Famous Diamonds
Only handful of diamonds are renowned for their incredible histories, magical lore and sheer size. They have come to own grand names to mark their significance and behind each of these spectacular diamonds lies a rich, magnificent story of history, discovery and mysticism.
The Hope Diamond
The Hope Diamond is a large (45.52 carat), deep blue diamond, currently housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. The diamond is legendary for the curse it supposedly visits upon its possessors. The Hope Diamond appears a brilliant blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within the diamond. The Hope Diamond exhibits red phosphorescence under ultraviolet light and is classified as a Type IIb diamond.
The De Beers Millennium Star
The De Beers Millennium Star is, at 203.04 carat (40.608 g), the world's second largest known top color (D), internally and externally flawless, pear-shaped diamond.
The diamond was discovered in the Mbuji-Mayi district of Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1990 in alluvial deposits; uncut it was 777 carat (155.4 g). It was purchased by De Beers. It took over three years for workers of the Steinmetz Diamond Group to produce the classic pear form; the actual cutting was done using lasers.