Famous faceted topaz gemstones greater than 1,000 carats in weight, arranged in descending order of weights S/N Name Source Carat Weight Cut/Shape Color Present Owners 1 El-Dorado Topaz Brazil 31,000 emerald yellowish-brown Programa Royal Collections 2 Lua de Maraba Brazil 25,250 octagonal gray Programa Royal Collections 3 American Golden Topaz Brazil 22,892.5 cushion yellowish-brown NMNH […]
Author Archives: Dr Shihaan Larif
Origin of name © Smithsonian Institution The “American Golden Topaz” which is of Brazilian origin, and resides in the Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington DC, is the largest faceted golden topaz and perhaps the largest faceted gemstone of anykind in the world. The name of the stone seem to reflect both […]
Origin of name Two large rubies belonging to the Burmese royal family weighing 37 carats and 47 carats were brought into England in 1875 for sale in the British market. J. N. Forster decided to re-cut the two stones as they did not conform to British standards. The smaller stone was re-cut to 32.31 carats […]
Cushion Cut Kunzite Gemstones Kunzite Gemstones from South Africa Kunzite Gemstones with Different Types of Cut
Origin of name The Mandalay Ruby is a gemstone of Burmese origin, that gets its name from Mandalay, a city on the Irrawaddy River, in central Burma. Mandalay is the second largest city in Burma (Myanmar) after the capital city of Rangoon (Yangon), and situated almost in the center of the country. Mandalay is almost […]
Origin of name The 3553-carat (710.6g) “Raviratna Star Ruby” is the largest star ruby in the world, belonging to retired lawyer G. Vidyaraj of Bangalore, a descendant of the royal family of Vijayanagar, who inherited the enormous ruby and several other large gemstones, from his ancestors. Like the 1370-carat Neelanjali Star Ruby and the 2475-carat […]
Origin of name The name “Blue Belle of Asia” seem to reflect both the quality and the region of origin of this extraordinarily beautiful blue sapphire, said to be one of the top quality blue sapphires in the world. The word “belle” means a beautiful woman, and has been used metaphorically to refer to the […]
Origin of Name
The 393-carat blue star sapphire remained unnamed until recently
The 393-carat deep blue star sapphire with a well-defined 6-rayed star discovered in the 1970s from the alluvial gem deposits of Sri Lanka, is presently the…
Origin of name The enormous 337.10 carat “Catherine the Great’s Blue Sapphire” gets its name from the one time owner of this gemstone, Catherine the Great (1762-96), one of the two greatest rulers of the Romanov dynasty, that ruled Russia for more than 300 years from 1613 to 1917. Catherine the Great, was a […]
Origin of name
The “Star of Artaban” is of Sri Lankan origin
Information about the “Star of Artaban” blue sapphire which is presently housed in the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution, is very scarce, save…