Where did The Heart Shape come from because it definitely was  not from the shape of our human heart!

The Symbol of the Heart originated from the African state of Cyrene, whose merchants traded the rare and now extinct plant called silphium. Along with seasoning food, these seeds were used as a contraceptive. Thus, it became associated with Love and Sex.

Even The Silver Cyrene coins used as currency from the 5-6th century BCE have the heart shape symbol representing the silphium seed.

Today the Heart shape is the defining symbol of Love and Romance and is often given as gifts for engagements and anniversaries.

In 1475, Van Berquem, (a Flemish stone polisher) introduced the concept of absolute symmetry in the placement of facets on the heart shaped diamond. His precision and advancement also resulted in the first pear-shaped briolette which was a breakthrough in shape, design and cutting excellence.

Some famous and beautiful Heart shaped diamonds have been created over the past centuries and given as a token of great love and devotion…

The Windsor Heart Yellow Diamond weighing 47.14 carats was bought from Harry Winston by the Duke of Windsor (Prince Edward) for the Duchess (Wallis Simpson) in 1951. In order to marry and be with the true love of his life, the Duke had to renounce his crown and forfeit being the king of England. Their Love story is a true fairytale of Romance…but an extreme conflict between himself and the Royal family. The Duchess wore the Heart shape diamond as a ring, however, the stone was later acquired by the Estee Lauder family and made into a pendant drop. It was later sold in 2012 and the proceeds went to aid the Breast Cancer Foundation.

The Graff Venus, weighing 118.78 carats, is the worlds largest D-color / Flawless heart shaped diamond. The stone was cut from a 357 carat rough diamond, resulting in a beautifully balanced layout. The heart shape happens to be one of the most difficult shapes to cut both correctly and symmetrically.

The Heart of Eternity , certified as “Fancy Vivid Blue” color is extremely rare and one of the most valuable Blue diamonds ever sold. Rumors have it that this 27.64 carat gemstone was sold to Floyd Mayweather in 2012 for his fiancé Shantel Jackson from De Beers for a guesstimated value of $16M+. Today it could sell for 3M+ per carat which is 81M+ in value!
Blue diamonds make up less than 0.1 % of all diamonds mined in South Africa and there is maybe only one significant blue diamond mined every year to qualify for the classification of a vivid blue.https://www.worthy.com/famous-diamonds/the-heart-of-eternity-diamond

http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/09/ignorant-rich-athlete-moments-over-last-decade/

J. ORTMAN DIAMONDS

Heidi Ortman Sheff

J. Ortman Inc
jortman.com
Heididesignz@gmail.com