Krupp Diamond is an asscher cut diamond. It evokes the name of a timeless icon of glamour – Elizabeth Taylor. Just the mention of her name conjures up images of her memorable roles, violet eyes, and beautiful jewelry. We can rightfully say that Taylor had a life-long love affair with natural diamond jewelry. But one stone in particular stands out amongst all of the treasures she amassed: The Krupp Diamond.
Krupp-Elizabeth-Taylor-Diamond
We don’t know a lot about the diamond’s history before the early twentieth century. Connoisseurs conjecture that it could have been unearthed from South Africa’s celebrated Jagersfontein Mine or India’s legendary Golconda mines. The Asscher cut of the stone also leads us to believe that the stone was carved out around the 1920s. The Cut is a hallmark of the art-deco era. A large open culet and rectangular corners distinguish the stone’s cut.
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Krupp Diamond Attributes: |
The stone has been confirmed as Type IIa. This is a rarest of rare classification. It denotes a chemically pure stone with complete colorlessness and perfect crystalline structure.
Also, the gemstone enjoys the exalted “blue white” trade classification denoting optical fidelity. Consequently, Krupp Diamond stands in the august company of the Cullinan I and the Koh-i-Noor, two of history’s most venerable diamonds.
The Gemological Institute of America grades this 33.19 carat stone as D colorless. Also they have graded its clarity as ‘VS1.’ Various reports however, describe the Krupp Diamond as potentially internal flawless. You could recut the stone just a little further and enhance the already outstanding piece.
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History of The Krupp Elizabeth Taylor Diamond: |
Vera Krupp, a German actress, owned the diamond before anybody else. Her wealthy steel magnate husband Alfred Krupp, gave her the diamond in a ring around the year 1955.
Later, she settled in America after her divorce. Here she bought the 500-acre Spring Mountain Ranch outside Las Vegas. She lost (and refound) the diamond ring after an infamous theft. [Read About The Krupp Diamond Theft Here] Ranch robbers tied her up and stole it directly from her finger in 1959. The thieves pried out the Krupp as well as other tapered baguette-cut accent stones from the setting to fence them off. Even so, the FBI traced and recovered all the stones with alacrity. Harry Winston restored the gems to their original platinum band.
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The Diamond is Auctioned: |
The year 1968 saw the Krupp diamond go up for auction at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York. A fierce bidding war ensued between the actor Richard Burton and Harry Winston himself on May 16th, 1968. The former made the successful bid and acquired the diamond ring at a purchase price of $305,000. The price set a record for the highest price ever paid at an auction for a diamond ring at the time. Burton presented it to Elizabeth Taylor as a romantic gift.
Krupp-Elizabeth-Taylor-Diamond
Taylor wore her collection of jewelry both on stage and on screen. Furthermore, she wore them whenever she felt it was appropriate for any personal appearance. As a result, Taylor became synonymous with her jewelry. The diamond came to be renamed as the ‘Elizabeth Taylor Diamond.’
The impact of her persona was such that she was animated wearing the ring when she played herself as a cartoon character in the season four finale of FOX series ‘The Simpsons’ in 1993.
Taylor passed away in 2011. Thereafter, her estate asked Christie’s to auction the well-known ring along with a lot of 80 other pieces from her collection. A Korean retail company purchased the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond for over $8.8 million.
Here is an article about Asscher Cut Diamonds: https://www.mensjewlery.org/asscher-cut-diamond/
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