Estate Jewelry

Clarity enhancements are treatments to a natural diamond that improves clarity. I will be writing about laser drilling to remove inclusions and sealants to fill cracks. Laser Drilling Laser drilling which has occurred since the 1980’s is used to laser into a diamond to create access to a diamond’s inclusion. The laser drills a small hole through the diamond to an inclusion. It is then placed in sulfuric acid to...

The Idol’s Eye diamond weighs 70.21 carats and is described as a “blue white Golconda diamond”. Golconda is a mine in India known for its colorless and inclusion free diamonds. These diamonds are so rare that they would today probably only be seen at a Christie’s or another well-known auction house. The Idol’s Eye diamond is shaped like a combination old mine cut and triangular brilliant possessing a “slight bluish...

On March 11, 1988, the Centenary celebration of the DeBeers Company was being held in Kimberly Western Australia, to commemorate the closing of the “Big Hole”, the Kimberly Mine. A speech was given to celebrate the day and to announce, surprisingly, the find of a 599 carat diamond of top color having been found in the Premier Mine in South Africa. Dignitaries and representatives from national governments and the diamond...

The Hope diamond currently in the Smithsonian Museum, weighs 45.52 carats, is VS1 in clarity and is a natural fancy deep grayish blue color. This fantastic stone has had a mysterious, ever changing and cursed history as described below. The first recorded finding of the diamond was in the late 1600’s when Jean Baptiste either stole the diamond from a slave he later murdered or it was purchased for an...