Blog migration.

We are migrating our blog to the new Embee Diamonds website which will still be accessible via:

http://www.canadiandiamoncutters.com

http://www.embeediatech.ca

http://www.siriusstar.ca

 

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Paragon

A paragon is a perfect diamond — flawless and without inclusions. In the 16th century, a weight of 12 carats was sufficient for this title but now, more than 99 carats are needed.

One of the largest flawless diamonds in the world is known as The Paragon — a D-class gem weighing 137.82 carat, which is the 10th largest white diamond in the world.The gem was mined in Brazil and attracted attention for being an exceptional white, flawless stone of great size.

Graff Diamonds, bought it in Antwerp and cut it into this unusual 7-sided kite shield.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamon

The real Polar Star…

The brilliant cut 40 carat Polar Star is one of the gems in the Russian Crown purchased in England. A Stone of rare purity and lustre.

It is the largest and finest diamond belonging to the Russian Crown. It was purchased in England for the Imperial Regalia, and is remarkable for its rare purity and lustre. Dieulafait makes the curious statement that “it belongs to the Princess Yussupoff.

At one time it seems to have been in the possession of Joseph Buonaparte, who bought it of Morton for 52,500 francs.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamond
Streeter- Great (Famous) Diamonds

Mined in Brazil…

The Portuguese Diamond is an unusual octagonal-cut diamond known for its flawless clarity. It weighs 127.01 carat and is regarded as one of the world’s most magnificent diamond gems.

The Portuguese Diamond gives out a strong fluorescence under ultraviolet light. Under daylight or artificial light, the diamond gives out a soft fluorescence and a beautiful bluish haze.

The name “The Portuguese Diamond” was given by Harry Winston, who previously owned the diamond.

According to one of the legends, the diamond was mined in Brazil in the eighteenth century and became part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels. But there is no documentation that proves this story true.

Documented reports of the diamond state that the diamond was most likely found at the Premier Mine in Kimberly, South Africa, in the early 20th century, after which it was bought and owned by many people.

The first documented record of the diamond finds its ownership with the Ziegfeld Follies glamor woman named Peggy Hopkins Joyce who bought the diamond from Black, Starr and Frost in February 1928. She traded her $350,000 pearl necklace and additionally paid $23,000 in cash to purchase the diamond. She had the diamond mounted on a platinum choker that could be worn closely to the neck.

In 1951, Harry Winston acquired the diamond from Joyce.

The Portuguese Diamond was a part of his “Court of Jewels” until he sold it to an international industrialist in 1957. At present, the diamond belongs to the Smithsonian’s diamond collection after they acquired the diamond from Winston, in exchange for 2,400 ctw of smaller diamonds.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamonds

Prairie Diamonds…

Article Credit: PANOW

Local diamond cutters and business advocates are hoping governments will get behind the idea of turning Prince Albert and area into a world player in the diamond market.

At the city council meeting on Oct. 11, local diamond cutter and businessman Evert Botha went before city council to advocate for the creation of a friendly business environment that would attract the diamond industry.

With the potential for Shore Gold’s Star-Orion mine moving through the environmental assessment stage, Evert said now was the time to attract other aspects of the industry. That could include the inspecting and sale of rough stones, cutting, polishing and finally retail.

“It would make sense to take an item that could be $500 – $2,000 [per carat] in its rough state, manufacture it locally and turn it into $2,000 – $20,000 [per carat],” he said.

“For us as a region as well as a province it’s going to go a long way to increasing the GDP. But at the end of the day it’s about getting more people in Prince Albert, it’s about getting more jobs in the community and really just growing this province that we’ve all come to call home.”

Botha said the government should not only create a conducive business environment but also use its position to generate profit from the diamond endeavors.

“The government should get involved in the authentication, audit and certification and processing off all diamonds that are cut and polished here in Prince Albert,” he said.

Botha pointed out that if the province created a diamond royalty it would entice businesses to set up shop in and around Prince Albert. If the city got involved, it could only mean good things for business.

“It’ll really require the city, besides staking its claim and saying we’re ready for business, to come up with creative solutions, creative engagement with these companies on the world stage, at the trade fairs etc.,” he said.

“Given some time lines from the mine and approvals from the government, I think we could fill a few buildings and fill a few lots in the city.”

Botha didn’t come to the council meeting alone. The Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce made a showing to lend its support to the idea of a local diamond industry.

Past president Doug Patrick said supporting the local diamond industry had moved to a top priority for the chamber. He said it was important to relay that support to the city and the province as the voice of the business community.

“We want to be prepared to have our position, make our point so that Prince Albert and district gets a fair look at it and realizes some of the impacts on social programs and infrastructure,” he said.

adesouza@panow.com

The Premier Rose Collection…

A little bit of Embee Diamonds‘ family history is included today.

The Premier Rose Diamond at 353.9 carat was one of the large rare gems produced by Premier Mine, of De Beers in South Africa

It was mined in March 1978. The diamond was purchased by Mouw Diamond Cutting in Johannesburg in partnership with William Goldberg of New York. The diamond was marked for bisection by Rose Mouw, the spouse

of Jacob Mouw, the founder of Mouw Diamond Cutting.

Frans Swanepoel was responsible for the sawing of the diamond and the cleaving of the lesser half of the diamond was done by Sylvain Mouw.

The polishing of the two main diamonds of the 137.02 carat Big Rose and 31.48 carat Little Rose was done by David du Plessis (who was also responsible for polishing The Golden Jubilee and was one of the main polishers of the Centenary Diamond). The 2.11 carat Baby Rose was done by Mike Botha and Willem Joubert.

The stones resulting from the original stone have been named the Premier Rose family, with the largest retaining the name of Premier Rose Diamond. The Premier Rose collection ranks among the finest polished gems in the world and became the benchmark in symmetry and proportions for large fancy cut diamonds.

The diamond was subsequently named after the Premier mine and Rose Mouw, hence the name Premier Rose.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamonds

Cross your heart…

The Red Cross is a canary yellow cushion-shaped diamond weighing 205.07 carat. It is said to have weighed 375 carat in the rough and to have come from one of the Kimberly mines in 1901.

The largest rough found that year weighed only 307 carat, but two more weighing 337½ and 363 carat, had been discovered at the De Beers Mine in 1899. Whichever may be correct – the date of the discovery or the rough weight – there is no doubt that the Red Cross Diamond is a typical South African stone.

The original group of firms who bought the output of the De Beers presented the diamond as a gift to the art sale held in London by Christies in 1918, on behalf of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John. The gem had been cut in Amsterdam.

The cutting style is what is known as a ‘Stellar Brilliant’ due to the eight needle-like facets on the pavilion of the stone, pointing outward from its culet facet.

The Regent, the Tiffany Yellow, the Polar Star, the Koh-I-Noor and the Wittelsbach, among others are all examples of ‘Stellar Brilliant’ cuts, and all of them (save for the Koh-I-Noor and Wittelsbach which are slightly oval in shape) are cushion-shaped diamonds.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamonds

Regent.

The Regent Diamond is a diamond which is on display in the Louvre. Another epic movie awaits!

In 1698, a slave found the 410 carat uncut diamond in a Golkonda mine, more specifically Paritala-Kollur Mine in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India and concealed it inside a large wound in his leg.

An English sea captain stole the diamond from the slave after killing him and sold it to an Indian merchant. Governor Thomas Pitt acquired it from a merchant in Madras in 1701. Because of Pitt’s ownership it is sometimes known as the Pitt Diamond.

Pitt bought the diamond for £20,400 (£2,964,490 as of 2012), and had it cut in to a 141 carat cushion brilliant.After many attempts to sell it to various Members of European royalty, including Louis XIV of France, it was purchased by the French Regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans in 1717 for £135,000 (£18,634,090 as of 2012).The stone was set into the crown of Louis XV for his coronation in 1722, into a new crown for the coronation of Louis XVI in 1775, and used to adorn a hat belonging to Marie Antoinette. In 1791 its appraised value was £480,000 (£46,922,530 as of 2012).

In 1792 during the revolutionary furor in Paris, “Le Régent,” as the diamond came to be known, was stolen along with other crown jewels of France, but was later recovered, after being hidden in some roof timbers in a Paris attic.

The diamond was used as security on several occasions by the Directoire and later the Consulat, before being permanently redeemed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801.
Napoleon used it to embellish his sword, designed by the goldsmiths Odiot, Boutet and Marie-Etienne Nitot.

In 1812, it appeared on the Emperor’s two-edged sword, the work of Nitot. Napoleon’s second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, carried the Régent back to Austria upon his death. Later her father returned it to the French Crown Jewels. The diamond was mounted successively on the crowns of Louis XVIII, Charles X and Napoleon III.

Today, mounted in a Greek diadem designed for Empress Eugenie, it remains in the French Royal Treasury at the Louvre.

It has been on display there since 1887.

Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamonds

48%

This may be a little dated for some, but contains significant indicators for the future for natural diamonds.

Most analysts believe that world production of rough diamonds has reached a plateau, with declining production at the world’s major mines and no significant new sources of rough diamonds.According to Economics Group’s (MEG) recent Strategic Report, in spite of higher diamond prices, only two new projects were commissioned in 2011-12. Both are relatively small and are struggling as they ramp up to full production.

Five other new mines and expansions are scheduled to start up between 2013 and 2015 with total new capacity of 6.7 million ct/y. In addition to the new startups, expanding mines, and reproduction projects, in early 2012 feasibility and reserves development work is being carried out worldwide on 20 diamond projects.

By country:
- Canada hosts 48% of the total contained diamonds in four deposits;
- Russia holds 24% in four deposits;
- India has 9% in one deposit;
- Lesotho also has 9% in one deposit;
- South Africa has 5% in five deposits;
- Australia has 4% in three deposits;
- Guinea and Brazil each have one active project containing less than 1% of the total.

Source:
Metals Economics Group

Pumpkin anyone?

The Pumpkin Diamond measures 5.54 carat, rated as Fancy Vivid Orange by the Gemological Institute of America.

The Pumpkin Diamond was mined in Central African Republic and then imported into South Africa for sale, it was later cut and polished by William Goldberg, and put to auction at Sotheby’s where it was bought by Ronald Winston of the House of Harry Winston for the price of $1.3 million.

It is currently estimated to be valued at $3 million.

Formerly referred to simply as the 5.54 Vivid Orange, Winston named the diamond “The Pumpkin Diamond” as he bought it the day before Halloween.Sources:
Wikipedia
Famous Diamonds