AMNH to Display Rare Kimberly Diamond Through June 2014

The American Museum of Natural History will unveil the Kimberley Diamond for public view on Thursday, July 11 through June 2014. The Kimberley Diamond is an extraordinary 55.08-carat gem that will be on display in the Museum's Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems.

This champagne-colored or "cape" diamond was cut from a 490-carat crystal found before 1868 at the Kimberley Mine in Kimberley, South Africa. The Kimberley was first cut as a 70-carat gem in 1921. It was improved to its present emerald cut in 1958 in order to improve upon the gem's proportions and to increase its brilliancy.

The Kimberley Diamond exhibit is curated by George Harlow, curator in the Museum's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

The Kimberley Diamond is on loan from the Bruce F. Stuart Trust. The exhibition is free with Museum admission.