This 69 carat diamond was originally known as the Cartier diamond after Cartier Inc. paid the record price of $1,050,000 for the gem at auction. The next day Richard Burton bought the stone for Elizabeth Taylor. It was then renamed the Taylor-Burton diamond. She first wore the pear shaped diamond publicly at a party for Princess Grace's 40th birthday in Monaco. In 1978, she sold the diamond to build a hospital in Botswana. Just to inspect the diamond, prospective buyers had to pay $2,500 to cover the cost of showing it. In June 1979, it was sold for nearly $3 millionThe diamond was subsequently purchased by Robert Mouawad.

The Premier Rose

In March 1978 the Premier mine in South Africa yielded yet another remarkable diamond, a triangular-shaped cleavage of the finest color. The Premier Rose became one of the worlds largest diamonds when it was discovered in 1978. The diamond weighed 353.9 carats and was cut into three diamonds. Prince Rainier of Monaco was obliged to deny reports that he was planning to buy it as a wedding present for his daughter, Princess Caroline, who was shortly to be married; another European royal family was rumored to be interested; Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Empire, who had already spent ?20,000,000 on his coronation, was said to have made an offer. In the end the Johannesburg firm Mouw Diamond Cutting Works purchased it, naming it after Mrs. Rose Mouw. The Mouws then contacted their American partner, William Goldberg, who promptly purchased a share in the diamond. When he set eyes upon it, Mr. Goldberg exclaimed, "A lot of people are going to be interested--this is an unusually exciting diamond." The cutting was carried out in South Africa and produced three gems which became known as members of the Premier Rose family.  The largest, which has retained the name Premier Rose, is a pear shape weighing 137.02 carats, cut with 189 facets and measuring approximately 43.40 by 23.20 by 18.93 mm. It was submitted to the Gemological Institute of America for certification where it received a "D" flawless rating, symbols for the finest qualities of color and clarity. It was then the largest stone of this caliber to have been certified by the GIA. The weight of the Premier Rose makes it the second biggest pear-shaped diamond in existence. The William Goldberg Diamond Corporation of New York handled the sale of the gems. The Premier Rose was sold in 1979 to an anonymous buyer for about $10,000,000; the sale of the two smaller diamonds followed shortly after. Recently, Robert Mouawad has added the Premier Rose to his great collection of important diamonds.

This great stone, originally a diamond rough of 410 carats, was said to be discovered in 1701 by an Indian slave near Golconda. Golconda was a mountain fortress and a center for trading in India that included a diamond storehouse. The diamond was first owned by William Pitt, the Prime Minister of England, but the circumstances surrounding his acquisition of the gem have been called into question several times. Pitt arranged for the stone to be cut into its current cushion-shaped brilliant of 140.50 carats by the only person in England considered capable of the task, which took two years. The result was a stunning gem that is considered the most perfectly cut of all the celebrated diamonds of old. The Regent is characteristic of the finest Indian diamonds, and has a beautiful light blue tinge. The diamond was sold to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, who was at first hesitant to purchase the gem because of the perilous state of the Treasury. Ultimately, the Duke of Orleans relented, and shortly thereafter, the stone was renamed "The Regent." Later, it was set in the coronation crown of King Louis XV, and later in a headband worn by his Queen. Many of the French Crown Jewels were reset numerous times at the behest of the queen. Sadly, in September 1792, the Regent and other great diamonds in the Crown Jewel collection were stolen, some disappearing forever. Fortunately, the Regent reappeared in a Paris attic a year later. After coming to power in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the diamond set in his sword hilt, which he carried at his coronation two years later. Today, the Regent can be admired at the Louvre in Paris.

Hortensia

A lovely and unique 21.32-carat peach-colored stone that was named after w Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland (1783-1837), who was daughter of Empress Josephine, wife of Louis Bonaparte and mother of Napoleon III. The stone was cut around 1678. The catalog of the Apollo Gallery, Louvre Museum, Paris, states that the stone was purchased by Louis XIV and that later, after the robbery of the Royal Treasury in 1792, it was retrieved from it's hiding place under a roof in Les Halles district of Paris. It is now on exhibition in the Louvre. The Regent Diamond was also rediscovered in an attic in Paris, most likely the same attic, along with the Hortensia

Natural Gemstones