The Star of the South, also known as Estrela do Sul, is a diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

 found in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 in 1853. The diamond is cut into a cushion shape

Diamond cut

A diamond cut is a style or design guide used when shaping a diamond for polishing such as the brilliant cut. Cut does not refer to shape , but the symmetry, proportioning and polish of a diamond...

 and weighs 128.48 carats (25.7 g). The Star of the South is graded as a type IIa diamond, with a colour grading of fancy light pinkish-brown and a clarity of VS2. At the time of discovery, the diamond weighed 254.5 carats (50.9 g). It has passed through the hands of many owners, including the Maharaja

Maharaja

Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

 of princely Baroda State

Baroda State

Baroda State was an Indian princely state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until 1947 when it succeed to newly formed, India. With the city of Baroda as its capital, during the British Raj it was part of the Baroda Residency...

, and its last known purchase was by Cartier

Cartier SA

Cartier S.A., commonly known as Cartier , is a French luxury jeweler and watch manufacturer. The corporation carries the name of the Cartier family of jewellers whose control ended in 1964 and who were known for numerous pieces including the "Bestiary" , the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder...

, the French luxury jeweller around 2002, when it was sold by Rustomjee Jamsetjee of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. The light reflected by the diamond is white, and the refracted light is of a rose tint. This gives the diamond its light pinkish-brown hue.

History

The diamond was found by a slave girl named Rosa in 1853, at the Bagagem River in the city now called Estrela do Sul Diamond Mines in Brazil. It was handed over to her master, Casimiro de Moraes, who rewarded her for finding the diamond by granting her freedom and a pension for life. Casimiro de Moraes later sold it for £3,000, a price far lower than its actual value. The buyer deposited the diamond at the Bank of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 for £30,000.

The uncut diamond was passed through the hands of several buyers, until it was bought by Coster’s Establishment of Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 for £35,000. It was then cut into an oval cushion shape by a cutter called Voorsanger of Coster’s Establishment, at a cost of £500.

It was purchased by Halphen and Associates of Paris, a syndicate of diamond merchants led by Messrs. Halphen, who named it Estrela do Sul, or Star of the South. The syndicate exhibited the diamond 1862 at the London Exhibition, and again 1867 at the Paris Exhibition. On both occasions, the Star of the South received considerable attention. The diamond was later sent to a diamond dealing house in India, where negotiations were carried out to sell it to a Maharajah for a price of £110,000. However, this deal was not successful and the diamond was returned to Halphen and Associates.

During the diamond’s stay in India, Prince Mulhar Rao of the royal family

Royal family

A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...

 of Gaekwad

Gaekwad

The Gaekwad or Gaikwad was a Maratha dynasty that ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the mid-18th century until 1947...

 got to know about the stone. He instructed E. H. Dresden of London to purchase the diamond, who purchased it from Halphen and Associates for £80,000 on behalf of the prince. The Star of the South was in the possession of the Gaekwad family for several years. It was later mounted on a necklace along with the 78.5 carats (15.7 g) English Dresden diamond. The The Pittsburgh Press reported in 1927, the diamond necklace which contained the Star of the South diamond, as a part of the royal collection worth $10,000,000 at the time, housed in the Nazarbaug Palace

Nazarbaug Palace

"Nazarbaug Palace" was Gaekwad Royal Palace in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat state, western India. Nazarbagh Palace was built in 1721. It has solid gold and silver guns, each barrel weighing over 100 kg...

 in Baroda; another important part of the collection was a cloth embroidered with precious stones and seed pearls, made to cover the tomb of Mohammed. In 1934, Prince Mulhar Rao’s son had told Robert M. Shipley, an American gemologist about this. In 1948, the Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda

Sita Devi of Baroda

Maharani Sita Devi Sahib of Baroda, born May 12, 1917 in Madras, India, died February 15, 1989 in Paris, France. She was known as the “Indian Wallis Simpson. She was a colorful lady who led an extravagant life for over 40 years and was a member of the international jet set...

, was photographed wearing the necklace at her husband Maharajah Pratapsinh's birthday party.

The Star of the South was later purchased by Rustomjee Jamsetjee of Mumbai, who sold it to Cartier in 2002.

Characteristics

At the time of discovery, the diamond had a rhombic dodecahedral form with obtuse angles and twenty four facets. There was a deep depression in one of the facets, indicating that it had accommodated another octahedral crystal. A few black specks were also present, caused by titanic iron

Ilmenite

Ilmenite is a weakly magnetic titanium-iron oxide mineral which is iron-black or steel-gray. It is a crystalline iron titanium oxide . It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and it has the same crystal structure as corundum and hematite....

 or volcanic sand.

The diamond originally weighed 254.5 carats (50.9 g) and was cut into an oval cushion shape weighing 128.48 carats (25.7 g), losing almost half of its weight in the cutting process. The dimensions of the Star of the South were 35 mm x 29 mm x 19 mm.

The light reflected by the diamond is white, and the refracted light is of a rose tint. This is attributed to the prismatic form given to the crystal during its cutting. The Star of the South has a colour grading of light pinkish-brown, pink and brown being two colours that can show up in colourless diamonds of type IIa. It is a plastically deformed diamond of type IIa, and has a clarity of VS2.

Dispute

After the diamond was purchased by Cartier, the youngest son of Maharajah Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda State

Baroda State

Baroda State was an Indian princely state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until 1947 when it succeed to newly formed, India. With the city of Baroda as its capital, during the British Raj it was part of the Baroda Residency...

, Sangramsinh, had claimed that the Star of the South was among the heirlooms that where under dispute in possession of the Gaekwad

Gaekwad

The Gaekwad or Gaikwad was a Maratha dynasty that ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the mid-18th century until 1947...

family. The diamond had been among lists of property disclosed in wealth tax returns provided in 1988 by Fatehsinhrao Gaekwad and his wife, heirs of the Gaekwad family. Sangramsinh had announced that he intended to trace how the diamond had reached Cartier and was examining possible legal action.