Early April 2025, is a big moment for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History – the most exclusive and incredible gems will be shown as part of the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection.
The museum is expanding its collection with more than 40 naturally colored diamonds, including a rare 2.33-carat fancy red diamond, thanks to Ronald Winston, the son of a legendary jeweler. Such generous donations are very important for several reasons: new valuable items expand museums’ existing collections, create buzz around the art centers, and attract new visitors.
A curated selection from the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection, showcasing the full spectrum of natural diamond colors. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian.
A collection of five exquisite Fancy Pink diamonds, showcasing one of the rarest natural diamond hues. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian.
An exquisite 4.11-carat yellow diamond, expertly emerald-cut, from the prestigious Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian.
This donation is among the most remarkable the Smithsonian has ever been lucky to receive. Visitors will be able to admire the exposition in the Winston Gallery, named in honor of the intuitive businessman. It is common to name a gallery, wing, or the whole building after a donator. An interesting fact is that almost 70 years ago, Harry Winston contributed one of the largest blue diamonds to the institution. This one stone played an important role in making the National Gem & Mineral Collection what it is today. It is impossible to see all the specimens in one day because you want to admire each of them. In case you can’t visit the museum or want to have all those gems in your house, there is a great book by Dr. Jeffrey E. Post with amazing photos. It is both aesthetically pleasing and full of food for thought as it presents stories of the most prominent stones from the museum artifacts.
This time, the son gifted a very rare crystal – a red diamond, square shaped with rounded corners and 58 facets. Its shape is also key to determining when it was crafted – most likely before 1949. The “Winston Red” is among those most unique brilliant red jewels that are over a carat in size. The hardest conditions shape the most beautiful things, and ruby-like diamonds get their color due to the extreme underground pressure they are exposed to. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) officially classified it as a fancy red, the most uncommon and valuable category of hued diamonds. There are not many places where you can find these stones, the most rich deposits are in Australia. Scientists also traced an interesting pattern, probably connected with how the diamonds formed; if there are pink gems, then red ones are there too.
Harry Winston. Photo courtesy of Harry Winston site.
Ronald Winston. Photo courtesy of Ronald Winston site.
Ronald Winston was excited to give the items to the museum. Every person has a moment which they consider the most proud one, and this scarlet-hued stone is the one of the U.S. jewelers. These kinds of stones are so rare that their price per carat starts from $1 million. He said he had never seen anything like it before and was delighted that people would now get to look at and enjoy these rare precious stones.
Usually, when donors present something to a non-profit institution, they receive a charitable tax deduction as long as the donation meets IRS requirements. When someone donates valuable items like gems, they cannot immediately deduct the full value of the items from their taxes. Instead, they can deduct not more than 30 percent of their annual income. They don’t lose the extra deduction if the donation is worth more than that – philanthropists can use it over the next five years until they’ve deducted the full amount.
Only a few of the 40 fancy-colored diamonds have the same hue; each one is unique and beautiful. The smallest one is under 1ct., and the most impressive is almost 10 ct. The American gem expert loved his work, especially the process of discovering extraordinary pieces like this – he spent 60 years accumulating this collection.
National Museum of Natural History. Washington D.C. View of the main facade. Wikipedia photo
