Lot Essay
In November 1980 Christie's sold the Polar Star, a stone renowned for it's unsurpassed brilliance and limpidity and for the precision of it's cut, (it can be balanced on it's tiny culet)
The historical diamond weighing 41.28 carats was so named because of the double star-like arrangement of it's interlocking facets, which can be clearly seen through it's large table facet.
It is interesting to note that the present stone offered for sale as lot 76 is a type IIa diamond like the Polar Star.
There is also an obvious comparison in the way these stones have been cut, with similar proportions and perfect balance, as each stone can be balanced on it's culet. Both stones possess a distinct blue fluorescence under ultra-violet light and both stones are of a very high colour grade, (Polar Star E colour, Lot 76 D colour)
It is beleived that the Polar star was found in the bed of the Krishna river, in India, at the end of the 18th century.
The present stone like the Polar Star possesses superb fire, brilliance, and luminosity, often seen in diamonds found in the famous golconda mines of India.
The historical diamond weighing 41.28 carats was so named because of the double star-like arrangement of it's interlocking facets, which can be clearly seen through it's large table facet.
It is interesting to note that the present stone offered for sale as lot 76 is a type IIa diamond like the Polar Star.
There is also an obvious comparison in the way these stones have been cut, with similar proportions and perfect balance, as each stone can be balanced on it's culet. Both stones possess a distinct blue fluorescence under ultra-violet light and both stones are of a very high colour grade, (Polar Star E colour, Lot 76 D colour)
It is beleived that the Polar star was found in the bed of the Krishna river, in India, at the end of the 18th century.
The present stone like the Polar Star possesses superb fire, brilliance, and luminosity, often seen in diamonds found in the famous golconda mines of India.