The number 101 might be familiar in most modern day pop-culture references. Even children can relate to the catchy number being used as part of the 101 Dalmatians animation franchise. Did you know though that there is a beautiful pear-shaped diamond out there called the '101'? Precisely it actually weighs 101.73 carats, however 'point seventy three' didn't quite sound as catchy for its proprietors.



This diamond was once bought by Harry Winston, the famous jewelry design house, during a Christie's event several years ago. The purchases was a celebratory event of Harry Winston being acquired by the Swatch Group. The company currently owns many famous jewelry and watch brands such as Blancpain, Tissot and Omega, aside from their own Swatch brand.




The 101 diamond was described as the most perfect diamond ever offered at auction- by Rahul Kadakia, the head of Christie's Switzerland during the time of sale. Harry Winston originally purchased the stone for about 254,000 USD per carat, or about 26.7 million dollars in total. It sits today as one of the world's finest pear-shaped D-colored, flawless diamonds recorded in human history. It was soon after renamed to the 'Winston Legacy' in honour of the jewelry house's founder.

It's no secret that there are rivers and streams that carry down pebbles of precious gem material from the mountains, but for Wayne Messer; a native fishing guide of the Appalachian Mountains, gemstones were literally sitting beneath his boots.



In the 1990's the gemstone buff was walking along the gravel filled stream bed of an area in North Carolina, when suddenly he caught a glimpse of some corundum. Corundum is the mineral species that both rubies and sapphires belong to.

Messer would usually follow this geological trail of minerals and find a deposit where gem-quality rough sometimes existed. For this particular story, he had to dig 8 feet down according to news sources, in order to reach the natural treasure hidden in the soil.

To his surprise, Messer's find eventually became four massive star rubies that totaled to about 342 carats. These were all museum-quality pieces that were intrinsically priceless as specimens.



One of the rubies, now called the "Appalachian Star Ruby" is considered one of the very largest star rubies to have ever been discovered in the US. Weighing in at about 139.43 carats, it's even larger than the famously known Rosser Reeves Star Ruby, which is displayed at the Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian)



Others in the collection, are the 52.37 ct. Misty Star Ruby, the 64.17 ct. Promise Star Ruby and the 86.56 ct. Smokey Mountain Two Star Ruby. The Smokey Mountain exhibits the phenomenal quality of asterism both on its front and on its back angles.



Now, decades after the initial find, Messer's family now pursues the auctioning of these magnificent ruby specimens through Guernsey's in New York. Several notable appraisals have valued the gemstone close to a hundred million dollars.



The four-stone collection, as we've heard, will be sold together in order to preserve the original find by Wayne Messer.

Star rubies are currently among the most valuable phenomena-possessing gemstones traded today, along with others like cat's eye chrysoberyl, color-change alexandrite and star sapphire. Many of these are considered specialty gems, amassed passionately by collectors from many different countries and societies.

Emeralds have long been a part of the colored stone market's top tier varieties, however today we are guided by experts from Christie's auction house in their narrative explanation of one truly historical emerald specimen; the famed Rockefeller Emerald.

Now this 18.04 carat viridian gemstone boasts a rare combination of pristine clarity, considerable size and vivid saturation. The 'Rockefeller Emerald' is noted to be one of the world's most valuable examples of faceted emerald today, having been initially estimated to sell for between 4-6 million US dollars. The stone's green flair has mesmerized onlookers at the Christie's New York auction event, where it was later purchased by the famed American diamantaire Harry Winston for 5.5 million dollars. The record-setting amount of $305,000 per carat, is the highest per-carat price paid for a single emerald in all of history.

The 'Rockefeller Emerald' is a fine-market example of Colombian sourced emerald that possesses an intense coloration coupled with remarkable transparency. Stones like these are not easily found, even in the largest of beryl mines across many different continents.

The bewildering stone was set into a magnificently crafted platinum ring by Mr. Raymond Yard, a jeweler who's personal history has been closely tied to the Rockefeller family, especially its patriarch John D. Rockefeller, Jr. since the early years of his career. His works have been featured at auction events around the world, organized by prominent names in the industry, such as Sotheby's and the aforementioned Christie's auction company.



The advent of this sale has breached past the previous auction record holder- a 23.46 Bulgari pendant owned by Elizabeth Taylor, that was sold for 6.5 million dollars by Christie's during an early 2000 event. The Rockefeller emerald now has an equally famous historical home in the hands of Harry Winston, whose own diamond house has been a pioneer in the trade for several decades.

(Video tour, image credits and narration courtesy of Christie's Auction House and its representatives)