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Portuguese Diamond |
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| This stone
was difficult to find information on. There's really only
been a couple major owners of the Portuguese. This is
what the Smithsonian Institute had to say about it, and
they had more information than any other source I found.
The stone resides in the Smithsonian Institute on permanent
display, Washington DC. |
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| The Portuguese
Diamond at 127.01 carats is the largest faceted diamond
in the Nation Gem Collection. It's near flawless clarity
and unusual octagonal emerald cut make it one of the world's
most magnificent diamond gems. It is perhaps more than
a little surprising, then, that so little documented information
exists about it's origin and early history. The lack of
an authoritative provenance, however, has given rise to
considerable conjecture and legend. The diamond owes its
current name to one such legend, according to which the
diamond was found in Brazil in the eighteenth century
and became part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels. There
is no documentation, however, that substantiates a Brazilian
origin or connection to Portuguese royalty, nor is it
clear where or from whom this story originated. As it
is discussed below, the diamond most likely was found
at the Premier Mine in Kimberly, South Africa, early in
the 20th century. |
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The
Portuguese Diamond amoung other notable diamonds in the
Smithsonian's collection:
The Victoria-Transvaal, the 16-carat Pearson (the white
round brilliant), the De Young Pink and the
Blue Heart, an unnamed oval-shaped diamond, and the yellow
Oppenheimer Diamond Crystal in the back. |
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| Interestingly,
the extensive media coverage that followed exhibitions
of the diamond around the country during 1946-47 made
no referece to the diamond by its current name or to a
Portuguese or Brazilian connection. Instead other, sometimes
conflicting, versions of the history of the diamond were
presented. Most accounts indicate that the diamond, which
was owned at the time by a syndicate of American diamond
dealers, had mysteriously appeared in Amsterdam some years
earlier as a rough cut, cushion-shaped stone weighing
187 carats, which was recut into its present form.
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| (An earlier
figure I saw for this original cushion shape was not 187
carats, but rather, 150, which has been quoted by several
different sources. I'd trust the Smithsonian's word for
it, though. If anybody could research it, its them.) They
also state that diamond dealers all over the world were
puzzled by the diamond's lack of history and had tried
to trace its origin without success. One article, on the
other hand, indicated that the diamond had originally
belonged to an Indian potentate who had pawned it in London.
During this period when the diamond was exhibited at jewelry
stores across the country it was suspended as a pendant
from a platinum band set with 380 small diamonds. |
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| One part of
the diamond's history that is well-documented is that
in February 1928 Peggy Hopkins Joyce acquired the diamond
from Black, Starr & Frost. She 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). The jewelry firm's
spokesperson at the time indicated that the diamond was
found at the Premier Mine, Kimberly, South Africa, in
1910, and that the firm had obtained it shortly after
its discovery. Miss Joyce was dazzling blonde who performed
in the Ziegfeld Follies, a true glamour girl of the 1920s.
She had six husbands, at least five of whom were men of
wealth, and claimed to have been engaged fifty times.
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 menionted above,
in an unsuccessul attempt to sell it. |
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| 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.
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The
Portuguese Diamond strongly fluoresces blue under ultraviolet
light. A soft fluoresence is visible even in daylight
or artificial light and gives the stone a slight bluish
haze, enough so that it was once advertised as the "largest
blue diamond in the world." In fact, if not for
the fluorescence, the diamond would appear slightly
yellowish. SOURCE: The National Gem Collection by Jeffrey
E. Post. |
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After
reading this, it makes me remember that some books list
the Queen of Holland as being the largest blue diamond
in the world, when it fact, it is a D-color stone. It
may have a bluish overtone like the Idol's Eye, which
was graded as being Faint Blue. |
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