Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond January 26, 2011

The American Museum of Natural History will display the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond for public view in the Museum's Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Minerals. The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond is an extraordinary 31.06-carat natural fancy deep blue diamond that will be on display at the Museum through January 2011, courtesy of Laurence Graff. A magnificent diamond with an exquisite blue color, this gem was a royal gift, a treasured family jewel, the ornament of a legendary knightly order and then...gone. Now known as the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, it was shown only once in public between 1931 and 2008. For decades, experts wondered if a single rough diamond produced both the Wittelsbach-Graff and the famous Hope Diamond. A recent comparison of the two gems revealed that the two diamonds came from different stones. Mined in India over 300 years ago, the diamond passed through several European royal families before a mysterious disappearance. Now repolished, it has been revived as a flawless gem.