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Arkansas-Sourced ‘Esperanza’ Diamond Heads to Auction Block

Published

8 years ago

March 10, 2017

Howard Cohen

It has a “triolette” shape.

Here’s your chance to own a piece of Americana. The 4.64-carat D-flawless “Esperanza” diamond, which was found by Bobbie Oskarson in 2015 at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, AR, will be offered for sale at Skinner’s fine jewelry auction in Boston on March 21.

Esperanza carries a pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 and is the top lot in a show that will include more than 500 items.

What’s amazing about “Esperanza” is that it was picked out of the soil by Oskarson, a visiting Coloradan, who paid a mere $8 to dig for riches at the only diamond site in the world where amateur prospectors of all ages get to keep what they find. She made her spectacular discovery within 20 minutes of entering “The Pig Pen,” the 37 1/2-acre plowed field that is actually the eroded surface of the eighth-largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world.

Originally 8.52 carats in weight and the shape of an icicle, “Esperanza” was transformed by master diamond cutter Mike Botha into a unique 4.64-carat teardrop “triolette.” Botha’s 147-facet triolette is a shape of his own design. It resembles a teardrop and merges the elements of both emerald and trapezoid shapes. The painstaking cutting and polishing process took 130 hours.

“Esperanza” (meaning “hope” in Spanish) was then set vertically in a platinum mounting designed by jeweler Ian Douglas of The Inspired Collection, Wellington, New Zealand. The unique mounting is intended to emphasize the triolette shape.

The fifth-largest diamond ever found at Crater of Diamonds State Park, the “Esperanza” is, by far, the most perfect in terms of color and clarity. It even has its own Facebook page with more than 1,000 followers.

Credits: Crater of Diamonds State Park; Stanley Jewelers; Facebook.com/theesperanza.

HOWARD COHEN is the Shoreham, NY-based editor of The Jeweler Blog, a daily blog ghost-written for retail jewelers. Cohen, a long-time industry veteran, is dedicated to making social media tasks simple and affordable for every jeweler. For more information, visit thejewelerblog.com or contact Cohen at 631-821- 8867, hscohen60@gmail.com. Websites: thejewelerblog.com, thejewelerblog.wordpress.com.

This article is an online extra for INSTORE.

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