London Museum Plans 'Blockbuster' Exhibit
by Rob Bates, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 7/1/2005 2:00:00 AM
London's Natural History Museum this month begins what it calls a "blockbuster exhibition" of some of the world's most spectacular white and colored diamonds.
Among the stones being featured:
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The 203.04 ct. D Flawless De Beers Millennium Star, the world's largest flawless stone. Cut from a rough diamond of 777 cts., it was unveiled in 1999 at the Millennium Dome in London where it became the target of a foiled robbery attempt. This is the first time it has been on public display in the United Kingdom since then;
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The Incomparable: the 407.48 ct. yellow that is the third-largest diamond ever cut;
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The Steinmetz Pink: This 59.60 ct. oval is the world's largest flawless fancy vivid pink stone. It was worn by model Helena Christensen in May 2003;
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The Ocean Dream: the world's largest naturally occurring fancy deep–blue green diamond at 5.51 cts.;
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The Heart of Eternity: a 30.82 ct. fancy vivid blue stone;
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The Allnatt: a 101.29 ct. vivid yellow cushion shape.
In addition, the Aurora collection—a set of 296 natural-color diamonds compiled by Alan Bronstein and Harry Rodman—will be displayed for the first time ever in Europe.
There also will be a display of historic pieces, including the George III Garter Star and Queen Victoria's Lesser George, on loan from the Royal Collection, as well as a display of diamond rings—from a third-century Roman ring to the cube-shape ring worn by Sharon Osbourne.
The exhibit will run from July 8, 2005, to Feb. 26, 2006. It's sponsored by the Steinmetz Group and the Diamond Trading Company. More details are available at the Museum's Web site, www.nhm.ac.uk.
