Blog » Famous Gemstones

List of famous faceted topaz greater than 1000 carats in weight

Dr Shihaan Larif — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:49:01 +0000

Famous faceted topaz gemstones greater than 1,000 carats in weight, arranged in descending order of weights S/N Name Source Carat Weight Cut/Shape Color Present Owners 1 El-Dorado Topaz Brazil 31,000 emerald yellowish-brown Programa Royal Collections 2 Lua de Maraba Brazil 25,250 octagonal gray Programa Royal Collections 3 American Golden Topaz Brazil 22,892.5 cushion yellowish-brown NMNH [...]

Famous Topaz Gemstones- Cut and Uncut

Dr Shihaan Larif — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:15:43 +0000

Chemistry of the mineral Topaz Topaz is a silicate mineral which is the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals. Topaz belongs to the sub-class Nesosilicates, the simplest of all silicates in which the tetrahedral SiO4 units exist separately, but are held together by metal cations as in Garnets, Andalusite and Olivine, or form [...]

American Golden Topaz

Dr Shihaan Larif — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:13:19 +0000

Origin of name © Smithsonian Institution The “American Golden Topaz” which is of Brazilian origin, and resides in the Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington DC, is the largest faceted golden topaz and perhaps the largest faceted gemstone of anykind in the world. The name of the stone seem to reflect both [...]

World’s Largest Star Rose Quartz – Michael Scott Collection

Dr Shihaan Larif — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:34:13 +0000

Origin of name The Michael Scott Collection, arguably the most important private gem collection in the United States, with a few rivals in the world outside of the royal families, was started by Michael Scott, the first president of Apple Computer (1977-81), in 1987 and almost completed within a record-breaking period of 14 years. The [...]

List of faceted rubies greater than 10-carats in weight

Dr Shihaan Larif — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:36:21 +0000

List of gem-quality faceted rubies greater than 10-carats in weight arranged in descending order of weights S/N Name Carat Weight Origin Cut-Shape Present Owner 1 Prince’s Ruby 174.67 unknown unknown Bowers Museum 2 Rosser Reeves 138.70 Sri Lanka cabochon star NMNH Smithsonian 3 DeLong Star 100.32 Burma cabochon star AMNH New York 4 Nga Mauk [...]

J. N. Forster Rubies

Dr Shihaan Larif — Sat, 03 May 2008 06:26:49 +0000

Origin of name Two large rubies belonging to the Burmese royal family weighing 37 carats and 47 carats were brought into England in 1875 for sale in the British market. J. N. Forster decided to re-cut the two stones as they did not conform to British standards. The smaller stone was re-cut to 32.31 carats [...]

Nga Mauk & Kallahpyan Rubies

Dr Shihaan Larif — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:50:30 +0000

Origin of name The two rubies “Nga Mauk” and “Kallahpyan” are believed to have originated from the same enormous 560-carat Mogok ruby, which happened to be subsequently split into two. The larger part which was given to the king, was cut and polished into a 98-carat finished stone and came to be known as the [...]

Peace Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:07:26 +0000

Origin of name The 42-carat, pigeon’s-blood color, rough ruby was discovered in the Mogok valley on June 30, 1919, just two days after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, a peace document signed by the Allies and Germany at the end of World War I, in the Hall of Mirrors, [...]

Chhatrapati Manik Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:02:31 +0000

Origin of name The “Chhatrapati Manik Ruby” which according to legend is one of the oldest rubies in the world dating back to 380-415 AD, the period of rule of the powerful emperor of northern India, Candragupta II, also known as Vikramaditya (son of valour), gets its name from the title “Chhatrapati” (supreme king), which [...]

Alan Caplan Ruby – Mogok Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:11:23 +0000

Origin of name “Alan Caplan Ruby” also known as the “Mogok Ruby” gets its name from Alan Caplan the famous geologist and mineralogist and also mineral and gemstone dealer who acquired the stone while on a trip to Burma in the 1960s or 1970s. The ruby remained in his collection until 1988, when it was [...]

Mandalay Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:55:05 +0000

Origin of name The Mandalay Ruby is a gemstone of Burmese origin, that gets its name from Mandalay, a city on the Irrawaddy River, in central Burma. Mandalay is the second largest city in Burma (Myanmar) after the capital city of Rangoon (Yangon), and situated almost in the center of the country. Mandalay is almost [...]

Star of Bharany Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:05:37 +0000

Origin of name The “Star of Bharany Ruby” gets its name from the previous owners of this rare and unique gemstone, the House of Bharany, renowned dealers and collectors of antique jewelry, textiles, arts and artifacts and curios, based in New Delhi. The art and jewelry collection of the House of Bharany is so rare [...]

Rajaratna Star Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:10:21 +0000

Origin of name The 2475-carat “Rajaratna Ruby” which was unveiled to the world by its owner Mr. G. Vidyaraj of Bangalore, India, at the end of the year 1986, was at that time considered to be the world’s largest ruby as well as the world’s largest star ruby, and was appropriately named the “Rajaratna Ruby” [...]

Raviratna Star Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:02:25 +0000

Origin of name The 3553-carat (710.6g) “Raviratna Star Ruby” is the largest star ruby in the world, belonging to retired lawyer G. Vidyaraj of Bangalore, a descendant of the royal family of Vijayanagar, who inherited the enormous ruby and several other large gemstones, from his ancestors. Like the 1370-carat Neelanjali Star Ruby and the 2475-carat [...]

Neelanjali Ruby

Dr Shihaan Larif — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:31:43 +0000

Origin of name The 1370-carat “Neelanjali Star Ruby” has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest double star ruby in the world. The enormous star ruby of Indian origin belongs to the retired lawyer G. Vidyaraj who lives in Bangalore, India, and claims his descent from the kings of the [...]

Gordon Star Sapphire and Gordon Sapphire Necklace

Dr Shihaan Larif — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:37:45 +0000

Origin of Name The “Gordon Star Sapphire” and the “Gordon Sapphire” are two different blue sapphires weighing 52 carats and 50 carats respectively, that once belonged to Aron S. Gordon, the founder of Gordon Jewelers, from whom the two blue sapphires get their names. While the “Gordon Star Sapphire” was set in a pendant ring, [...]

List of Blue Sapphires Excluding Blue Star Sapphires Greater than 100-carats in weight

Dr Shihaan Larif — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:08:26 +0000

S/N Name Carat weight Origin Cut/shape Present owners 1 Blue Giant of the Orient 486.52 Sri Lanka cushion Unknown 2 Queen Marie of Romania 478.68 Sri Lanka drop-shape cushion Unknown 3 Logan Sapphire 423.00 Sri Lanka rectangular cushion NMNH-Smithsonian 4 Blue Belle of Asia 400.00 Sri Lanka unknown Previous owner Lord Naffield 5 Unnamed 337.66 [...]

“Blue Belle of Asia” Sapphire

Dr Shihaan Larif — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:14:14 +0000

Origin of name The name “Blue Belle of Asia” seem to reflect both the quality and the region of origin of this extraordinarily beautiful blue sapphire, said to be one of the top quality blue sapphires in the world. The word “belle” means a beautiful woman, and has been used metaphorically to refer to the [...]

Star of Lanka Sapphire

Dr Shihaan Larif — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:23:45 +0000

Origin of name

The name reflects the type of gemstone and country of origin

The name "Star of Lanka" reflects both the type of gemstone and its country of origin. The gemstone is a blue star sapphire with a distinct six-rayed…

Unnamed 393-carat Sri Lankan Blue Star Sapphire

Dr Shihaan Larif — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:51:34 +0000

Origin of Name

The 393-carat blue star sapphire remained unnamed until recently

The 393-carat deep blue star sapphire with a well-defined 6-rayed star discovered in the 1970s from the alluvial gem deposits of Sri Lanka, is presently the…