible to the naked eye, but only to an experienced grader under magnification. 

The color grades of Diamond

When it comes to the 4Cs of diamonds, color, or lack of it, is an especially important characteristic. Diamonds are given letter grades to denote the level of color, starting with the letter D for a flawless, colorless diamond.  Why D, and not C, B, or A? The reason we’ve heard is that when diamonds started being graded for color with this scale, it was decided to start with D, to leave room for the extremely rare possibility that a diamond would be found that was even more flawless than flawless. It hasn’t happened yet!

The color grades of D, E and F are the rarest and most colorless. The gradations in color can only be seen by an expert gemologist. The grades G-H are called near colorless and the difference can be seen by a casual observer only when compared to a higher-grade diamond. A stone in this grade category is an excellent value. The grades I-J are also near colorless, but not to the same extent as G-H. These also are an excellent value.

The color grades move up the scale to Z, with an increasing amount of color. These are inferior gem-quality stones and should not be confused with canary or other colored diamonds. Colored diamonds are graded differently than white diamonds and are also highly prized among collectors. They’re especially beautiful when combined with white diamonds. Consider that the Hope Diamond, one of the most famous diamonds, is a rich blue color. Out of all colored diamonds, a red diamond is the rarest of all.

The colors in colored diamonds come from impurities between the cells of the crystals, or structural defects. There are many different colors that diamonds can come in, but they’re limited to, blue, yellow, orange, red, green steel gray, white, pink to purple, brown, and black 

DIAMOND FACE

The cut of a diamond refers to the way the stone is shaped and polished, how the facets are arranged and how deep or shallow it’s cut. There are various cuts of diamonds that refer to that, many of them patented. Both Asscher and Princess diamonds are square-shaped diamonds, but they are vastly different in how the facet are cut and arranged.

Cut also refers to the shape of the diamond. The shape is often determined by how the molecules of the crystal are arranged. If it’s an octahedron, it will be cut as a round brilliant, and often two round brilliants can be cut from the same original crystal. Other crystal configurations, such as macer, will be cut as marquise or oval diamonds.

The modern round cut brilliant stone has 58 facets, or 57 if the tiny bottom facet, the culet, is omitted. The Princess cut is unique in that it’s a square diamond with pointed corners. Many diamonds, even square and emerald cut diamonds will have rounded or cut-off corners, because contrary to popular opinion, a diamond can chip or scratch if it knocks against something at the wrong angle. It’s a bad idea to try to scratch a mirror with any diamond!

An emerald shaped diamond is a rectangle cut with longer, flat facets. It’s a good cut for a diamond that’s exceptionally clear. If it’s not, then an emerald cut diamond can appear cloudy.

The Asscher diamond is similar to an emerald shape, except it’s square. It’s cutting resembles a spider web when viewed from above.

Other diamond shapes are self-explanatory. A pear- or tear-shaped diamond is exactly that.  It’s an oval that’s wider at one end and curves to a point at the other end. An oval is a perfect oval. The marquise-shaped diamond can maximize the carat weight of a stone because it’s a longer and flatter cut, yet highly faceted. The marquise comes in a variety of length-to-width ratios.

Carats of Diamond

Many people equate the term carat with the size of a diamond, and as carat size increases, so will the carat weight. But the operative word there is weight. Carat refers to the weight of a diamond and is equal to roughly 200 milligrams which is less than a ¼ of an ounce. A carat can also be broken up into 100 points. So ¾ of a carat is also 75 points.

The heavier in carat weight a diamond is, the rarer it becomes. Prices of diamond increase exponentially with the weight of the diamond, so a one-carat diamond will cost much more than two ½-carat diamonds, given that other qualities, such as color and clarity, are equal

The cutting of a diamond can impact the size of it, so depending on how their cut, two one-carat diamonds can look unequal. If a stone is cut flatter, then it will appear bigger, while a deeper cut stone will be smaller, but may have more brilliance and scintillation. You may be tempted to purchase a stone that’s cut flatter so that you can have the appearance of a larger, or heavier stone. But a diamond that’s cut too flat will have too little brilliance and can look cloudy. Carat weight is important, but there’s no point to sacrificing other qualities that make a diamond special so you can say you have a two-carat stone. A beautiful one-carat diamond, with outstanding brilliance and scintillation is going to be the better choice, from both a personal standpoint and an investment standpoint.

l"> A smaller diamond can always be enhanced with baguettes, trillians or smaller same-shape stones on either size. As we stated earlier, two smaller stones won’t cost as much as an equally-weighted single stone, so you can increase the importance of the ring you’re buying without doubling your cost. 

DIAMOND LUMINOUS

The term fire is commonly used to describe a diamond, but what does it refer to? The ancient Greeks thought that fire in a diamond symbolized the eternal flame of love. Fire in a diamond is the dispersed light that appears as rainbow-like flashes of color. You can usually observe a diamond’s fire in places like restaurants or clubs where the light is lower. The amount of fire depends on how the stone is cut and faceted. Older cut diamonds appear as if they have more fire because they’re cut with steep crown angles and flatter tables of the facets.

Other characteristics that are used to evaluate a diamond include brilliance and scintillation. Brilliance requires both brightness and contrast in the diamond and refers to how light is reflected back to the viewer, or return-of-light in the diamond trade. To many jewelers, it’s the most important quality in a diamond, and is what people react to when they exclaim over a diamond.

Diamonds also have a quality called scintillation. Scintillation refers to how light disperses from the stone when it’s moved. While brilliance is the quality of dispersed light when the diamond is in a stationary position, scintillation is observed when the diamond moves in the light. They’re closely related qualities, while fire is a different attribute.

The way a diamond is cut will determine how much fire or brilliance it has, and often one may have to make a trade-off for one quality or another. Which way is the best way to go? For the most part, most diamonds are cut more for brilliance and scintillation rather than for fire. When shopping for a diamond remember that it’s in investment, yes. But what really matters is whether you love it. Qualities like brilliance vs. fire really do pale in comparison to that one critical element!