Famous Diamonds: The Largest and Most Expensive Red Diamond in the World
Having the highest shine of all transparent gemstones, diamonds come in many colors, but the red ones are particularly rare. And the rarer a diamond is, the more expensive and desired it is.
The Unique Red Color of Diamonds
According to the Cape Town Diamond Museum, there have only been up to thirty true red diamonds found till now in the world, mostly in Africa, Australia, and Brazil. And most of them are less than half a carat.
The interesting fact is that the red diamond is unlike other fancy colored diamonds that derive their color from impurities such as nitrogen and borono. It is made exclusively from carbon, the same as colorless diamonds, and the red color is created by a rare occurrence in its atomic structure.
As such, natural fancy red diamonds end up costing an impressive 1 million dollars per carat, being the most expensive type of colored diamond. And the predictions are that the price tags of red diamonds will continue to rise since it is estimated that they will become even more scarce.
Picture Cape Town Diamond Museum
Cape Town Diamond Museum notes that red diamonds look different in various lighting environments. More specifically, they look best in daylight and candlelight and worst in fluorescent light.
These red miracles of nature are graded by the intensity of their color and they range from dark pink to purplish red. As experts see it, the stronger the hue, the greater the worth of the pice.
The Largest Red Diamond Ever Found
The largest red diamond in the world was discovered in the 1990s by a Brazilian farmer in the Abzetezinho River. It's was reported that it is likely the unique gemstone was formed in the mining area's alluvial deposits.
Its rough weight was 13.90 carats.
The extremely rare piece was then bought by The William Goldberg Diamond Corporation from New York and was originally named the “Red Shield Diamond”. The jewelers cut into a triangular brilliant cut. After losing 8.79 carats, the final piece was simply impressive.
Weighing only 5.11 karats in the end, it is considered to be the larges red diamond in the world.
The unique precious stone was renamed by the Moussaieff Jewellers when they purchased it for 8 million dollars at the turn of the century, in 2001.
“The Moussaieff Red Diamond”, which is internally flawless, has been regularly presented to exhibitions, and, according to some estimates, it is worth now at least 20 million dollars.
"It's a really surprising cranberry color, quite unlike any other diamond I've ever seen," commented expert gemologist Michael Hing said, quoted by Diamond News.
Alongside the “Moussaieff Red Diamond”, in the hall of fame, we find other famous red diamonds such as “De Young Red”, “The Hancock Red Diamond”, “The Supreme Purple Star” and “The Supreme Purple Star”.
