The Golden Eye Diamond is a flawless Fancy Intense Yellow diamond, claimed by one of its past owners to be the world's largest of its cut and color. It is believed to come from the
Kimberley area of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. Tom Moses, a senior vice president with the
Gemological Institute of America
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and se ...
, agrees that it came from South Africa, but it has not been able to be determined the mine of origin.
Ownership and history
Upon the arrest of Ohio businessmen Paul Monea and Mickey Miller, its actual ownership was unclear.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
seized the diamond following an undercover investigation of Monea and Miller that resulted in his conviction for
money laundering and the diamond's forfeiture to the U.S. government in 2007.
Amid Monea and Millers prosecution, 17 claimants came forward in the case to claim ownership, or an ownership interest, in the Golden Eye Diamond (Akron Federal Court Case No. 5:07CR0030). The Court ruled that three claimants had colorable ownership claims and would be allowed to proceed to civil trial: Charity Fellowship Church, Jerry DeLeo of Corona Clay Corp., and The Monea Family Trust. The court found that the Church and Jerry DeLeo had spent nearly $1,000,000 to cut and develop the 124.5 carat gem. Monea and his trust were never able to establish ownership or purchase of the rough stone, although extensive evidence was presented of the diamond's origins with newspaper articles and researched records. The uncontested evidence showed that the Golden Eye Diamond had been obtained from the VanWyke family of Kimberly South Africa most recently, and that the stone had been held by the family for some 150-years. The original VanWyke was neighbor to the
De Beers, and discovered the 124.5 carat Paragon on his property in the DuToit's Pan Mine, in Kimberly South Africa, in 1871. This evidence has never been disproven, and for over 150-years no other diamond on earth was thought to be the original DuToit II Diamond (the first African diamond found over 100-carats).
The diamond was ultimately approved to be auctioned by a federal judge. The court also found that, although people had ownership claim, Monea's conspiracy to sell the diamond existed - somehow - before Monea even owned the diamond. Its sale was planned tentatively in January 2011, but after a delay it was announced it will be sold via online auction in September 2011, with a minimum bid of $900,000.
The Diamond is currently owned by Jerre Hentosh after he won it via online auction on
Bid4Assets with a winning bid of $2.84 million.
See also
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Tiffany Yellow Diamond
The Tiffany Yellow Diamond is one of the largest yellow diamonds ever discovered. Its carat weight was originally 287.42 carats (57.484 g) in the rough when discovered in 1878 in the Kimberley mine in South Africa. It was cut into a cushion shap ...
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List of diamonds
Diamonds become famous typically for some combination of their size, color and quality. Diamonds occur naturally in many different colors, so the largest diamond of a particular color may not be large in absolute terms, but it may still be consid ...
References
Yellow diamonds
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Diamonds originating in South Africa
Individual diamonds
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