Golden Star Diamond

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Origin of name

The name "Golden Star" seem to reflect the brilliance and color of this large fancy vivid yellow cushion-cut diamond, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Characteristics of the diamond

The 101.28-carat Golden Star diamond and its 16.63-carat satellite sister diamond, both cushion-cut and fancy vivid yellow

The "Golden Star" diamond is a 101.28-carat, cushion-cut, fancy-vivid yellow diamond with a VS-1 clarity. Fancy vivid yellow is the highest grading for color in the GIA color grading scale.

The "Golden Star" diamond is one of the largest cushion-cut yellow diamonds in the world. In the list of famous yellow diamonds greater than 100 carats in weight, the "Golden Star" diamond occupies the 28th position, just below the Alnatt diamond which is also a cushion-cut, fancy vivid yellow diamond of 101.29 carats. See table below.

List of famous yellow diamonds greater than 100 carats in weight

S/N	Name	Carat Weight	Shape/Cut	Color
1	Incomparable	407.48	shield shaped	fancy brownish yellow
2	Oppenheimer-uncut	253.70	natural octahedral	yellow
3	De Beers	234.65	cushion	light yellow
4	Red Cross	205.07	cushion	canary yellow
5	unnamed	200.87	pear	yellow
6	Moon	183.00	round	pale yellow
7	unnamed	180.85	briolette	yellow
8	Star of Peace	170.49	pear	brownish yellow
9	Hope of Africa	151.91	cushion	fancy yellow
10	Unnamed	150.00	emerald	yellow
11	Florentine	137.27	double rose cut	light yellow
12	Algeiba Star	135.03	square brilliant	yellow
13	Sarah	132.43	cushion	fancy vivid yellow
14	Golden Hue	132.42	cushion	yellow
15	Tiffany Yellow	128.54	cushion	canary yellow
16	Stewart	123.00	brilliant	yellow
17	Meister	118.00	cushion	yellow
18	Vainer Briolette	116.60	briolette	fancy light yellow
19	Unnamed	114.64	briolette	yellow
20	Unnamed	114.03	cushion	yellow
21	Mouna	112.50	cushion	fancy intense yellow
22	African Yellow	112.00	-	yellow
23	Anon	108.04	emerald	yellow
24	Rojtman	107.46	cushion	yellow
25	Golden Sun	105.54	emerald	yellow
26	Golden Door	104.95	pear	yellow
27	Alnatt	101.29	cushion	fancy vivid yellow
28	Golden Star	101.28	cushion	fancy vivid yellow
29	Sunrise	100.52	emerald	yellow

The "Golden Star" diamond being a fancy vivid yellow diamond is undoubtedly a Type Ib diamond, in which the intense yellow color is caused by single nitrogen atoms scattered in the crystal. The nitrogen atoms absorb visible light in the blue region of the spectrum, causing its complementary color yellow to manifest itself. However the occurrence of such intense yellow color diamonds is only 0.1 % of all naturally occurring diamonds. Other famous diamonds which belong to this category are the Alnatt diamond, the Mouna diamond, the Tiffany yellow diamond, the Sarah diamond and the Red Cross diamond.

Type Ia diamonds on the other hand have nitrogen atoms associated as groups of 2, 3, and 4 atoms, known respectively as A-aggregates, N3 centers, and B-aggregates respectively. A and B aggregates having even number of nitrogen atoms do not affect the color of diamonds. But, N3 centers having odd number of nitrogen atoms do affect the color of diamonds. Most of the natural diamonds are Type Ia and Sub-type IaAB, in which A and B aggregates and N3 centers occur together and constitute almost 98% of all naturally occurring diamonds. These diamonds range in color from light to medium yellow.

History

The Golden Star rough diamond weighed 204.03 carats and was discovered in the famous Finsch Mine located in the Northern Cape in South Africa. The date of discovery and other details of the early history of the diamond are not known. The diamond was purchased either by Graff diamonds, South Africa or its subsidiary South African Diamond Company (SAFDICO). The purchase price of the rough diamond is not known.

The rough diamond was partially processed in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Graff has its largest diamond processing factory employing over 300 craftsmen, processing diamonds weighing thousands of carats each year. But, the Johannesburg factory had been specially set up to process smaller diamonds. Graff's workshops that specialize in cutting larger diamonds are situated in Antwerp and New York. The Golden Star diamond after partial processing in Johannesburg was sent to the Graff workshop in New York, where it was cut and polished by the skilled master cutter in charge of the workshop, the late Antonio Nino Bianco, who transformed the rough stone into a magnificent cushion-cut, fancy vivid yellow brilliant of 101.28 carats. The loss of weight entailed in the process was 103 carats, equivalent to 50.5 %. Such loss of weights are normal in maximizing for quality and brilliance. Quality is usually achieved only at the expense of quantity. However, the master cutters were also able to create a satellite sister stone, also a cushion-cut fancy vivid yellow, weighing 16.63 carats.

Laurence Graff inspecting the Golden Star Diamond while the late master cutter Nino Bianco looks on

Laurence Graff set the Golden Star diamond as the centerpiece of a spectacular necklace weighing 176.82 carats. In March 2005, this necklace was exhibited at the TEFAF Maastricht, the world's leading art and antiques fair as part of the Haute Joaillerie du Monde section. The TEFAF Maastricht fair is sponsored by AXA Art, the only insurer in the world that specializes exclusively in insuring art works belonging to art dealers, private collectors, museums etc., and is part of the AXA Group, worldwide market leaders in Insurance.

Read more about Lawrence Graff

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