The spoon maker's diamond is a 86 carats stone, which was discovered in Istanbul, in 17th century. The stone gets its name from its unique shape, which resembles a spoon and it is also believed that the discoverer of the diamond was a spoon maker. It is the fourth largest D-colored diamond in the world.

Qualities of the diamond :

It is a D-colored, pear shaped stone, weighing 86 carats. The stone was mounted as a center piece of a special setting, which was surrounded by two rows of exotic white diamonds. This exquisite ornament setting, exhibited in Topkapi museum resembles the full moon surrounded by stars. Being a colorless stone, it is free- from nitrogen impurities and plastic deformation. Without any inclusions, this ageless stone is one of the "purest of pure" of all diamonds. The structurally perfect nature of the stone is due to its flawless internal arrangement of atoms, in linear fashion. The stone is categorized as type II diamond, since it is colorless.

History :

There are several tales associated with the discovery of the stone. As per one version, the diamond was discovered by the poor fisher man, who was wandering along the Istanbul seashore. Without knowing the proper value of the stone, he sold it to a jewelry shop owner, in exchange for three spoons. Unfortunately, the jewelry shop owner was also not aware of the actual value of the stone and sold it to a diamond vendor for 10 silver coins. The diamond vendor recognized it as a precious stone with fabulous qualities and this news reached Sultan Hemmed IV, who acquired the stone to the palace. Later, few hands change the stone reached the Topkai palace museum, Istanbul. Presently, the spoon maker remains as a star exhibit in the Istanbul museum and viewed by millions of foreign visitors every year.