Nassak Diamond - Present Information

Present Information

In early 1964, gemologist G. Robert (Bob) Crowningshield evaluated the Nassak Diamond at the Gemological Institute of America gem laboratory to produce a Diamond Grading Report. In that same year, the Nassak Diamond was placed in the hands of J. & S.S. DeYoung, a then 100-year-old estate jewellery house located in New York. The Gemological Institute of America Diamond Grading Report that came with the diamond indicated that it was Internally Flawless.

In early April 1970, the diamond was rated one of the thirty great stones of the world and placed on display at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York City. On 16 April 1970, the diamond was sold at auction for $500,000 (allowing for inflation, this would now be $2.96 million) to Edward J. Hand, a then 48-year-old trucking firm executive from Greenwich, Connecticut. This was the second highest auction price ever for a diamond at that time, the first being circa $1.1 million for the Taylor-Burton Diamond several years earlier. Six years later, the diamond was placed on display in November 1976 at a charity benefit as a means to attract donors to that benefit.