Big diamond paying a visit to Honolulu

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Fashion Writer

World Tour of the American Star 10 a.m.-9 p.m. tomorrow through Saturday Opal Fields, Ward Warehouse For more information, or to make a reservation to have your photograph taken wearing the diamond tomorrow night, call 591-0804.

For the platinum-set pendant's appearance here, security alone will cost $8,000. The 13.42 carat diamond is valued at $2.3 million.

While there are much larger cut diamonds, the American Star's eight-star cut and rating by the Gemological Institute of America (D color, internally flawless) is said to make it one of a kind. The gem is owned by EightStar Diamond Co.

How a diamond handles light is what determines its rating, and subsequently, its value. If a diamond is cut too thick or too thin it will "leak" light from its back, thus sacrificing beauty.

Tom Wheeler, owner of Opal Fields in Ward Warehouse, the gem's local host, said a diamond's beauty is measured by its brilliancy, scintillation and fire.

• Brilliancy means how well the diamond reflects light, making it appear brighter than anything else around it.
• Scintillation or sparkle is caused by the diamond's twinkle and how much "life" it suggests.
• Fire is bright flashes of spectral colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) from the dispersion of light as it leaves the diamond.

Wheeler said the stone underwent a year of gemological study, followed by a six-week process of recutting. One stubborn facet, he said, took three days to polish. Work was completed Oct. 15, 2001. EightStar said it bought the diamond, already faceted, and recut it to prove the value of the company's scientific approach to diamond cutting. Since then, the gem has toured California, Illinois and Georgia.

Opal Fields was chosen to be Hawai'i's exclusive dealer for EightStar diamonds because Wheeler is an American Gem Society-certified gemologist appraiser, he said.

Wheeler also is the only gemologist in Hawai'i trained to cut EightStar diamonds. He has a FireScope, a testing instrument that shows a diamond's symmetry in three dimensions. (It's similar to the way an ophthalmologist can look inside your eye to see if your cornea is sending light where it needs to for perfect vision.)

Since 1919, perfection in cutting and polishing diamonds has been based on a two-dimensional mathematical model. To reach perfection, the finest, most modern diamonds are cut based on optical symmetry that allows them to have facets as precisely honed, angled and calibrated as the mirrors in a space telescope.

Wheeler explained that a diamond "has incredible ability to gather light and reflect and refract it. If it can handle all the light it gathers without leaking any out the back, the viewer will see the maximum amount of brilliancy, fire and scintillation. The EightStar cut has the broadest flash fire."

Cut is most difficult aspect of a diamond to measure, yet it has the most influence on the beauty of the diamond.

The paradox is that if the cutter cuts it to be the most beautiful it can be, he will cut away the most stone. "Most diamonds are compromised for beauty so the producer can retain more weight from the rough," Wheeler said.

Wheeler said he believes the American Star is one of the most valuable jewels ever to be shown in Honolulu, and calls it "the honor of my lifetime to host this event."