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Vargas Diamond

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vargas Diamond
Weight726 carats (145.2 g)
Discovered1938
Cut byAdrian 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

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References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Fabulous Vargas Diamond Severed". St. Petersburg Times. UP. July 24, 1941. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ↑ Sydney H. Ball & Paul F. Kerr (1941) The Vargas Diamond, pp. 7–8. Gemological Institute of America, US, Vol. 3, No. 9 (Spring 1941)
  3. ↑ "N. Y. Diamond Merchant Has Passion For Gems". St Petersburg Times. AP. November 10, 1958. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  4. 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.
  5. 1 2 TIME (1941-04-21). "Art: Little Ones Out of Big". TIME. Retrieved 2026-09-23.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ 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)