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Harry Winston’s Son Donates Fancy Red Diamond to the Smithsonian
Ronald Winston is giving the 2.33-carat “Winston Red” to the Smithsonian, 67 years after his father donated the Hope Diamond.
PHOTO The 2.33-carat “Winston Red” diamond is the centerpiece of a collection of natural colored diamonds that Ronald Winston, son of Harry Winston, has donated to the Smithsonian Institute. At 2.33 carats, it’s one of the largest fancy red diamonds in the world. (Photo credit: Robert Weldon/Photo courtesy of Ronald Winston)
PHOTO The “Winston” Red will go on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., alongside the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection, an assemblage of 40 stones that showcases the color range of diamonds. Seen here is a selection of diamonds from the collection. (Photo credit: Robert Weldon, arranged by Gabriela Farfan/Photo courtesy of Ronald Winston)
Washington, D.C.—The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is adding 41 natural colored diamonds, including a rare 2.33-carat fancy red, to its gem collection, all courtesy of the son of the “King of Diamonds.”
Ronald Winston, eldest son of Harry Winston, is gifting the museum the “Winston Red” diamond and the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection, an assemblage of 40 stones in total.
The museum announced the donation on Tuesday and said the stones will be unveiled to the public on April 1.
“This ranks among the most significant gifts ever received by the Smithsonian,” the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Director Kirk Johnson said.
“The Winston diamonds are unprecedented in their beauty and rarity, and we are thrilled to welcome them as additions to our National Gem Collection. We extend our gratitude to Ronald Winston for making this gift to the nation possible.”
The diamonds will be on display in the Winston Gallery, which was named for Harry Winston and houses the Hope Diamond, which the famed diamantaire donated to the museum in 1958, a gift the museum said laid the groundwork for the National Gem & Mineral Collection.
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Ronald Winston, eldest son of Harry Winston, is gifting the museum the “Winston Red” diamond and the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection, an assemblage of 40 stones in total.
The museum announced the donation on Tuesday and said the stones will be unveiled to the public on April 1.
“This ranks among the most significant gifts ever received by the Smithsonian,” the National Museum of Natural History’s Sant Director Kirk Johnson said.
“The Winston diamonds are unprecedented in their beauty and rarity, and we are thrilled to welcome them as additions to our National Gem Collection. We extend our gratitude to Ronald Winston for making this gift to the nation possible.”
The diamonds will be on display in the Winston Gallery, which was named for Harry Winston and houses the Hope Diamond, which the famed diamantaire donated to the museum in 1958, a gift the museum said laid the groundwork for the National Gem & Mineral Collection.
Red diamonds are considered the rarest of all diamonds, and it is rarer still to see ones that are 1 carat or larger in size.
The 2.33-carat “Winston Red” is one of the largest red diamonds graded as a fancy red by the Gemological Institute of America, the museum said, and is an old mine brilliant-cut diamond, which suggests it was cut before the mid-1900s.
A full study on the science and history of the “Winston Red” is slated to be included in the spring 2025 issue of “Gems & Gemology,” GIA’s quarterly journal.
“The red diamond is the highlight of my career, and I have never seen anything else like it,” Ronald said.
“This donation to the museum represents my life’s achievements in this domain, and I am so happy to share this collection with the [Smithsonian] Institution and the museum’s visitors.”
A 4.11-carat emerald-cut yellow diamond from the collection (Photo credit: Robert Weldon/Photo courtesy of Ronald Winston)
These five fancy pear, oval, and heart-shaped pink diamonds are part of the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection. (Photo credit: Robert Weldon, arranged by Gabriela Farfan/Photo courtesy of Ronald Winston)
The 40 diamonds in the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection range in color from a soft peach to a deep teal and in size from 0.40 to 9.49 carats.
Ronald, who just turned 84 and worked in the family business for decades, amassed the collection over 60 years.
Following the release of the 2023 biography Ronald wrote on his father Harry, Ronald said in an interview with JCKOnline that he missed the jewelry business, particularly the “creative element of finding rare, extraordinary things.”
“In this collection, we have diamonds in colors I could never have dreamed of,” said Gabriela Farfan, who took over as the museum’s Coralyn W. Whitney curator of gems and minerals in May 2023.
“These gems give us the opportunity to share with our visitors the full range of colors in which diamonds occur.”
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