In February, it was announced that Harry Winston's eldest son, Ronald Winston, had donated a collection of 41 rare diamonds to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
Among them was the Winston Red, a 2.33-carat fancy colour red diamond. In preparation for an exhibition a study was created for Gems & Gemology, a journal published by the Gemological Institute of America.
The red diamond can only be traced back to 1938, and while the study has managed to narrow down its provenance to either Venezuela or Brazil, many other details remain unclear.
With that said, the study was able to detail a likely explanation for the rarity of red diamonds.
“Gemmologists and researchers probed this rare gem using a variety of imaging techniques and their results, published in Gems and Gemology, show that the diamond contains a special type of nitrogen and is made up from a deformed crystal lattice of tightly stacked pink to red layers,” writes Kate Ravilious for The Guardian.
“The incredibly intense heat and pressure conditions needed to produce these features are unusual and help to explain why brilliant crimson diamonds like the Winston Red are so very rare. The earliest record of this splendid gem is from 1938, when Jacques Cartier sold the stone to the Indian maharajah of Nawanagar.”
She continued: “This date, along with the chemical and structural makeup of the gem and the way it had been cut, have helped to narrow down the most likely birthplace to mines in Brazil or Venezuela.”
The Winston Fancy Colour Diamond Collection showcase at the National Museum of Natural History will remain on display indefinitely.
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