National Museum of Natural History
The Tiffany Diamond
April 11, 2007 – September 23, 2007
One of the largest fancy yellow diamonds ever found, the Tiffany diamond was discovered in 1877 in the South African Kimberley Diamond Mine. Weighing 287.42 carats in the rough, it was cut to a cushion shape of 128.54 carats with 82 facets by George Frederick Kunz. It is shown in the "Bird on a Rock" brooch setting designed by Jean Schlumberger in the early 1960s. The diamond was worn twice, by Audrey Hepburn in publicity photos for Breakfast at Tiffany's and by Mary Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball in Newport, Rhode Island.
On loan from Tiffany & Co., New York to celebrate the opening of the New Acquisitions Case.
