|
| |
Vargas Diamond |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
| On August
13, 1938 Brazil revealed its greatest gem when a diamond
weighing 726.6 carats was picked up in the gravels of
the San Antonio River in the Coromandel district of Minas
Gerais. Two garimpeiros (diamond diggers or prospectors),
Joaquim Venancio Tiago and Manoel Miguel Domingues, were
the lucky finders. |
| |
| Their
good fortune did not extend very far. Not long after
they had sold the diamond to a broker for $56,000,
the same man sold it for ?235,000. The buyer in
turn sold the gem to a Dutch syndicate represented
by the Dutch Union Bank of Amsterdam. By then the
diamond had been named "President Vargas"
in honor of Getulio Dornelles Vargas, president
of Brazil (1930-45 and 1951-54). |
|
| |
| While
the stone remained in the bank's safety deposit vault
Harry Winston learned of its existence through his brokers
in Brazil; they advised him of its rare quality and exceptional
size. He traveled to London, then on to Amsterdam, where
he finally purchased the President Vargas. The diamond
was duly shipped to New York by ordinary registered mail
at a cost of seventy cents although it had been insured
by Lloyds for $750,000. |
| |
| On account
of its unusual formation it was decided to cleave the
President Vargas. A 20-carat piece was sawn from the top
before the first cleaving; from this a pear shape, weighing
10.05 carats, was fashioned. The cleaving of the diamond
was to result in two pieces, one of 150 carats and the
other of 550 carats. |
| |
| In all,
twenty-nine gems were fashioned from the President Vargas,
nineteen sizeable and ten smaller ones weighing a total
of 411.06 carats. They comprised sixteen emerald cuts,
one pear shape, one marquise and, among the lesser gems,
ten triangles and one baguette. |
| |
| The name "President
Vargas" has been retained by the largest gem, an
emerald-cut weighing 48.26 carats. For a number of years
this diamond was owned by the wife of Robert W. Windfohr
of Fort Worth, Texas, who purchased it in 1944. In 1958
Harry Winston repurchased and recut it to a flawless 44.17
carats stone, selling it again in 1961. The identities
of the other buyers are not known, but in 1948 was reported
that the Gaekwar of Baroda had bought one of the Vargas
gems. |
| |
| In recent years
two of the emerald cuts, numbers IV and VI, have come
up for sale at Sotheby's in New York. In April 1989 President
Vargas IV, weighing 28.03 carats, formerly among the jewels
of Lydia Morrison, fetched $781,000, while in October
1992, President Vargas VI, weighing 25.4 carats, sold
for $396,000. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
|
