Dresden Green Diamond

  The capitol of Saxony is where the Dresden Green Diamond gets its name; it was on display there for over two hundred years. In its rough form, it probably weighed over one hundred old carats. The Dresden Green was first referred to in the October 25th-27th issue of a London newssheet, The Post Boy, in 1722. It stated that Marcus Moses, a diamond merchant from London, presented the diamond to King George I. The article also stated that it was a "…large diamond…of such hugeness, and of such a fine emerald color without the help of a foil under it." Frederick Augustus II later purchased the Dresden Green in 1741; he purchased it from Delles, a Dutch merchant, at the Leipzig Fair. Diessbach, a jeweler, later worked the diamond into a hat clasp in 1768. In 1988 the diamond was examined by the Gemological Institute of America; not only is it an unusual type of IIa Diamond, but it is also of astonishing quality. The diamond weighs 40.70 carats and is considered to be the worlds biggest and best natural green diamond ever found. In 2000, Ronald Winston, the son of Harry Winston, arranged for the Dresden Green Diamond to be exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution; the exhibition opened on Friday, October 14, 2000 and remained there until January, 2001. The Dresden Green Diamond was then moved to its present location, the Albertinium Museum in Dresden.