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Esperanza Diamond- Must read for pricescopers!

Wow!

Does anyone know the weight of the cut diamond?
 
I bet they make a pendant out of it.. what a unique cut.. thank you for sharing!
 
VRBeauty|1443732390|3933869 said:
Wow!

Does anyone know the weight of the cut diamond?
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Yes, I know, but if I told you I'd have to kill you (well, the client would kill me, which is even worse). It's a secret at the moment but I'll say it's a bit under 5 carats. It's at the lab right now and when the lab is done the owner will publicly announce the stats. The issue is one that only a diamond lover could love. It's AT LEAST D/IF. The owners want D/FL, and the difference is minor polish type topics. We're talking really really minor, and the normal way a stone gets the FL clarity grade involves a few trips back and forth between the lab and the cutter. That takes time and costs weight. How much of both is hard to estimate. Time will tell if they get there. Most don't make it, but this is an awesome stone and the people working on it are among the best in the world.
 
Congratulations, Neil, on being selected to be part of this story!
 
VRBeauty|1443738579|3933893 said:
Congratulations, Neil, on being selected to be part of this story!
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Part of HISTORY!

I am not sure who was responsible in pulling all of this together- I suspect Neil may have had a big hand in it - but I think it was orchestrated brilliantly from a perspective of creating provenance and adding value.

It's also very nice PR for AGS. A real win/win/win for all involved.

Did anyone else see the irony in the name selection? Esperanza means "hope" in Spanish. There just happens to be another famous diamond by that name. :twirl:
 
Thanks to the incredible team at AGS Laboratories- this is journey has been very well-documented. We hope to share all the great close-ups in weeks to come.
 
What a cool story! I'm curious to see what price this one-of-a-kind pendant fetches and of course I'm curious to see it's new home.
 
Wow! Thanks for posting the article! Very exviting! :appl:
 
I watched the live feed has the diamond was cut and polished amazing :love: :love:
 
cystal_and_cube.jpg

Bryan-I was able to travel to Stanley Jewelers in Little Rock to watch Mike start faceting this incredible rough. Mike would apologize saying watching him cut a diamond was as interesting as watching paint dry...but as a jeweler I found it fascinating! As much as modern technology has been catching up on diamond cutting, you realize very quickly that this is done by HAND and by a MASTER CUTTER. Mike would go from periods of hyper activity; dabbing a little oil from his nose to see the exact angle being polished, to relaxing with his hand perfectly weighted on the dop to move some diamond. It was during this time that he would answer countless questions from customers, many members of the press and from myself. I feel very lucky to be an AGS member and part of the Esperanza Journey.
 
Very Cool Jim. I would think that it would be totally unnerving to cut this particular diamond in public. Not only is it historic, but my goodness, what an incredibly complex faceting design to execute. There are AT LEAST 147 things that could go wrong ! Mike Botha must be one cool customer :whistle: .
 
Wow, how cool! :appl:
Thanks for posting!
 
esperanza_wikirelease.jpg
We will be taking some more close-ups in weeks to come...but this is Esperanza at 4.62ct
 
Neil - the story says the owner was originally "unfamiliar with the diamond world." Did you guide her through this and help her develop this brilliang (sorry, couldn't resist) marketing strategy?
 
Very cool, since it is a D IF is it anything like a Type IIa "Golconda" diamond in chemical composition? Or closer to a Canadian diamond chemically?
 
Yes, I consulted quite a bit with her on the topic of how to move from a pebble in the park to a big bag of money at the end. That is her objective and there were plenty of options available ranging from simply selling to the trade to museums like the Smithsonian. The path chosen was very targeted towards building a story of the finest stone ever mined and produced in America. It's my belief, and hers, that there's value in that and that Esperanza will be worth more than a 'regular' D/IF of comparable size because of this provenance.

Yes, this a type IIa. On the Raman at the lab, the nitrogen content measured at below 1 part per billion. Normally this is measured in parts per million. As far as we can tell, this stone is as low in nitrogen content as any diamond ever measured. If there were such a thing as a C color, this would be it.
 
One of the wild things about this particular stone is the difficulty of photographing it. Diamonds are tricky anyway but with this particular one a lot of the beauty is in the 3D component. There is no table and there is no direction that you would really describe as face up. When you see it, it very much draws in your attention and it leads viewers to want to play with it and look from all angles. It's like nothing they've ever seen before and people tend to 'experience' it rather than just take a peak from a distance and then move on. Unfortunately, none of that really comes through in a photograph.
 
mike_cutting.jpg
Bryan-The next time your shop whines about interruptions show them this picture.....
Brooke, the finder of the Esperanza, is taking the nervous peek while the cameraman films on the left. Everyone, including Mike's son Evert, was showing excitement (or adrenaline overload) at some point during the cutting, but never Mike....he was always cool, calm and collected.
 
Anyone care to venture a guess of the estimated pre-auction value range, and what it will finally sell for?
 
denverappraiser|1443881515|3934447 said:
One of the wild things about this particular stone is the difficulty of photographing it. Diamonds are tricky anyway but with this particular one a lot of the beauty is in the 3D component. There is no table and there is no direction that you would really describe as face up. When you see it, it very much draws in your attention and it leads viewers to want to play with it and look from all angles. It's like nothing they've ever seen before and people tend to 'experience' it rather than just take a peak from a distance and then move on. Unfortunately, none of that really comes through in a photograph.
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Were any HD videos taken? That might be a way to capture the dynamic nature of the stone and it's 3D character. But even that would be challenging I am sure.
 
The cut was clearly designed to maximize the size of the finished stone and minimize the amount of rough lost, but... were there salvageable pieces of the rough stone left over? Will the finder or any of those involved in this process get a souvenir cut diamond, or a nice-sized sliver of the original Esperanza stone?

Do you have any extra pieces hanging around, Neil? :naughty:
 
Someone definitely needs to post a GOG-like video of this in different lighting environments, I'm intrigued to see how the facets will play as it moves around :)

I think it's safe to say that the owner will be substantially better off once it's sold! :$$):
 
Hi Kenny,

Thank you for asking. There have been a lot of numbers thrown around over the last couple of months. As we've thrown out the price list on her, I am cautiously optimistic that she's going to fetch in the region of $500k should she sell pre-auction. It is near impossible to price her due provenance to her at this stage. We know her color, we know her clarity, we know her provenance.

One of Mike's favorite sayings is: "A diamond is only as good as its worst facet"- and we apply this to very diamond we're contracted to cut and polish- whether its Esperanza, an AGS Triple Zero or a Customer restoration (re-cut, repair or re-polish).

Remember...

"One could buy 'Diamond' as in material, or one could buy 'A Diamond' cut to the highest standard with honest color and clarity grading by a reputable grading laboratory. The final choice lies with the Customer. If price is the consideration, then you buy 'Diamond'. If quality is the consideration then you buy 'A Diamond' "
 
EmbeeDiamonds|1444068843|3935050 said:
Hi Kenny,

Thank you for asking. There have been a lot of numbers thrown around over the last couple of months. As we've thrown out the price list on her, I am cautiously optimistic that she's going to fetch in the region of $500k should she sell pre-auction. It is near impossible to price her due to her at this stage. We know her color, we know her clarity, we know her provenance.
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I'm no expert in these collector type diamonds but $500k strikes me as a low number considering the very special nature of this diamond. If it goes to auction I suspect it could fetch quite a bit more.
Heck, the state of Arkansas should buy it just to keep it at home!
 
Agree with Bryan. 500k is minimum and specialty stones like this going to auction should be able to fetch more easily.

Cheers
Furqan
 
Thanks Furqan


Let's see what the final AGS Laboratories verdict is next week.
:read:
 
Thanks Evert! :wavey:

All the best for a successful sale.
 
I would love to see a video of this - I can imagine from looking at the pictures what it would look like in real life but I bet I can't quiiiite imagine it perfectly.
 
DH and I stopped by Jim Summa's today regarding an antique stone that we had (as Jim and his staff are the most knowledgeable in the area!) and happened to talk about the Esperanza diamond. This diamond will be coming to Jim's store for public viewing and we are so excited about this and look forward to seeing the Esperanza in person!!
 
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