The Red Cross diamond gets it's name after the sale of the unnamed enormous canary yellow diamond, donated by a group of philanthropists to the British Red Cross Society, at an art sale organized by Christie's of London in the year 1918 on behalf of the Society.
The diamond is a rare canary yellow , cushion-shaped stone, weighing 205.07 carats. The cut of the diamond is a stellar brilliant cut, similar to the cut employed in the other famous canary yellow diamond the "Tiffany Yellow."
The canary yellow color is a very rare and much sought after color among yellow diamonds, and thus the Red Cross diamond becomes a very unique and notable diamond. The Red Cross diamond is the largest canary yellow diamond and the 4th largest yellow diamond in the world.
The diamond is said to be more luminous than a white stone in artificial light. Another peculiar property of the diamond is it's ability to absorb light energy when exposed to brilliant light, and emit this energy subsequently in the dark, making the stone self-luminous.
The table facet of the diamond clearly displays a Maltese Cross, making the selected name Red Cross more appropriate for a second reason.
In the year 1918 Christie's of London, held an art sale on behalf of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John. The purpose of the sale was to collect funds for the relief efforts of these International Humanitarian Agencies. A group of diamond dealing firms who used to purchase the output of the De Beers Diamond Mining Company, presented an enormous yellow diamond weighing 205 carats as a gift to this art sale, a gesture of support for the humanitarian efforts of these voluntary organizations. The sale of the diamond on the 3rd day of the art sale netted £35,575, and the diamond came to be known as the Red Cross diamond.
The origin of the diamond is undoubtedly from South Africa, probably from one of the mines belonging to the De Beers Mining Company, at Kimberley. The diamond is said to have weighed 375 carats in the rough and discovered somewhere between 1899 and 1901.
The diamond was reported to have been purchased by a member of an European royal family, and after changing hands several times, eventually came into the possession of an anonymous American businessman around 50 years later. In June 1973, the stone was put up for auction in Tokyo, but the highest bid reached was only £82,000, far below the reserve price of £2,000,000, and therefore the stone was withdrawn from the sale. Later in the same year in Nov. 1973, the stone came up for sale again, at a Christie's Auction, held in Geneva, but failed to realize the expected prize. The stone remained in Switzerland until 1977, when it was again put up for sale. The stone appears to have been purchased by an anonymous buyer, whose identity remains a mystery up to this day.
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