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Historic 8.52-Carat Esperanza Diamond to be Featured at Smart Jewelry Show

Published

8 years ago

April 11, 2016

INSTORE Staff

$1 million diamond was one of the largest ever found in the United States.

The 4.605 D IF Esperanza Triolette – valued at more than $1 million – was discovered at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas in June of 2015. It was designed, cut and polished from the original 8.52 by Canadian Master Diamond Cutter, Michiel Botha of Embee Diamonds, during a marathon 130-hour event hosted by Stanley Jewelers Gemologist in North Little Rock, AR.

The upcoming Smart Jewelry Show, to be held April 17-19 in Chicago, will host the historic Esperanza Diamond, a one-of-a-kind diamond that will be on display with other pieces which are part of R. Harder Gallery of Gems and Minerals from Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company.

The R. Harder Gallery is a gallery located on-site at the Jewelers Mutual corporate office in Neenah, WI. It houses one of the nation’s largest private collections of minerals and gemstones in their natural form.

“The world of diamonds and gemstones is fascinating,” says Scott Murphy, president and CEO at Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company. “It is an honor to have some of our most prized stones from the R. Harder Gallery share company with the spectacular Esperanza diamond at the Smart Jewelry Show.”

The Esperanza is valued at more than $1 million. It was unearthed in June of 2015 in Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Special arrangements were made to have the rough diamond crystal cut and polished locally to preserve its "born and raised in Arkansas" status. It was cut by master diamond cutter Mike Botha of Embee Diamonds, an American Gem Society member.

The icicle-shaped crystal, the fourth-largest crystal ever found in the United States, weighed 8.52 carats and yielded a colorless and internally flawless finished diamond of 4.605 carats graded D IF by AGSL. The exotic Triolette shape of the finished diamond features 147 facets, and the diamond is set into a custom-designed platinum pendant. It was designed by New Zealand-based Inspired Collections’ Ian Douglas and crafted in the U.S. by Byard F. Brogan, both of whom are also AGS members.

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”