Los Angeles--The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) will display five rare heart-shaped colored diamonds in its new exhibition, The Lady Heart Diamond Collection, from Feb. 1 to June 30.
Each diamond is a different color--red, pink, orange, yellow and blue--and is a fancy vivid natural color diamond, as graded by the Gemological Institute of America. The stones range in size from 1.71 to 2.28 carats, and all are set in separate pieces of gold jewelry, custom designed for the temporary exhibit in the NHM’s Gem Vault.
“A heart-shaped diamond itself is immensely rare. While the diamond is in the rough, the final shape of the stone is determined by the diamond cutter based on which shape will maximize carat weight, symmetry and value,” said Bernard Bachoura, fourth-generation jeweler at California’s Sophia Fiori and designer of the exhibition.
Within the exhibit is the Lady Orquidea, a 2-carat fancy vivid orange heart-shaped diamond (below) mounted in a heart-shaped bezel accented with white pavé diamonds. Fancy vivid orange diamonds are believed by experts to be among the rarest of colored diamonds, the NHM said.
The Lady Zahira is a 2.26-carat fancy vivid yellow heart-shaped diamond (below) set in rose gold for the exhibit. This diamond originates from the Zimi mines in South Africa and its color “is more intense than most vivid yellow diamonds,” the NHM said.
