Russian diamond mining company, Alrosa, said Wednesday that it wants to revive Russia's history as a skilled center for crafting diamond, gems and jewels.
To back those words the state-owned company unveiled “Dynasty”—a 51.38-carat traditional round brilliant-cut diamond, which it says is “the purest of all large diamonds manufactured throughout the Russian jewelry history.”
The Dynasty is part of a collection of five diamonds with the same name produced at Alrosa's cutting and polishing facilities. The company plans to sell the collection at an online auction scheduled for November 2017. The collection was unveiled at a press conference held Wednesday in Moscow.
All of the diamonds came from the same source—a 179-carat rough diamond named “Romanovs,” recovered in 2015 from Nyurbinskaya kimberlite pipe in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in northeast Russia.
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| The 179-carat Romanovs rough diamond that produced the Dynasty collection |
The names Dynasty for the collection and Romanovs for the rough that created the collection were chosen because they are connected with the company’s intention to “revive the traditions and memory of renowned Russian jewelers famous for their craftsmanship and filigree.”
Specifically it honors Peter I, the Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov, who is credited with founding the country’s first cutting and polishing factory early in the 18th Century and the Romanov dynasty known for its appreciation of diamonds and jewels.
In addition to its size, the 57-facet Dynasty has been graded Triple Excellent (excellent in polish, symmetry and cut), D color (colorless) and VVS1(very, very slightly included), a clarity grading just below “flawless” and “internally flawless” meaning a tiny speck is visible at 10x magnification through the pavilion of the diamond.
Sergey Ivanov, Alrosa president, said a diamond of this size and with these characteristics has never been produced in Russia and it has the potential to be most expensive diamond ever sold in the country’s history. Less than 1% of diamonds have these characteristics.
The complete collection of five diamonds totaling 76.22 carats is also called Dynasty. They were created from a
Ivanov, said it took Alrosa technicians and craftsmen a year-and-a-half to create the collection.
“Such characteristics of polished diamonds obtained from one rough diamond are exceptional. To be sure, it is a masterpiece of Russian polishers,” Ivanov said.
The other diamonds in the Dynasty collection are as follows:
* The “Sheremetevs,” a 16.67-carat round brilliant-cut diamond, the second largest diamond in the collection;
* The “Orlovs,” a 5.05-carat oval diamond;
* The “Vorontsovs,” a 1.73-carat pear-cut diamond; and
* The “Yusupovs,” a 1.39-carat diamond.
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