Blue Heart Diamond

 

Image credit: Chip Clark

Chronological Background

1908 – Found at the Premier Mine, South Africa

1909 – 1910 – French jeweler Atanik Eknayan of Paris faceted the 30.62 carat heart-shaped, brilliant cut, blue diamond out of a 100.5 carat piece of rough

1910 – Cartier purchased the Blue Heart and sold it set in a lily-of-the-valley brooch to Mrs. Unzue, an Argentinian woman

1953 – Van Cleef & Arpels bought the gemstone and set it in a pendant to a necklace valued at $300,000.  It was later sold to a European family

1959 – Harry Winston acquired it and mounted the Blue Heart in its present platinum ring setting surrounded by 26 round brilliant cut colorless diamonds with a total weight of 1.63 carats

Image credit: Chip Clark

1960 – Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post purchased the ring from Harry Winston

1964 – Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post donated the Blue Heart to the National Gem Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

2010 – The Smithsonian celebrated 100 years since the cutting of the Blue Heart

Today, the Blue Heart continues to reside at the Smithsonian.  Although the Blue Heart is about 2/3 the size of the Hope Diamond (45.52 carat), it remained a popular gemstone for its heart-shaped brilliant cut and vivid blue color.  GIA graded the Blue Heart as a natural fancy deep blue diamond with a clarity grade of VS2.

The Logan Sapphire

The Logan Sapphire

Image credit: Chip Clark

This flawless 423-carat blue sapphire was cut from a crystal mined in Sri Lanka. It is one of the world’s largest faceted blue sapphire and heaviest mounted gem in the National Gem Collection. In its silver and gold brooch setting, it’s cushion-cut and is framed by 20 round brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 16-carats.

The Logan Sapphire has a beautiful medium soft velvetish blue color and exceptional clarity, especially for a stone of its size. It was examined by GIA in 1997 and was found to be a natural unheated sapphire.

In 1960, this stunning beauty was donated to the Mrs John A. (Polly) Logan, a Washington socialite, to the Smithsonian. The Logan Sapphire now sits in the Gem Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History.

DIAMONDS – Four Cs

The 4Cs is an international and universal language diamonds professionals used to describe and classify diamonds:

• Color
• Clarity
• Cut
• Carat weight

They are value factors that detail the quality of a diamond. Each diamond’s value is based on its own unique combination of the 4cs.

GIA tells it better with its brilliant chart!