Esperanza Diamond LIVE Cutting & Polishing Stream

[Evert P Botha]

A historic event is taking place in North Little Rock. Earlier this week, we started cutting and polishing the Esperanza Diamond, and we've been streaming it LIVE on Youtube. Mike should be finishing it up later today, and if you want to view the cutting and polishing of this unique diamond, you can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/user/SiriusStarCanada/live

Some Esperanza Facts

1.) Esperanza means hope.
2.) Esperanza was discovered on June 26th by Bobbie Oskarson from Colorado, who names it after her niece.
3.) At 8.52ct, Esperanza is the 5th largest diamond found since the Crater of Diamond State Park opened to the public in 1972.
4.) Esperanza is the first and only of the famous, and the largest diamond ever cut in Arkansas- at a special in-store event in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
5.) Once finished, Esperanza will be the 4th largest finished Arkansas and/or American diamond.
6.) It is being cut into a custom-designed 147 facet triolette by master diamond cutter, Mike Botha.
7.) It is projected to be a colorless and very pure diamond- and in all likelihood may just be the most valuable of the famous Arkansas diamonds.
8.) It will be graded by the American Gem Society Laboratories once finished.
9.) It is 100% mined (discovered), cut and polished in the Natural State- Arkansas.
10.) It will be set into a platinum pendant be Erica Courtney.
11.) It will be sold at auction on December 7th.
12.) It is the first LIVE stream of the cutting and polishing of a legendary diamond

 

[Jim Summa]

I was lucky enough to be involved on this remarkable diamond. It frankly couldn't have been found by a better person who is a little overwhelmed by all the attention.
I don't Bobbie would mind me mentioning she spent all of 20 minutes looking at the park (looks a little like freshly plowed field...actually exactly like a freshly plowed field) before finding this gem.... Esperanza, Spanish for hope.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

This is such an awesome story! I have checked into the live video and certainly will try to today to see the end result!

 

[Sphene]

Shame they are losing so much weight - would it have been better to leave some internal graining and gain weight

 

[Evert P Botha]

We've been having a lot of fun, and making a little bit of history at the same time.

 

[denverappraiser]

Shame they are losing so much weight - would it have been better to leave some internal graining and gain weight

That unusual facet pattern is all about saving weight. The shape of the original crystal is very strange. Flat and pointed like an icicle (see the photo above). Cut to a more traditional shape, like an emerald or a marquise, she would have lost on the order of 60% and ended up at 3.x cts. With this they're hoping to hold 5.0+.

 

[Evert P Botha]

The painstakingly slow process of polishing each of the 147 facets is underway right now, and after checking in with Mike, he's onto #5.

 

[Jim Summa]

Evert,
During the cutting your dad explained that what everyone was calling trigons were in fact other crystal faces peeking out of the rough?

 

[Evert P Botha]

The stream is back online...
http://www.youtube.com/user/SiriusStarCanada/live

 

[Evert P Botha]

Evert,
During the cutting your dad explained that what everyone was calling trigons were in fact other crystal faces peeking out of the rough?

Indeed- we were all corrected by Mr. Diamond Crystallography!

 

[Evert P Botha]

This incredible diamond- Esperanza has a very strong connection to the American Gem Society (AGS) as all the individuals and companies are members. Upon her return to Denver, Bobbie Oskarson reached out to the only AGS Independent Certified Gemologist Appraiser (and regular PriceScope contributor) in Colorado- denverappraiser who confirmed that Esperanza was indeed a one-of-a-kind diamond. Rather than sell the diamond outright, Bobbie decided to have the diamond crafted to an exceptional diamond by Mike- an AGS Registered Supplier, and to have it cut and polished in Arkansas at Stanley Jewelers Gemologist, an AGS Registered Jeweler.

Before this all happened, Esperanza was shipped to Jim Summa at Summa Jewelers in Saint Louis- another AGS Registered Jeweler who spent a couple of days getting to know her. It was during this time that I flew down and we made the decision to commit ourselves 100% to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After Saint Louis, she was sent to AGS Laboratories for some testing and scanning and the results were pretty much in line with what we all called her- colorless and in all likelihood very pure- but that's up to the final steps she's going through right now...