The Pumpkin Diamond

Fancy Vivid Yellow Orange Diamond by Leibish & Co. Photo Credit: Flickr under CC License.   On March 24, 2002, when Halle Berry, wearing the celebrated Pumpkin Diamond on her left pinky finger, made her landmark Oscars acceptance speech at the 74th Academy Awards, history was made. Forever forward, the rare orange diamond will be linked to the year that the first African American woman held in her hands the golden statue that honors those men and women who have distinguished themselves in the film industry. Ms. Berry won the award for her role as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball. The film tells the story of a poor colored woman who falls in love with a white correctional officer who, she finds out perhaps too late, played a major part in her husband's execution. While the tale is most definitely about the racial divide, it is also about the dividing lines of poverty, family, gender, and our judicial system. In her acceptance speech, Berry hints at the depths to which she had to go to nail the role: "...my husband, who is just the joy of my life, and India , thank you for giving me peace, because only with the peace that you've brought me have I been allowed to go to places that I never even knew I could go. Thank you. I love you and India with all my heart. "Our director, Marc Forester, you're a genius. You're a genius. This movie-making experience was magical for me because of you. You believed in me, you trusted me, and you gently guided me to very scary places. So thank you." Ms. Berry went on to thank as many people as she could remember in that shell-shocked moment.

The Pumpkin Diamond

While Halle Berry is on stage making her gut-wrenching speech, she wears on her left pinky the Pumpkin Diamond. It radiates with warmth and energy as she throws a silent, sobbing kiss to her peers in the audience. It glows with golden light as she grips the Oscar in her left hand as she honors all the people who made her moment possible, going back a hundred years. It shimmers elegantly in the stage lights as she covers her face in disbelief. Could Ronald Winston have possibly known the role that his rare orange-colored Pumpkin Diamond would play in American history that night?

No Thought of Winning

  For reasons known only to him, he graciously lent the 5.54-carat fancy vivid orange diamond to Halle Berry for her night at the Oscars. She was nominated, but even she had no thought of winning. She told Libby Brooks, writer for The Guardian, that she had not even planned an acceptance speech. During the interview, she laments her missed opportunity to thank many more people, most importantly Billy Bob Thornton, without whom her win would have proven impossible. It seems like it was just like any other Oscars night for the House of Harry Winston. The practice of lending pieces to celebrities for red carpet events may have even been invented by the firm's founding father, Harry Winston. He was always carrying large diamonds on his person, slipping them onto potential clients' fingers when they least expected it. Nothing sells a diamond like seeing it in person, feeling the weight of it, falling in love with its mesmerizing qualities. And nothing captures the interest of collectors like seeing a diamond make history. It would be pure conjecture to guess at the motives behind the Winstons' choice to slip the brilliant orange diamond on the actress's finger. She had a one-in-six chance to win, up against America's most celebrated actresses, Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek, Judi Dench, Renee Zelwegger. No wonder she hadn't planned an acceptance speech.

Making History

But the odds played well for Ronald Winston. His diamond was now making history, as it should. Nearly as rare as Halle Berry's breakthrough win, this diamond deserved recognition. It was found in 1997, in the Central African Republic. William Goldberg purchased the stone and then had it fashioned into a cushion cut before selling it at auction the next year. In 1998, during an auction hosted by Sotheby's, Ronald Winston, representing the House of Harry Winston, purchased the phenomenal orange diamond for $1.3 million {6}. According to Robert Genis, writer for The Gemstone Forecaster, Ronald Winston expressed a desire to name the stone The Tangerine. However, since the stone was purchased the day before Halloween, his staff urged him to connect the stone to the autumn holiday {2}.

Rare Vivid Orange

Ronald Winston and Phillip Bloch set to work right away to design a classic platinum setting for the stone {1}. They mounted it between two specially cut white diamonds. The resulting jewel resembles many antique rings from the late 1800s. Following the 2002 Oscars, the House of Winston loaned the Pumpkin Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. For three months, the jewel remained on public display in a special exhibit called The Splendor of Diamonds. This exhibition was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, The Steinmetz Group, and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The Splendor of Diamonds exhibition showcased seven of the world's most rare and valuable colored diamonds. The Pumpkin was the only orange diamond included. What makes this orange diamond so special, according to the Smithsonian Institution, is that the majority of orange diamonds manifest with a brown undertone. The Pumpkin Diamond does no such thing. It is pure vivid orange, catapulting it into diamond history as one of the largest fancy vivid natural orange diamonds in the world {6}. And that is how diamonds make history. by Angela Magnotti Andrews, Staff Writer

References

1. Famous Diamonds. "The Pumpkin." Accessed January 30, 2015.
2. Genis, Robert. "Collecting Orange Diamonds," The Gemstone Forecaster, Vol. 21, No. 4, Winter 2003.
3. Oscars YouTube Channel. Video: "Halle Berry Wins Best Actress: 2002 Oscars. Published by Oscars on May 23, 2014.
4. "Oscars Fashion: A Beautiful Time," People, Vol. 57, No. 13, April 8, 2002.
5. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. "The Splendor of Diamonds." Accessed January 30, 2015.
6. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. "The Splendor of Diamonds: The Pumpkin Diamond." Accessed January 30, 2015.
7. William Goldberg. "Orange Diamonds: Colors of the Fall," October 24, 2012.