World's Largest Cut Aquamarine Displayed at Smithsonian

Washington's Museum of Natural History is the new home of the Dom Pedro - the world's largest aquamarine gem, cut from what was believed to have been the largest gem-quality crystal ever found. Discovered in Brazil, the crystal was then taken to Germany, where it was transformed into its current shape by world-renowned gem artist Bernd Munsteiner.

Published

6 months ago

Categories

Arts & Society

Topics

United States

People

Bernd Munsteiner

Places

United States of America, Washington, D.C.

Tags

gems

Transcript

SHOTLIST: WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 3, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 1 Jeffrey Post (man), Curator of the National Gem and Mineral Collection, Smithsonian Institution (English, 26sec): "When the German dealers acquired this crystal it weighed about 60 pounds. And they realized that this was a one-of-a-kind crystal and wanted to do something really special. They didn't want to just cut it into a bunch of small gem stones. And so they went to Bernd Munsteiner talked to him and conceived of this piece, the Dom Pedro." SOUNDBITE 2 Jeffrey Post (man), Curator of the National Gem and Mineral Collection, Smithsonian Institution (English, 13sec): "He left in the crystal these natural hollow tubes. This was actually the top of the crystal down here, and these are natural hollow tubes that were imperfections in the original crystal." - tracking shot Jeffrey Post arrives with box containing the gem - MS Post opens the box and removes the gem - MS the Dom Pedro standing on the table in front of Post - CU base of the gem showing the naturally-occurring "hollow tubes" - WS Post turning the gem - CU gem being turned - tilt up the length of the gem ---------------------