Origin of name
The Mouna diamond gets its name from its former owner Mouna Ayoub, the Lebanese former wife of a well-to-do Saudi Arabian
businessman Nasser Al-Raschid, who was also an adviser to the late King Fahd
of Saudi Arabia.
Characteristics of the
stone
According to the Gemological Institute of America
certification, the Mouna diamond is a fancy intense yellow, cushion-cut,
VS-1 clarity stone, having a weight of 112.53 carats. The G.I.A. also stated
that the Mouna diamond was the largest fancy intense yellow diamond hitherto
graded by the institute. Being a fancy intense yellow diamond the Mouna
diamond is most probably a Type Ib diamond, which are extremely rare as they
form only 0.1 % of all natural diamonds.
History
The diamond is believed to have been mined in the 1980s
in South Africa, but other details such as the mine of origin, the original
owners of the diamond, the persons involved in the cutting of the diamond,
the person or company from whom the Saudi businessman purchased the diamond,
and the date of such purchase etc. are all unknown.
Mouna Ayoub was a Lebanese Christian born on February
27th, 1957. She converted to Islam when she was 20 years old, in order to
marry Nasser al-Raschid, a 40-year old businessman and adviser to King Fahd
of Saudi Arabia. Her husband gave her all the care and attention she needed
and it is said that on one occasion she told him that she enjoyed jogging,
and the very next day, a team of workmen began building her a running track
around the perimeter of their estate in Saudi Arabia.
Unfortunately, the marriage that apparently was quite a
happy one and lasted 17 years (1979-1996), producing five children, ended up
in divorce. The Mouna diamond was part of her divorce settlement, along with
other valuable items of jewelry.
Mouna left Saudi Arabia to France, after the divorce and
eventually acquired French citizenship. She became a successful business
woman in her own right, after making a fortune in the real estate business.
In the year 2004, Mouna was reported to be the 45th richest Arab, with a
wealth estimated at $ 380 million.
She is a well known French socialite, and makes headlines
in French people's magazines. She is a regular invitee for the annual Cannes
film festival awards.
Mouna Ayoub had developed a passion for high quality
fashion clothing, since her days as house wife and mother of five children
in Saudi Arabia. She thinks that her passion for clothes came from her
mother and the feeling that it brings closer to her. Mouna is reported to
have 1,010 fashionable dresses hanging in her closets. Her favorite fashion
designers are Yves Saint Laurent, Jean Louis Scherrer, John Galliano, Jean
Paul Gaultier,
According to a BBC News Report, published on BBC online
network on Tuesday November 17, 1998, the huge Mouna diamond, set in a
Bulgari pendant was bought for a record $ 3.2 million by an anonymous Middle
East collector, at a Christie's auction in Geneva. The previous record for a
fancy intense yellow diamond was $ 3 million, set by a 102.7-carat stone in
May 1996, also at a Christie's auction in Geneva. The sale of the Mouna
diamond together with 160 other items of gems, and jewelry, which included
many pieces of modern silver, was organized by Christie's on behalf of Mouna
al-Ayoub, in order to raise funds for the refit of her yacht, Phocea. The
sale netted $ 8.000.000.
Present owners of the
diamond
The Mouna diamond is presently owned by an anonymous
connoisseur and collector in the Middle East, after it's purchase in 1998 at
a Christie's auction in Geneva.
Chemistry of Yellow
diamonds
Yellow color in diamonds is caused by the presence of
minute quantities of nitrogen (less than 0.1 %) in the crystal structure of
the stones, and this has been used as the criterion for classifying diamonds
into two main classes. Type I and Type II.
Type I - Contain detectable quantities of Nitrogen. 98%
of all natural diamonds are type I.
Type II - Nitrogen free or contain undetectable
quantities of Nitrogen. Constitute 1-2 % of all naturally occurring
diamonds.
Type I diamonds are sub-divided into two -Type Ia and
Type Ib. The basis for this division is whether the nitrogen atoms are
distributed as single atoms or groups of atoms.
Type Ia - Nitrogen atoms are found as groups of two or
more atoms. 98% of all natural diamonds are type Ia.
Type Ib - Nitrogen atoms are scattered as single atoms.
Only 0.1 % of all diamonds are type Ib.
Type Ia diamonds are further sub-divided into three -
Type IaA, Type IaB, Type IaAB.
Type IaA - Nitrogen atoms occur as groups of 2-atoms
known as A-aggregates. These groups do not absorb visible light, and
therefore do not affect the color of the diamond. A-aggregates quench
fluorescence. Therefore these diamonds are colorless and non-fluorescent.
Type IaB - Nitrogen atoms occur as groups of 4-atoms,
known as B-aggregates. These groups also do not absorb visible light and do
not affect the color of the diamonds. But, they cannot quench fluorescence,
and therefore these diamonds are colorless and strongly fluorescent.
Type IaAB - Nitrogen atoms occur as A-aggregates,
B-aggregates, and groups of 3-atoms known as N3 centers. The N3 centers
absorb visible light in the blue end of the spectrum, imparting a pale to
medium yellow color to the diamonds. The diamond also show varying degrees
of fluorescence. Most of the Type Ia diamonds belong to this group.
Type Ib - Nitrogen atoms are scattered as single atoms,
and they absorb visible light in the blue end of the spectrum, imparting an
intense yellow color to the diamonds. The canary yellow and fancy intense
yellow belong to this group, but are very rare as they constitute only 0.1 %
of all naturally occurring diamonds.
Thus the Mouna diamond being a fancy intense yellow
diamond is a Type Ib diamond.
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 |
Sunrise |
100.52 |
emerald |
yellow |