The Lady Heart Diamond Collection, designed by Bernard Bachoura, a fourth generation jeweler from Southern California’s Sophia Fiori, and consisting of five exceedingly rare heart-shaped diamonds of different colors – red, pink, orange, blue and yellow – and ranging in weight from 1.71 to 2.28 carats, that originally went on display from February 1 to June 30, 2013, at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, will continue to be displayed until November 30, 2013. The decision to extend the collection’s display was taken by the authorities of the museum, due to its popularity with visitors. The diamonds are set in separate pieces of gold jewelry, custom designed for this temporary exhibition, in the museum’s Gem and Mineral Hall the “Gem Vault.”
“A heart-shaped diamond itself is immensely rare,” said Bernard Bachoura, jeweler at Sophia Fiori and designer of the Lady Heart Diamond Collection, in a statement.
“While the diamond is in the rough, the final shape of the stone is determined by the diamond cutter based on which shape will best maximize carat weight, symmetry, and value,” Bachoura said. “The unusual heart shape requires the cutter to sacrifice significant carat weight in order to achieve the desired result. It makes the heart shape, a risk, the cutter must be certain he or she is willing to take.”
The Gemological Institute of America has awarded the highest grade given for colored diamonds, viz. Fancy Vivid Color Grade, to all the five diamonds in the Lady Heart Diamond Collection. The most important diamond in the collection and perhaps the most rarest, is the 1.71 carat Fancy Vivid Red, heart-shaped diamond, the “Lady Mandara” set as the centerpiece of a heart-shaped pendant, surrounded by 7 rows of pave-set, round brilliant-cut, colorless diamonds, with a total weight of 5.90 carats. The “Lady Mandara” diamond is also documented by the GIA as the largest fancy vivid red, perfect heart-shaped diamond the Institute has ever certified.
Another extremely rare diamond in the collection is the Lady Orquidea, a 2.00-carat, Fancy Vivid Orange, heart-shaped diamond, mounted in a heart-shaped bezel, as the centerpiece of a white-gold cluster ring, surrounded by two rows of pave-set, round, brilliant-cut, white diamonds. Orange diamonds are the rarest of all colored diamonds, even rarer than red diamonds. Hence to have a fancy vivid orange grade among the rarest orange-colored diamonds is indeed an extremely rare occurrence. This explains the importance of the Lady Orquidea diamond in the Lady Heart Diamond Collection.
The next in importance and rarity is the “Lady Leilani” diamond, a 1.73-carat, Fancy Vivid Pink, heart-shaped diamond, set as the centerpiece of a modern rhythmic, white-gold, tear-drop pendant, surrounded by radiating rows of pave-set, round brilliant-cut, white diamonds, and two external tear-drop shaped rows also pave-set with round brilliant-cut diamonds. Pink diamonds are extremely scarce and large pink diamonds have set world record prices recently, at auctions conducted by leading auction houses, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
The 2.28-carat, fancy vivid blue, internally flawless, heart-shaped “Lady Diantha” diamond is the next rarest and important diamond, set as the centerpiece of a heart-shaped, white-gold, cluster ring. The heart-shaped blue diamond is mounted in a heart-shaped bezel, surrounded by an inner row of pave-set, round brilliant-cut, yellow diamonds and an outer row of pave-set, round brilliant-cut, white diamonds. A combination of rare characteristics such as the perfect heart-shape, the fancy vivid blue color, and internally flawless clarity makes the Lady Diantha an important diamond in the collection and enhances the value and uniqueness of the Lady Heart Diamond Collection.
The fifth and the last diamond in the collection is the 2.26-carat, fancy vivid yellow, heart-shaped, “Lady Zahira” diamond, bezel-set as the centerpiece of a heart-shaped pendant, surrounded by a single row of pave-set, round brilliant-cut, white diamonds. This combination is uniquely embeded in a rose gold casing, which is also heart-shaped, and in turn surrounded by an outer row of pave-set, round brilliant-cut, white diamonds. The perfectly cut, heart-shaped, fancy vivid yellow diamond, sometimes referred to as a “canary yellow” diamond, is a rare type 1b diamond, and the diamond with the most intense color in the Fiori Collection.