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Star Of Asia
The Star of Asia is a large, 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 cutt ...-cut star sapphire currently located at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It is noted for its significant size and is considered to be one of the largest of its type. Adding to its aesthetic value are its rich blue colour and Asterism (gemology), clear star, formed from three intersecting rutile striations. The stone was mined in Sri Lanka and was co-owned by the Kohinoor Trading Company and King’s Jewelers of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was brought to the U.S. in 1950 for display at the first United States International Trade Fair in Chicago. By 1958, it was for sale through consignment in London, and was eventually purchased by a Swiss-American named Jack Mason. In 1961, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explains, the English spellings of both Myanmar and Burma assume a non-rhotic variety of English, in which the letter r before a consonant or finally serves merely to indicate a long vowel: mjænmɑː, ˈbɜːmə So the pronunciation of the last syllable of Myanmar as ɑːror of Burma as ɜːrməby some speakers in the UK and most speakers in North America is in fact a spelling pronunciation based on a misunderstanding of non-rhotic spelling conventions. The final ''r'' in ''Myanmar'' was not intended for pronunciation and is there to ensure that the final a is pronounced with the broad ''ah'' () in "father". If the Burmese name my, မြန်မာ, label=none were spelled "Myanma" in English, this would be pronounced at the end by all ... [...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] |
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 Bombay
The Star of Bombay is a 182- carat (36.4-g) cabochon-cut star sapphire originating in Sri Lanka. The violet-blue gem was given to silent film actress Mary Pickford by her husband, Douglas Fairbanks. She bequeathed it to the Smithsonian Institution. It is the namesake of the popular alcoholic beverage Bombay Sapphire, a British-manufactured gin. Description The ''Star of Bombay'' is a 182 carat (36.4-g) cabochon-cut star sapphire. According to Southern Jewelry News, "The Star of Bombay sapphire belongs to the mineral species corundum. Pure corundum is colorless, but trace amounts of transition elements like vanadium or chromium result in different colors in the crystal. The Star of Bombay’s violet-blue color is caused by the presence of titanium and iron giving the blue tint, and vanadium contributing to its violet back color." History The ''Star of Bombay'' originates from Sri Lanka and is one of the largest star sapphires which have names unrelated to their origin, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Of Artaban
The Star of Artaban is a 287– carat cabochon-cut star sapphire currently located at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Its origin is somewhat obscure but it is believed to come from Sri Lanka. Unlike some other sapphires, it is not transparent and is of a milky blue colour. It was donated by an anonymous member of the Georgia Mineral Society in the 1941–1943 time period. The name of the gem is based on the 1895 tale of ''The Other Wise Man'' by Henry van Dyke. The story's hero, Artaban, was a wise man from Persia who set out to join the Biblical Magi in their journey to see the newborn Jesus. He purchased three great gems, one of which was a sapphire, to present as a gift to the newborn king. He never achieved his goal, and gave his gems to the needy instead. See also *Star of Asia *Star of Bombay *Star of India (gem) *The Star of Adam *List of individual gemstones *List of sapphires by size This is a list of sapphires by size. Sapphire Sapphires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Star Of Adam
The Star of Adam is an oval-shaped blue star sapphire, currently the largest star sapphire in the world. It weighs . Prior to its discovery, the Black Star of Queensland, weighing , was the largest star sapphire gem in the world. Description The blue-colored gemstone has a six-pointed star-shaped reflection or distinctive mark in the center. This very large star sapphire was discovered in Ratnapura (known by the nickname "City of Gems"), in southern Sri Lanka, in August 2015. It was named "The Star of Adam" by the current owner, as a reference to Muslim beliefs that Adam arrived in Sri Lanka and lived on Adam's Peak after leaving the Garden of Eden. The owner of the gem, preferring anonymity, told the BBC World Service's Newsday radio programme that "The moment I saw it, I decided to buy", and added "this was not a piece of jewellery but an exhibition piece". The blue star sapphire's weight of was certified by the Gemmological Institute of Colombo; the institute said that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maharaja Of Jodhpur
Kingdom of Marwar, also known as the Jodhpur State under the British, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1226 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a migrant Gahadavala noble, in 1243. His successors continued to struggle against regional powers for domination and 9 out of 15 rulers till 1438 died in combat. In 1395, its capital was changed to Mandore by Rao Chunda and to Jodhpur in 1459 by Rao Jodha. The kingdom remained independent until it was annexed by the Mughal Empire in 1581 after the death of Chandrasen Rathore. It remained under direct Mughal control until Udai Singh was restored to the throne as a vassal and given the title of Raja in 1583. During the late 17th century it was under the strict control of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, but the ruling house of Rathore was allowed to remain semi-autonomous in their territory. During this time Durgadas Rathore struggled to pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mogok
Mogok (, ; Shan: , ) is a town in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to have been founded in 1217 by three lost Shan hunters who discovered rubies at the base of a collapsed mountain. According to the tale, the hunters returned to their home in Momeik and offered the precious stones to the local saopha who established a village in what would become modern-day Mogok. Following the 1885 Third Anglo-Burmese War in which the British conquered and annexed the hitherto independent Upper Burma, in 1886 the British launched a military expedition to "open up" the ruby mines at Mogok and make them available to British merchants. George Skelton Streeter, a gem expert and son of Edmund Streeter of the Streeters & Co Ltd jewllery company in London, accompanied the expedition and stayed there to work as a government valuer in the British-run mines. In 2018, the Mogok commemorated the 800t ... [...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] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
