Origin of name
The massive rough diamond weighing 726.6 carats was
discovered in 1938 in Brazil, and became the largest diamond ever to be
discovered in that country. The diamond was named in honor of President
Getulio Dornelles Vargas, who was the President of Brazil at the time of its
discovery and ruled Brazil for almost 20 years.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The rough Vargas diamond was cut into 29 gems, out of
which 19 were of considerable size and the remaining 10 were smaller
stones. The total weight of the finished diamonds was 411 .06 carats. Out of
the 29 gems, 16 were emerald-cut stones, one pear-shaped, and one
marquise-cut. 10 of the smaller gems were triangular brilliants and one was
a baguette. All diamonds were D-color diamonds of exceptional quality.
The largest diamond was an emerald-cut, weighing 48.26
carats and retained the name President Vargas.
Being D-color diamonds, the Vargas diamonds are most
probably type IIa diamonds, that are chemically pure and structurally
perfect diamonds. The presence of chemical impurities such as nitrogen,
boron and hydrogen impart colors to diamonds. Likewise the presence of
structural distortions can also impart rare fancy colors to diamonds. Thus
the absence of these two factors make the diamonds absolutely colorless. The
occurrence of these diamonds however is only about 1-2 % of all naturally
occurring diamonds.
History
The enormous Vargas rough diamond was discovered
accidentally on August 13, 1938, when the diamond was picked up from the
gravels of the San Antonio river in the Coromandel district of Minas Gerais,
by two diamond diggers (garimpeiros), whose attention was drawn by the
shining stone. The lucky finders of the stone were Joaquim Venancio Tiago
and Manoel Miguel Domingues. According to an alternative version of the
diamond's discovery, the shining rough stone was picked up by two farmers
who were walking along the path of a dry river bed. The stone glinted in the
sunlight and the two farmers passed by unconcerned. However one of them
becoming curious, turned back and picked up the shining pebble, which turned
out to be the 726.6-carat massive rough diamond, the largest ever to be
discovered in Brazil.
At the time of its discovery the Vargas diamond attained
the twin distinction of becoming the 4th largest gem-quality rough diamond
and the largest alluvial rough diamond to be discovered in the world. But
today the Vargas is the 9th largest rough diamond to be discovered in the
world. See table below.
List of largest
gem-quality rough diamonds discovered in the world
|
Name |
Country of discovery |
Year of discovery |
Carat Weight |
Position |
|
Cullinan |
South Africa |
1905 |
3,106 |
1 |
|
Excelsior |
South Africa |
1893 |
995 |
2 |
|
Star of Sierra Leone |
Sierra Leone |
1972 |
969.80 |
3 |
|
Incomparable |
Zaire |
1984 |
890 |
4 |
|
Great Mogul |
India |
1650 |
787 |
5 |
|
Millennium Star |
Zaire |
1990 |
777 |
6 |
|
Woyie River |
Sierra Leone |
1945 |
770 |
7 |
|
Golden Jubilee |
South Africa |
1985 |
755 |
8 |
|
President Vargas |
Brazil |
1938 |
726.60 |
9 |
|
Jonker |
South Africa |
1934 |
726 |
10 |
|
Jubilee-Reitz |
South Africa |
1895 |
650.80 |
11 |
|
Unnamed |
South Africa |
1984 |
620.14 |
12 |
|
Sefadu |
Sierra Leone |
1970 |
620 |
13 |
|
Kimberley Octahedral |
South Africa |
|
616 |
14 |
|
Lesotho Promise |
Lesotho |
2006 |
603 |
15 |
|
Centenary |
South Africa |
1986 |
599 |
16 |
|
De Grisogono |
Central Africa |
|
587 |
17 |
|
Jacob-Victoria |
South Africa |
1884 |
457.50 |
18 |
|
Zale light of peace |
Sierra Leone |
1969 |
435 |
19 |
|
De Beers |
South Africa |
1888 |
428.50 |
20 |
|
Niarchos |
South Africa |
1954 |
426.50 |
21 |
The lucky finders of the diamond lost no time in finding
a suitable buyer for their precious find, and sold it to a diamond broker
for $ 56,000. In their undue haste to convert their precious find into hard
cash, the finders of the diamond suffered a great loss, for within a short
time the broker who purchased the diamond sold it at the enhanced price of $
235,000. Eventually the diamond was purchased by a Dutch syndicate
represented by the Dutch Union Bank of Amsterdam. The diamond had by then be
named "President Vargas" in honor of the ruling chief executive of Brazil,
President Getulio Dornelles Vargas, who ruled Brazil for 15 years from 1930
to 1945 and again for 4 years from 1951 to 1954. President Vargas is
credited with having brought about social and economic changes that helped
modernize the country. He has also gone down in history as the "Father of
the Poor" for his battle against big business and large landowners.
The diamond was then taken to Amsterdam where it
was kept in the safe deposit vault of the Dutch Union Bank. In the meantime
the famous diamond dealer and jeweler of New York, Harry Winston, learnt
about the existence of the massive diamond of exceptional quality from his
agents in Brazil. Harry Winston who was a reputed buyer of such exceptional
rough stones, lost no time in taking a trip to Amsterdam via London. In
Amsterdam he initiated negotiations with the Dutch syndicate who owned the
diamond, and finally acquired the stone. The diamond was insured by Lloyds
for $ 750,000, and yet the company agreed to the shipping of the diamond to
New York by ordinary registered post. This was a usual strategy adopted by
Harry Winston in dispatching valuable diamonds to his office in New York, in
order to minimize attention towards the precious items, that would otherwise
have involved serious security risks.
Harry Winston's team of master cutters studied the rough
diamond extensively and after a long period of study that lasted several
months, finally decided to cleave the diamond to many pieces in order to
obtain several smaller diamonds of exceptional quality, rather than going in
for one or two larger diamonds of inferior quality. The cutting of the
diamond began in 1941. At first a 20-carat piece was sawn off from the top
of the diamond before the actual cleaving took place. This piece was later
transformed into a 10.05-carat, exceptional quality, pear-shaped diamond.
The diamond was first cleaved into two unequal large pieces, one weighing
550 carats and the other 150 carats. Subsequent cleavings followed,
and eventually the diamond was cut into 29 smaller pieces from which 29 gems
were faceted and polished, out of which 19 were of fairly large size, with
the largest being 48.26 carats, and the remaining were smaller ones. The
total weight of the finished diamonds was 411.06 carats, resulting in a loss
of 43 % of the original weight of the stone.
In terms of shape, 16 diamonds were emerald-cut stones,
one pear-shaped, and one marquise-cut. Out of the smaller diamonds ten were
triangular brilliant cuts and one was a baguette. The largest diamond which
was an emerald-cut weighing 48.26 carats, retained the name President
Vargas.
The 48.26-carat President Vargas diamond was purchased by
the wife of Robert W. Windfohr of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1944, with whom it
remained until 1958. Harry Winston re-purchased the diamond in 1958, and got
it slightly re-cut to 44.17 carats, elevating the stone to internally
flawless clarity grade. He sold the stone again in 1961 to an anonymous
buyer. Presently the diamond is owned by Robert Mouawad, and forms part of
his magnificent collection of famous, historic and rare diamonds. See table
below. Robert Mouawad also owns the 27.33-carat President Vargas IV, which
he purchased for $ 781,000, at a Sotheby's auction held in New York in
April, 1989. The diamond that previously belonged to Lydia Morrison, now
adorns a sumptuous Mouawad bracelet, with the precious diamond set on a band
of black and white brilliant-cut diamonds. The current estimated value of
this bracelet is £ 4 million. The President Vargas VI weighing 25.4 carats
was sold at another Sotheby's auction in New York, held in October 1992, for
$ 396,000.
Robert Mouawad's
collection of diamonds
|
S/N |
Name |
carat weight |
color |
Shape/Cut |
|
1 |
Jubilee |
245.35 |
D-color |
cushion |
|
2 |
Premier rose |
137.02 |
D-color |
pear |
|
3 |
Queen of Holland |
135.92 |
D-color |
cushion |
|
4 |
Mouawad Magic |
108.81 |
D-color |
emerald |
|
5 |
Unnamed |
106.00 |
|
modified pear |
|
6 |
Mouawad Monolith |
104.02 |
|
emerald |
|
7 |
Mouawad Splendor |
101.84 |
D-color |
pear |
|
8 |
Ahmedabad |
78.86 |
D-color |
pear |
|
9 |
Excelsior I |
69.68 |
D-color |
pear |
|
10 |
Taylor-Burton |
68.07 |
D-color |
pear |
|
11 |
Mouawad Mondera |
60.19 |
D-color |
pear |
|
12 |
Star of Abdul Aziz |
59.00 |
D-color |
pear |
|
13 |
Mouawad White |
48.28 |
D-color |
marquise |
|
14 |
Indore Pears I |
46.95 |
D-color |
pear |
|
15 |
Indore Pears II |
46.70 |
D-color |
pear |
|
16 |
President Vargas |
44.17 |
|
emerald |
|
17 |
Mouawad Blue |
42.92 |
fancy blue |
pear |
|
18 |
Mouawad Lilac |
24.44 |
fancy pink |
emerald |
|
19 |
Mouawad Pink |
21.06 |
fancy pink |
radiant |
