The Aurora Pyramid of Hope is a collection of 296 cut natural

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s in a wide variety of

colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

, billed as "the most comprehensive natural color diamond collection in the world". It is owned by Aurora Gems, Inc., a diamond merchant specialising in fancy color diamonds. The collection has been displayed on loan in a pyramid-shaped display case in various major museums since 1998. Aurora Gems was founded by Harry Rodman (1909–2008) a gold refiner from the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, and Alan Bronstein, a diamond dealer from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, who began collecting colored diamonds in 1979. The original 260-gem collection was on public display at the American Museum of Natural History in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

from 1989 to 2005 in the Morgan Hall of Gems. It was the centerpiece for the museum's 1998 exhibition ''The Nature of Diamonds'' which toured Japan, Canada, and the U.S. In 2005, the collection moved to the

Natural History Museum of London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. At that time, 36 new specimens were added to the original 260 diamonds, for a total weight of .

References

Notes

* * * * * {{cite web , url=http://blogs.nature.com/london/2007/11/28/minerals-bring-new-sparkle-to-museum , title=Minerals bring new sparkle to museum , access-date=2021-07-27

External links

Aurora Pyramid of Hope
Aurora Gems, Inc. Individual diamonds Private collections in the United States category:Private collections in the United Kingdom

See also

References

Notes

External links