By Ray Lundin – Gemologist
The only diamond that comes close to the Hope Diamond in rarity, weight, color and exceptional quality is the Dresden Green diamond. This 41-carat diamond, the largest and finest natural green diamond ever found, has been considered a “sister” to the Hope Diamond because it closely matches it in size, intensity of color and historical importance. People usually consider diamonds as white or colorless; however, even more valuable, mostly due to their rarity, are fancy diamonds. The fancy diamonds come in a range of colors such as red, dark blue, pink, green, amber and canary yellow. Diamonds of a true intense color are very rare.
It is not often that you hear the words “diamond” and “radioactivity” in the same sentence, but that is exactly what makes the Dresden Green diamond one of the most rare gems in the world. The diamond being exposed to a radioactive source at some point during its growth causes the color of green diamonds. The radioactive source is usually in the form of radioactive minerals in the kimberlitic in which diamonds are found. The change in color is due to the altering of the diamond’s crystal structure. There are only two other known green diamonds in the world: the Ocean Dream and the Gruosi Green. It is important to note that natural green diamonds are not radioactive.
The Dresden Green is an early 18th century stone and, most likely, originated in the Kollur mines, near Golconda in Southern India. The stone was bought in India by the famous London diamond merchant, Marcus Moses. Apparently, the diamond was already cut and polished in the famous diamond-cutting center at the time, in Ahmedabad, India. Marcus Moses tried to sell the diamond to King George I and to Duke Frederick Augustus I; none of them purchased it. He eventually sold the stone to a Dutch merchant named Delles, who in turn sold it to King Frederick Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, Germany, at the Leipzig Fair in 1741 for about $150,000.
Frederick the Strong (son of Frederick I) assigned his court jeweler to incorporate his newly acquired green diamond in a brooch called the decoration of the Golden Fleece along with the Dresden White diamond (50 carats). The Dresden Green diamond derives its name from Dresden, the capitol city Saxony in Germany.
Frederick I was a great connoisseur and collector of arts, artifacts, jewels and other treasures. He set up a “Green Vault” in Dresden Castle to house his vast collection of sculptures, paintings, jewels and other treasures and eventually the Dresden Green diamond. (The name came from the first of the vault’s nine rooms being painted green, not from the diamond’s unique hue.) The Green Vault was opened to the public for over 200 years until the beginning of World War II.
Since Dresden fell within the Russian occupied zone that was captured by the Russians during World War II, the royal jewels were confiscated along with other art treasures and carried off to mother Russia. Lawsuits dragged on for years but finally, in 1958, an agreement was reached that returned the art treasures and gems, captured as war reparations, to Germany. The Dresden Green once again is on display to this day in the rooms of the Green Vault in the Albertinium Museum, Dresden, Germany. In the year 2000, the Dresden Green was displayed along side of the Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian Institute in the United States for a special exhibit.
