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Her history of owning this jewel cannot be called fortunate (to put it mildly).
After the divorce, Vera moved to the USA. There she bought a private homestead outside of Las Vegas. This glamorous woman immediately drove the entire American beau monde crazy, regularly coming out in a ring with such a huge and absolutely perfect diamond.
However, that all changed in 1959. The Krupp Diamond ring was stolen directly from Vera’s finger. The FBI were tracking it across the whole country for six weeks. Finally, several stones from the ring were seized from a jeweler living in the St. Louis area. The prized central stone – the Krupp Diamond – was found in New Jersey, where a local grocer was attempting to shop around “a big diamond”.
When all stones were returned, Harry Winston reset them into the original platinum band.
After this incident, Vera Krupp no longer lost her vigilance. She built a secret passageway and room on her estate. What is more, she started attaching the ring to her bra using a safety pin.
After Vera’s passing in 1967, the Krupp Diamond was put up for auction. In 1968 actor Richard Burton purchased the 33.19 ct diamond for $305,000. It was the highest price paid at auction for a diamond ring at the time.
Richard Burton presented it to Elizabeth Taylor as a surprise gift on their yacht Kalizma when they were celebrating a new business venture.
Elizabeth Taylor wore the Krupp Diamond on stage and screen performances as well as personal appearances she deemed appropriate.
Fun fact: eventually the Krupp Diamond became Elizabeth’s calling card. She was even animated in The Simpsons with the Krupp Diamond – her heroine wore the jewel while doing chores, polishing her Oscar award and even staring into its reflective facets after cleaning it with a toothbrush.
After Taylor’s passing in 2011, the Krupp Diamond ring was put up for auction at Christie’s. It was sold to a Korean retail company for over $8.8 million.
Why is this diamond so special?
Although not much is known about the Krupp Diamond origins and history till the 20th century, experts assume that it could have originated in India’s world-renowned Golconda region or – in a pinch – South Africa’s Jagersfontein Mine.
What is more, considering the diamond’s asscher cut with a large open culet and rectangular shaped corners, experts believed it to have been faceted sometime before 1920.
Confirmed as Type IIa (classification that refers to a stone’s chemical purity, structural perfection and absolutely colorless nature), The Krupp Diamond stands on a par with historical stoneslike the Cullinan or the Koh-i-Noor. It also has “blue white” trade classification, meaning an optical superiority.
Although the Krupp Diamond was graded as D colorless and VS1 clarity by the GIA, reports state that it was “potentially internally flawless”.
Inspired by a legend
Iconic jewels are made to inspire!
Asscher cut diamonds are a great choice for earrings or a ring. Their straight-edged facets make such diamonds look unique, elegant and clean. The long, rectangular facets reflect big flashes of light as they get reflected.
Asscher cut stones also look quite vintage and serve as a great reminder of the brilliant Art Deco era.
There are two types of asscher cuts: the classic cut developed by Joseph Asscher in 1902 and the royal asscher cut designed by Asscher’s ancestor in 2001. The classic cut has 58 facets and features a small table with a high crown, while the other one boasts 74 facets and a higher crown.
Today, white diamonds remain at the peak of their popularity and demonstrate a serious price increase. Industry experts claim that the tendency is here to stay. White diamonds are also a great choice for an investment. Stones such as the Krupp Diamond, i.e. flawless D color diamonds clean of inclusions, are considered to be unsurpassed and very expensive stones, hunted by big collectors, High Jewelry Maisons and private funds.
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