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Star Of India (gem)
The Star of India is a 563.35- carat (112.67 g) star sapphire, one of the largest such gems in the world. It is almost flawless and is unusual in that it has stars on both sides of the stone. The greyish-blue gem was mined in Sri Lanka and is housed in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The milky quality of the stone is caused by the traces of the mineral rutile, which is also responsible for the star effect, known as asterism. The tiny fibers of the mineral, aligned in a three-fold pattern within the gem, reflect incoming light into the star pattern. History Mineralogist and Tiffany gem expert George Kunz (1856–1932) was commissioned by wealthy financier J.P. Morgan (1837–1913) to acquire an impressive gem collection for an exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1900; the Star of India was among the stones Kunz procured. The Star of India is a huge blue star sapphire weighing 563.35 carats. It is cut en cabochon. A British Army officer brought it to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Of India Gem
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of light. The most prominent stars have been categorised into constellations and asterisms, and many of the brightest stars have proper names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and provide standardized stellar designations. The observable universe contains an estimated to stars. Only about 4,000 of these stars are visible to the naked eye, all within the Milky Way galaxy. A star's life begins with the gravitational collapse of a gaseous nebula of material composed primarily of hydrogen, along with helium and trace amounts of heavier elements. Its total mass is the main factor determining its evolution and eventual fate. A star shines for most of its active life due t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Exposition Of 1900
The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. It was held at the esplanade of Les Invalides, the Champ de Mars, the Trocadéro and at the banks of the Seine between them, with an additional section in the Bois de Vincennes, and it was visited by more than 50 million people. Many international congresses and other events were held within the framework of the Exposition, including the 1900 Summer Olympics. Many technological innovations were displayed at the Fair, including the ''Grande Roue de Paris'' ferris wheel, the ''Rue de l'Avenir'' moving sidewalk, the first ever regular passenger trolleybus line, escalators, diesel engines, electric cars, dry cell batteries, electric fire engines, talking films, the telegraphone (the first magnetic audio recorder), the galal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Individual Sapphires
An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. The concept of an individual features in diverse fields, including biology, law, and philosophy. Etymology From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics) ''individual'' meant " indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person". From the 17th century on, ''individual'' has indicated separateness, as in individualism. Law Although individuality and individualism are commonly considered to mature with age/time and experience/wealth, a sane adult human being is usually considered by the state as an "individual person" in law, even if the person denies individual culpability ("I followed instruct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Sapphires By Size
This is a list of sapphires by size. Sapphire Sapphires are a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminum oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors. The only color corundum stone that the term sapphire is not used for is red, which is called a ruby. Pink colored corundum may be either classified as ruby or sapphire depending on locale. Commonly, natural sapphires are cut and polished into gemstones and worn in jewelry. They also may be created synthetically in laboratories for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires – 9 on the Mohs scale (the third hardest mineral, after diamond at 10 and moissanite at 9.5) – sapphires are also used in some non-ornamental applications, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Individual Gemstones
A number of gemstones have gained fame, either because of their size and beauty or because of the people who owned or wore them. A list of famous gemstones follows. Alexandrites * Smithsonian museums' Alexandrite, the largest cut alexandrite weighing 65.08 carats. Aquamarines A birthstone. * The Dom Pedro – The world's largest cut and polished aquamarine. Housed in the permanent collection of the Houston Museum of Natural Science Diamonds :''See List of diamonds'' Emeralds * Bahia Emerald * Carolina Emperor, 310 carats uncut, 64.8 carats cut; discovered in the United States in 2009, resides in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh * Chalk Emerald * Duke of Devonshire Emerald * Emerald of Saint Louis, 51.60 carats cut; discovered in Austria, probably Habachtal, resides in the National Museum of Natural History, Paris * Gachalá Emerald * Mogul Mughal Emerald * Patricia Emerald, 632 carats uncut, dihexagonal (12 sided); discovered in Colombia in 1920, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Roland Murphy
Jack Roland Murphy (May 26, 1937 – September 12, 2020), known as "Murph the Surf" or "Murf the Surf", was convicted of murder in 1969. He was also involved in the biggest jewel heist in American history, the 1964 burglary of the jewel collection of New York's American Museum of Natural History. Murphy is also known for being a surfing champion, musician, author, and artist. He was released from prison in 1986. He spent his latter years as an ordained minister, working with inmates in the field of prison ministry. Early life Murphy was born in Oceanside, California. He was an only child and his father worked as a telephone company lineman. As a child, Murphy enjoyed the violin and surfing. His family moved to Pittsburgh when he was in high school. According to Murphy, he played violin with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and won a tennis scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh.Meryl Gordon"The 50th Anniversary of New York's Most Sensational Jewel Heist,"'' Vanity Fair'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle Diamond
The Eagle Diamond is a gemstone discovered in Eagle, Wisconsin in 1876. It was one of more than a dozen rare gems stolen in a heist from the American Museum of Natural History in 1964 and remains missing to this day.__TOC__ History The stone was originally discovered by workers hired by Samuel Wood of Eagle, Wisconsin to dig a well. At that time, none knew it was in fact a valuable diamond. Eventually it came into the possession of Samuel Wood's wife, Clarissa Wood. According to court testimony provided by Ms. Wood, in September or October of 1883, she went to Samuel B. Boynton, a jeweler in Milwaukee, to have a pin mended. As she was paying for the repair, Wood asked Boynton what he thought of the stone. Wood told Boynton she had been told it was a topaz. Boynton, said it might be, and offered to buy it for one dollar. Wood declined Boynton's offer and left. About two months later, Wood, needing money, returned to Boynton's shop and sold it to him for the one dollar he had previ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DeLong Star Ruby
The DeLong Star Ruby, a oval cabochon star ruby, was discovered in Burma in the 1930s. It was sold by Martin Ehrmann to Edith Haggin DeLong for , who then donated it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in 1937. On October 29, 1964, the DeLong star ruby was one of a number of precious gems stolen in a notorious jewelry heist by Jack Roland Murphy and two accomplices. In January 1965, nine of the stolen gems, including the Star of India and the Midnight Star, were recovered in a bus depot locker; however, the DeLong ruby was not among them.David Sears"How Three Amateur Jewel Thieves Made Off With New York’s Most Precious Gems,"'' Smithsonian'', February 25, 2014. After months of negotiation, the unknown holder of the ruby agreed, through third parties including Dick Pearson, to ransom it for $25,000. The ransom was paid by wealthy Florida businessman John D. MacArthur and he was present on September 2, 1965, when the ruby was recovered at the designated d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabochon
A cabochon (; ) is a gemstone that has been shaped and polished, as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex (rounded) obverse with a flat reverse. Cabochon was the default method of preparing gemstones before gemstone cutting developed. Application Cutting ''en cabochon'' (French: "in the manner of a cabochon") is usually applied to opaque gems, while faceting is usually used for transparent stones. Hardness is also taken into account as softer gemstones with a hardness lower than 7 on the Mohs hardness scale are easily scratched, mainly by silicon dioxide in dust and grit. This would quickly make translucent gems unattractive—instead they are polished as cabochons, making the scratches less evident. In asteriated stones such as star sapphires and chatoyant stones such as cat's eye chrysoberyl, a domed cabochon cut can show the star or eye, which would not be visible in a faceted cut. The usual shape for cutting cabochons is an ellipse, because the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Frederick Kunz
George Frederick Kunz (September 29, 1856 – June 29, 1932) was an American mineralogist and mineral collector. Biography Kunz was born in Manhattan, New York City, USA, and began an interest in minerals at a very young age. By his teens, he had amassed a collection of over four thousand items, which he sold for four hundred dollars to the University of Minnesota. Kunz attended Cooper Union but did not finish and did not attend college. Nonetheless, he taught himself mineralogy from books and field research. This expertise landed him a job with Tiffany & Co., and his knowledge and enthusiasm propelled him into a vice presidency by the time he was 23. He gained much notoriety for identifying a new gem variety of the mineral spodumene which was named "Kunzite" in his honor. He also supervised the cutting of the very large stone that became the Tiffany Yellow Diamond. He headed up the US mining and mineralogical exhibits at the international expositions in Paris (1889), C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carat (unit)
The carat (ct) is a unit of mass equal to or 0.00643 troy oz, and is used for measuring gemstones and pearls. The current definition, sometimes known as the metric carat, was adopted in 1907 at the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures, and soon afterwards in many countries around the world. The carat is divisible into 100 ''points'' of 2 mg. Other subdivisions, and slightly different mass values, have been used in the past in different locations. In terms of diamonds, a paragon is a flawless stone of at least 100 carats (20 g). The ANSI X.12 EDI standard abbreviation for the carat is CD. Etymology First attested in English in the mid-15th century, the word ''carat'' comes from Italian ''carato'', which comes from Arabic '' qīrāṭ '' قيراط , in turn borrowed from Greek ''kerátion'' κεράτιον 'carob seed', a diminutive of ''keras'' 'horn'. It was a unit of weight, equal to 1/1728 (1/12) of a pound (see Mina (unit)). History Carob seeds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiffany & Co
Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watches, personal accessories, and leather goods. Tiffany is known for its luxury goods, particularly its diamond and sterling silver jewelry. These goods are sold at Tiffany stores, online, and corporate merchandising. Its name and branding are licensed to Coty for fragrances and to Luxottica for eyewear. Tiffany & Co. was founded in 1837 by the jeweler Charles Lewis Tiffany and became famous in the early 20th century under the artistic direction of his son Louis Comfort Tiffany. In 2018 net sales totaled US$4.44 billion. In 2019 Tiffany operated 326 stores globally in countries such as the United States, Japan, and Canada, as well as Europe, the Latin America and Pacific Asia regions. On January 7, 2021, French multinational LVMH Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
