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Famous Diamonds: The Portuguese
Strangely enough, the 127.01-carat famous diamond called The Portuguese seems to have no connection to its namesake country. At one point, legend claimed that the diamond was found in Brazil in the mid-18th century and became part of the Portuguese crown jewels. However, with no known substantiation to this story, the legend has been discredited.
Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution.
What is documented is the 1928 sale of the diamond. It is believed the diamond was found in South Africa in 1910 or 1912. One of America’s oldest and finest jewelers, Black, Starr & Frost fashioned it into a platinum choker studded with diamonds and sold it to actress and performer Peggy Hopkins Joyce. In 1951, Harry Winston acquired the diamond from Joyce and it traveled the country as part of Winston’s “Court of Jewels” exhibition, before landing at the Smithsonian as the largest faceted diamond in the National Gem Collection.
Some diamonds emit visible light – termed fluorescence – when exposed to invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Blue is the most common fluorescent color and the Portuguese is a classic example of a blue fluorescent diamond referred to as an “overblue”. These diamonds of extremely strong fluorescence may exhibit a noticeable oily or hazy appearance when excited by any of a number of light sources, including daylight. This characteristic, combined with a VS1 clarity and unusual octagonal step cut, makes the Portuguese one of the world’s most famous gems.