Red Cross Diamond

The Red Cross Diamond is a 205.07 carat cushion shaped canary yellow diamond mined from one of the De Beers mines in 1901. The typical features of the stone confirm its origin of being a South African stone.

The stone was cut and polished into a square shaped diamond. The unique cutting style of the Red Cross Diamond is commonly known as ‘Stellar Brilliant’. There are eight needle-like facets at the edge of the stone. The cutting was done in Amsterdam. The Red Cross Diamond has several facets and is much more luminous than any other stone under the artificial lights. When exposed under a brilliant light, the diamond turns self-luminous in the dark. The upper facet of the diamond features an exact shape of the Maltese Cross and thus was named Red Cross Diamond.

The owner of the Red Cross Diamond, De Beers gifted the diamond for sale in an art sale held in London by Christie’s in 1918 for the benefit of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John.

Later on the Red Cross Diamond had changed hands several times. It was held for auction and was sold for £10,000 to an anonymous purchaser. He agreed to hold the diamond for one month and return it back to the British Red Cross Society and the St. John for the cause of further benefit of the Society fund.

A member from the European royal family had also owned the diamond for sometime. The Red Cross Diamond was withdrawn from an auction held in Tokyo because the final offered price wasn’t enough. Again in 1973 the diamond was put up for sale by the Christie’s in Geneva. The stone was then transferred to Switzerland in 1977 for sale. The current estimated price of the stone is £2,000,000.