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The Star of
Sierra Leone, a magnificent 969-carat diamond, was discovered in the Koidu area on February 14, 1972 at the Diminco Mine. It ranks as the third-largest gem-quality diamond
and the largest alluvial diamond ever discovered. The Star of Sierra Leone is
considered as the most famous diamond unearthed from this place. The largest
gem-quality diamond discovered previously in Sierra Leone was the 620-carat
"Sefadu" diamond, found in 1970.
The diamond is
a colorless, lustrous and pellucid crystal,
features that are so characteristic of the exceptional quality colorless diamonds found in the country. The name Star of
Sierra Leone appears to have been inspired by the lustrous nature of this
enormous crystal.
The rough
diamond was an enormous colorless and transparent
crystal, which was subsequently cut into 17 stones, 13 of which were flawless
and “top-color”.
The largest
stone that was cut from the diamond was initially cut into an emerald shaped
stone weighing 143.2, but was flawed. To eliminate the flaws the stone had to
be re-cut again, with a drastic reduction in weight, resulting finally in a
pear-shaped, colorless, and flawless, 53.96 carat
diamond.
Diamonds of
Sierra Leone have an international reputation as one of the highest gem
quality diamonds in the world. The diamonds are so pure and free of
inclusions that some of them are known as "glasses", clear,
transparent and absolutely colorless. Being D-color diamonds, the Star of Sierra Leone diamonds are
Type IIa diamonds, that are characterized as
chemically pure (due the absence of impurities such as nitrogen, boron,
hydrogen etc. which can cause color in diamonds)
and structurally perfect (due to the absence of plastic distortions in the
crystal, which can also impart rare fancy colors to
the diamond) .
On October 3,
1972, Sierra Leone's then-President, Siaka Stevens,
announced that Harry Winston, the New York City jeweller, had purchased the
Star of Sierra Leone for under $2.5 million.
Six of the
"Star of Sierra Leone" diamonds were later set by Harry Winston in
the famous "Star of Sierra Leone" brooch.
All famous diamonds
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