Origin of name
The Jones diamond gets its name from members of
the Jones family, who accidentally discovered the stone in Peterstown, West
Virginia in April 1928. The diamond is also variously known as "the
Punch Jones Diamond," "the Grover Jones diamond" or "the Horseshoe diamond."
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond is an uncut naturally formed dodecahedral
crystal, with 12 natural facets, weighing 34.48 carats and has a white color
with a bluish tinge. It has the rare distinction of being the largest
alluvial diamond ever discovered in North America. The bluish tinge is
probably caused fluorescence.
Diamonds crystallize in the isometric crystal system. The
common crystal forms in this system are the cubic (4-sided), octahedral
(8-sided), and dodecahedral (12-sided) forms.
History
On a certain day in April 1928, when William P.
Jones (Punch Jones), and his father Grover C. Jones Sr. were pitching
horseshoes, on the land surrounding their residence, in Peterstown, West
Virginia, they noticed a shiny stone on the ground, which they thought was a
shiny piece of quartz commonly found in the area. One of them casually
picked up the stone and carried it into the tool shed, where he just
deposited it in a wooden cigar box.
The whole incident was forgotten for the next 14 years,
and the stone remained undisturbed in the wooden cigar box. Even if the
stone had been re-discovered from the box during this period, it would not
have had any impact, as this period corresponded with the period of the
"Great Depression," a period of harsh adversity, precipitated by a worldwide
economic downturn, causing drastic declines in output, severe unemployment,
and acute deflation. The depression was particularly long and severe in the
United States and Europe.
In 1942, William P Jones-Punch, re-discovered the stone
in the wooden cigar box, dumped in the tool shed. This time he became very
inquisitive about the stone, and was determined to find out more about the
stone, it's nature and if it had any monetary value. He carried the stone to
Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI)-now Virginia Tech- in nearby
Blacksburg, Virginia, and met the professor of Geology, Holden, who examined
the stone. After a careful examination of the stone, the Professor concluded
that the stone was a diamond, The Professor was genuinely shocked at Punch's
discovery, as this was the first time he was seeing an alluvial diamond of
that size, discovered from North America.
The Jones family who were excited and overjoyed by the
authentication of the stone as a diamond, lost no time in taking necessary
precautions to safe guard their precious find. They dispatched the stone to
the Smithsonian Institution for safe keeping and display at the Museum of
Natural History. The Smithsonian Institution gladly accepted the stone and
kept it in their custody until February 1964, when the Jones family informed
the Institution that they needed to take back the stone.
Having removed the stone from the Institution's custody,
the Jones family deposited it in a safe deposit box in the First Valley
National Bank , in Rich Creek, Virginia. Twenty years later in 1984, the
Joneses sold the diamond for an unspecified amount to an anonymous buyer, at
a Sotheby's auction held in New York.
The above account of the Jones diamond will not be
complete, without giving the reader an insight, into the story of the Jones
family which is as interesting as the story of the diamond itself.
Grover C. Jones Sr. and his wife Annie Grace Buckland
Jones had seventeen children, sixteen consecutive boys and one girl. the
large size of the family and the consecutive 16 male births, impressed a lot
of Americans, including the President of the United States at that time,
Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Jones family became celebrities, and during the
New York World Fair in 1940, they were invited to be the guests of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. They were introduced on National Broadcasting
Company, and met the Governor of New York and Mayor of New York City. Mr.
Jones and his family were then invited to tour the United States, by many
businessmen, who saw this as a golden opportunity to make a quick buck at
the expense of the celebrity status of the family, but Mr. Jones was
intelligent enough to realize what the unscrupulous businessmen were after,
and politely declined the invitation, thus preventing the exploitation of
his family. He later returned with his family to his hometown of Peterstown,
West Virginia.
The text of a historical marker placed in Peterstown
reads as follows :-
An alluvial diamond weighing 34.48 carats (6.896g),
largest to date found in North America, was discovered here in April 1928,
by William P "Punch" Jones and his father Grover C. Jones Sr., while
pitching horseshoes in the home yard of Mr. & Mrs. Grover C. Jones. "Punch"
was later killed in combat during world war II. Mr. & Mrs. Grover C. Jones,
still retain ownership of the diamond.
After the placing of this historical marker in
Peterstown, West Virginia, Mr. & Mrs. Grover C. Jones had passed away, and
the ownership of the diamond had also changed.
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