The massive stone was discovered in the Kimberley mines, South Africa, in 1878. At the time of discovery, it was the largest vivid yellow diamond, ever discovered. Herbert Islander, the jewelry and diamond historian listed the fabulous qualities of this stone, in his book "Diamond cuts in historic jewelry".

Qualities of the stone :

The stone is a canary yellow, cushion cut, flawless stone weighing 128.54 carats. When found, the stone was weighing 287 carats, George Fredrick Kuntz, the gemologist, cut the stone to its current size. He employed the cushion cut, added additional 32 facets, and this resulted in scintillating 90 facets - 48 on the pavilion and 40 on the crown. The splitting of the main facets by the stepped crown and pavilion provides the gem an enormous glow rather than sparkle. The unique feature of this stone is that, when it is exposed to artificial light, it retains its intense vivid yellow color. The nitrogen atoms of the stone absorb the visible light from the spectrum and impart color to the diamond. Being colored, it is grouped under type II diamonds category.

Mounting of the diamond :

The Tiffany yellow diamond was earthed in Kimberly mines, South Africa, in 1878, with the massive weight of 287.42 carats. The rough stone was acquired by Charles Tiffany, owner of Tiffany & Co and he requested his master cutter Kuntz, to resize the stone. Kuntz resurfaced the stone with cushion cut and added additional 32 facets, in order to get a total of 90 facets. The Smithsonian's National museum of natural history loaned the diamond from Tiffany and displayed it from April to September, in the year 2007. Jean Schlumberger, Tiffany designer, crafted a gold-platinum bird, studded with white stones and mounted it on the exquisite yellow diamond. Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse and Audrey Hepburn were the only two women, who were known to have worn this ageless stone.