Victoria-Transvaal Diamond

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

National Museum of Natural History specimen catalog number G7101

The Victoria-Transvaal Diamond, cut from a 240-carat rough stone found at the Premier Mine in Transvaal, South Africa, in 1951. The diamond, with a champagne-color, was originally cut to 75 carats, but then later recut to 67.89 carats for better proportions. Donated to the National Museum of Natural History in 1977 by Leonard and Victoria Wilkinson, the Victoria-Transvaal Diamond is a pear-shaped brilliant cut and has 116 facets. The yellow gold necklace was designed by Baumgold Brothers, Inc., and consists of 66 round brilliant cut diamonds, fringed with 10 drop motifs, each set with 2 marquise-cut diamonds, a pear-shaped diamond, and a small round brilliant cut diamond. Total weight of the 106 diamonds in the necklace is approximately 45 carats. The Victoria-Transvaal diamond was worn in the 1952 movie, "Tarzan's Savage Fury."

Courtesy of the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Mineral Sciences, Dynamic Earth Online Exhibit, http://www.mnh.si.edu/earth/main_frames.html

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu