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Hooker Yellow Diamonds
Specimen | Catalog Number | Locality | Weight |
---|---|---|---|
Hooker Yellow Diamond Necklace | NMNH G10051 | Unknown | 244.10 ct |
Hooker Yellow Diamond Earrings | NMNH G10052 | Unknown | 25.28 ct |
Hooker Yellow Diamond Ring | NMNH G10053 | Unknown | 61.12 ct |
This magnificent suite of 18k yellow gold jewelry was designed by Cartier, Inc. in the late 1980s. The necklace has 50 starburst-cut fancy yellow diamonds weighing between one and twenty carats each, for a total weight of 244.10 carats. The matching ear clips each feature a 25 carat fancy yellow diamond surrounded by 16 baguette and 4 pear-shaped colorless diamonds (40 colorless diamonds in all, totaling 26.80 carats for the pair). The ring showcases a 61.12 carat fancy yellow diamond flanked by triangular cut colorless diamonds (total weight for the two colorless diamonds is 4.75ct). As seen in these incredibly rare gems, diamonds are not always colorless. A few atoms of nitrogen substituting for some of the carbon as the crystals form cause the diamonds to exhibit a yellow color. In general the more yellow a diamond, the less it is worth, until the hue is sufficiently intense enough for the gem to be graded a fancy color and then the value increases. This dazzling suite of fancy colored diamond jewelry is exceptional not only for the size and clarity of the diamonds, but also for the color and cutting of these well-matched gems. Mrs. Janet Annenberg Hooker generously gifted this suite of jewelry to the Smithsonian in 1994. She was one of the principal benefactors of the National Museum of Natural History and a major contributor for the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, where the Hooker Yellow Diamonds are on display with the Hooker Emerald.