Famous Jewels and Jem Stones of the World

Regent

This magnificent diamond of Indian origin was originally known as the Pitt Diamond after Thomas Pitt who acquired it under murky circumstances. He claimed to pay 10 archers for it and it took 2 years to cut. It was sold in France for 1.35 plums in installments. It was renamed the Regent at this point. After being stolen in 1792 along with the Hope and the Sancy Diamonds it was recovered a year later and became The National Diamond of France. When Napoleon Bonaparte came to power it was mounted in the hilt of his sword. After his downfall in 1814 it was worn in 1824 at the coronation of Charles X. The stone is now on display at the Louvre.

Cullinan II

Probably best illustration of the Antique Cushion cut, the Cullinan II Diamond was discovered in January of 1905. It is the largest rough diamond to ever be discovered, weighing 3106 carats in its rough form.

Initially, it was thrown out of the window, perceived as being far too big to be a diamond. It was recovered by Fred Wells, a manager of the Premier Mine in South Africa. The stone yielded 9 faceted diamonds and plenty of smaller ones. The Cullinan II is an antique cushion cut of 317.4 carats. It is now set into the British Imperial State Crown. Kooh-i-noor

This stone might not appear as a traditional cushion shape at the first glance, but if you look closer, you can trace a poorly shape cushion outline.The name stands for "Mountain of Light". A 105 carat (21.6 g) diamond that was once the largest known diamond in the world.

Captured in 1526 by Humayin, at which point it was stated to be valued at half the daily expense of the whole world. In 1850 it was presented to Queen Victoria. Originally weighed 186 carats and took 38 days to cut to its present form of 108.93 carats at a cost of 8000 pounds. The stone is currently set into the Maltese Cross in the crown made for the Queen mother in 1937.

Wittelsbach

The Wittelsbach weighed 35.56 metric carats and measured 24.40 by 24.46 millimeters, with a depth of and 8.29 millimeters. Minor surface scratches were caused by a butcher of a setter who removed the stone from its setting. It has 82 facets arranged in an unusual pattern. The star facets on the crown are vertically split and the pavilion has eight pairs of extremely narrow facets. Typical of any antique cut stone The Wittelsbach has giant culet.

Archduke Joseph

This 76.45-carat diamond gets its name from from Archduke Joseph August (1872-1962), a previous owner of the gem and a prince of the Hungarian line of the Hapsburg dynasty.

Red Cross

This diamond was discovered sometime between 1899 and 1901 in the De Beers Mine. It now weighs 205.07 carats but is reported to have weighed 375 carats in the rough. It

was sold in 1918 on behalf of the British Red Cross Society and The Order of St. John. Its present whereabouts and owner is not known.

Hope

The triangular shape cannot mask the distinctly cushion-like faceting. The shape of the Hope Diamond could be described as a cushion with two poorly formed shoulders. The unusual blue diamond appeared in Europe in 1669 and is believed to be from the Golconda mine in India. The term "Golconda" diamond has come to define diamonds of the finest white color, clarity and transparency as well as type II stones lacking nitrogen in their crystal structure. In its original state it is believed to have weighed 110.5 carats. The diamond was cut into a heart of 69.03 carats by King Louis XV. It later disappeared during the French Revolution in 1792 along with other French royal family jewels. A dark blue diamond appeared in London in 1812 and was said to weigh "above 44 carats". It acquired its name from Banker, Henry Philip Hope. The Hope Diamond was sold numerous times before 1910 when Louis Cartier re-polished, mounted and sold it. In 1947 it was valued at $176,920. Eventually it made its way into the hands of Harry Winston who donated the stone to the Smithsonian in 1958.

DeBeers

Discovered in March 1888 in the DeBeers mine, weighing in the rough 439.86 carats and 228.5 carats after cutting, it was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1889. It is the 7th largest cut diamond in the world. Cartier set it in 1925 when it was first purchased and it was sold again in the 1930's when its present owners acquired it. In 1982 it came up for auction but was withdrawn at $1,750,000 which was below its (undisclosed) reserve price.

Tiffany

This stone was found either in 1877 or 1878. It went to France to be cut, yielding an antique cushion cut brilliant of 125.51 carats. It was purchased by Tiffany in 1879. It is one of the largest rare Deep Canary Yellow Diamonds in the world and has been on display since 1896 at the Tiffany's in New York. In 1983 the stone was valued at $12,000,000.

Agra

Agra is the site of the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. In 1990, the Agra and two other diamonds from the collection were auctioned at Christies. The Agra was certified as a fancy light pink natural color and sold for 4,070,000, briefly making it the most expensive pink diamond in the world. Since then, the Agra has again been re-cut, to 28.15 carats.

Dresden Green

This stone at first appears to be a pear, however it could also be classified as as an antique cushion with one side being very narrow matched by a much wider opposite side. The diamond weighs approximately 41 carats. The earliest known reference to its existence occurs in the issue dated October 25th - 27th, 1722 of The Post Boy, a London's newspaper.

The diamond is probably originated in the Golconda region of India, it's Type IIa chemical composition in conjunction with the extremely unusual green color makes the Dresden Green one of the greatest diamonds in the world.

The Crimson Star of Siberia

The Crimson Star is a 121 carat Rubellite Tourmaline making it the largest gem quality Rubellite publicly acknowledge in the world at present. The gem derives its name from its unique and breathtaking color. It truly glows with a crimson fire. This color is indicative of high quality and rare rubellite tourmalines found in the Siberia region of Russia. Although held privately for an undisclosed period, it is now on display as part of the House of Louis XV famed gem collection.

Star of Asia

The Star of Asia round six-ray star sapphire weighing 329.7 carats. The stone's origin is Burma, and it's part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection.

The Archduke Joseph

This 76.45-carat diamond gets its name from from Archduke Joseph August (1872-1962), a previous owner of the gem and a prince of the Hungarian line of the Hapsburg dynasty. The Archduke Joseph is a colorless diamond; it possesses the most notable characteristic of the best Golconda diamonds, namely a high internal clarity. Thus its D-color certification. It is cut in a rectangular cushion shape, perhaps a style of cutting that is not entirely unfitting with its Indian origin. The diamond originally weighed 78.54 carats but was slightly recut in the late-1990's by Molina Fine Jewelers down to its present 76.45-carat weight. The diamond has been graded as being Internally Flawless.

The Orlov

Legend, fact, supposition and theory each must be accorded its place in any historical account of this celebrated diamond. Nowadays the Orlov is one of the most important items in one of the

greatest collections of gems and jewelry, the Treasures of the Diamond Fund, Gokran, cromprises of many historical jewels that were amassed by the rulers of Russia before the 1917 Revolution, as well as some of the exceptional diamonds unearthed during the past three decades that testify to Russia's current position as a leading world diamond producer. The Orlov is mounted in the Imperial Sceptre, made during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-96). Its weight has been recorded as 189.62 metric carats. The clarity is typical of the finest Indian diamonds and its color possesses a slight bluish-green tint.

The Star of Africa

The Star of Africa, a pear shaped diamond weighing 530.20 carats, aka the Cullinan I. It's called the Cullinan I because it's the largest of the 9 large stones cut from the Cullinan Diamond. The Cullinan II is the massive 317.40 carat cushion shaped diamond in the center-front of the Imperial State Crown of Great Britain. The Crown also features the Black Prince's Ruby, as well as St. Edward's Sapphire, and the Stuart Sapphire. All the stones in the crown seem to have a history. :) The Star of Africa holds the place of 2nd largest cut diamond in the world. The Star of Africa is on display with the other Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.