// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Vargas Diamond say? "I'm a gem of a friend.
| Weight | 726 carats (145.2 g) |
|---|---|
| Discovered | 1938 |
| Cut by | Adrian Graselly[1] |
The Vargas Diamond, discovered in the bed of the Rio Santo Antonio in Brazil on August 13, 1938 (July 1938 according to Ball & Kerr[2]) by Joaquim Venancio Tiago and Manoel Miguel Domingues. It was 726.6 carats (145.32 g) when pulled out of the ground.
The diamond has been in the possession of Harry Winston, a jeweler from New York,[3] who purchased it for $700,000.[4] It was the largest known uncut diamond in the world, but since there was no market for a diamond of this size, it was cut into 23 pieces,[5] including the 48.26-carat (9.652 g) emerald cut diamond named "President Vargas", after the former Brazilian president, Getúlio Vargas.[6] The cutting of the stone was operated in 1941 in Winston's NY Fifth Avenue atelier. 15 months were required. Though 50% of the stone became dust during the cutting, the sales value of the stones reached $2 million. The stone was cut by Adrian Grasselly.[4][5][7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Fabulous Vargas Diamond Severed". St. Petersburg Times. UP. July 24, 1941. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ↑ Sydney H. Ball & Paul F. Kerr (1941) The Vargas Diamond, pp. 7–8. Gemological Institute of America, US, Vol. 3, No. 9 (Spring 1941)
- ↑ "N. Y. Diamond Merchant Has Passion For Gems". St Petersburg Times. AP. November 10, 1958. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- 1 2 "CUTTING IS STARTED ON VARGAS DIAMOND; Expert on Task Is So Jittery He Has Lived on Cigars and Black Coffee for 3 Weeks SHATTERING IS FEARED Blade Sawing World's Largest Carbon 'Egg' Is .0035 Inch Thick -- Long Job Due". The New York Times. 1941-04-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- 1 2 TIME (1941-04-21). "Art: Little Ones Out of Big". TIME. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
- ↑ Original web design for Original-diamonds.com tm (1938-08-13). "Famous Diamonds | Vargas". Original-Diamonds. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ↑ Bainbridge, John; Maloney, Russell (1941-07-26). "Moment in History". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
Further reading
[edit]- Esmaraldo Reis (1940) Three Large Brazilian Diamonds, pp. 2–3 Gemological Institute of America, US, Vol. 3, No. 6 (Summer 1940)
- Shipley, Robert M. (1944) Gemological Digest: Additional Notes on the President Vargas Diamond, pp. 168–169 (PDF page 12–13) Gemological Institute of America, US, Vol. 4, No. 11 (Fall 1944)
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