“It’s an aquamarine from Brazil. It’s 10,363 carats, which is what they call bling."
The jewel is called the Dom Pedro. It has four sides, is more than 35 centimeters high, and weighs two kilograms. Jeffrey Post is the chief of the mineral collection. He says the Dom Pedro is the largest cut and polished aquamarine in the world.
“It is very rare, very unusual for any mineral to produce a crystal the size and the quality that can result in cutting a stone like the Dom Pedro.”
Most large stones like the Dom Pedro would be made into jewelry people could wear. For example, the famous Hope Diamond is a large blue jewel. Designers put smaller white diamonds around it. And they made it into a necklace for royalty or very wealthy people. But German artist Bernd Munsteiner made the Dom Pedro into a narrow tower. Jeffrey Post tells why.
“I said, ‘Why did you cut something big? Why not just cut it into gemstones?’ And his answer was, ‘What nature makes large, man should not make small.’”
Bernd Munsteiner used a stone-cutting method called the fantasy cut. Usually jewelry designers make flat edges on the outside of a stone. But the German artist cut inside the stone. The result is a jewel that seems to have a light inside it.
“And that gem then traveled around. In fact, it represented the German government for some period of time. It was shown around at some gem fairs in Europe. And then, one of the owners was considering actually having it cut up to get his money out of it right away.”
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25