Stanthorpe’s Green Diamond

(via Gemmology Queensland, Volume 3, No.9, September 2002 / The Queensland Government Mining Journal of 15th April, 1924)

A Sad Tale

In a letter to the Brisbane Daily Mail, Mr Oscar Meston (Mining Warden at Stanthorpe) writes:

“On 10th March a cable from London stated that the only known green diamond in existence would be exhibited at the Wembley Exhibition. It weighs a carat and a half, is worth £1750, and was found in the Transvaal in 1923. The Stanthorpe mineral field has produced a rival to this remarkable gem. A few years ago my eye was attracted by ‘coruscation’ from a heap of tailings on an abandoned tin claim. I discovered the source of the light to be a small green stone, which I immediately recognized as a diamond. It was a perfect octahedron, pale green in color, flawless, and a limpid beauty—and it weighed two carats and a half. The surface showed very fine striations, evidently caused by movement under enormous pressure. I offered the stone to several gem merchants in Sydney, but found them almost as adamant as the diamond itself. Their chief objection was the excessive hardness of the Australian diamond and consequent lapidarian difficulties. The utmost I could obtain for the stone was 20 guineas. On the basis of valuation of the Transvaal stone, I lost approximately £2900 on the transaction.”