Shirley Strawn found the Strawn-Wagner diamond in 1990 at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, a publicly owned diamond park where visitors are free to keep what they discover. The Strawn-Wagner diamond is a remarkable stone due to how it attained the highest grade from the American Gem Society.
Famously described by the American Gem Society as a one-in-a-billion perfect diamond, the Strawn-Wagner owns an AGS grade of 0/0/0, referring to its ideality in cut, color, and clarity.
The Pristine Strawn-Wagner Diamond
A diamond is the epitome of luxury, and many factors contribute to its expensive price tag. A diamond’s cut, clarity, color, and diamond carats dictate its worth, adding to the value it already has given its rarity and its difficulties in mining. In addition to that, only 30% of mined diamond stones can meet the standard gem-quality required. The bigger the diamond, the higher the rise of demand. With that said, meet the world’s only perfect diamond, the Strawn-Wagner. (Source: Francis Alukkas)
Famously known as one of the most flawless diamonds, the Strawn-Wagner diamond has an internally perfect condition. The name of the esteemed diamond comes from Shirley Strawn, a citizen of Murfreesboro, Arkansas, who found the mineral, and her great-great-grandfather named Lee Wagner.
The perfect diamond contains 1.09-carat, a color status of D, and a round cut. Its characteristics made the stone attain the highest grade from the American Gem Society, a reliable trade association established in the early 1930s to protect consumers.
Moreover, as the Strawn-Wagner diamond is of D-color status, it is also a Type IIa diamond. Type IIa diamonds are the most chemically pure diamonds as they have no measurable boron or nitrogen impurities. They have high thermal conductivity and are often nearly colorless or colorless at all. (Source: Internet Stones)
Free from any plastic distortions, the Type IIa diamond contains perfectly formed crystals that lead to the diamond having rare colors. Only 1-2% of Type IIa diamonds are earth-grown, while the rest are lab-grown, making natural earth-grown diamonds have an incredibly high value.
Famous Type IIa diamonds include the Elizabeth Taylor or the Krupp diamond, the Cullinan diamond, and the Pink Legacy diamond. Type IIa diamonds have earned the title of being the purest of the pure, with their perfect structure and an absence of impurities. (Source: Ritani)
The Discovery of the Perfect Diamond
Shirley Strawn discovered the Strawn-Wagner Diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Arkansas, in 1990. The Crater of Diamonds State Park is a publicly owned diamond mine where people are free to explore for diamonds after paying a nominal fee. The visitors of the diamond state park are allowed to keep whatever they find.
When Shirley Strawn first found the diamond, it weighed 3.03 carats. Strawn kept it for seven years before Bill Underwood, Arkansas’ first certified geologist, advised her to send the rough diamond for cutting in New York. Esteemed for cleaving diamonds, Lazare Kaplan always ensures the quality of his work, and that he did when he cut Strawn’s diamond.
When Kaplan transformed the rough 3.03-carat diamond into a perfectly-shaped round diamond that weighed 1.09 carats, the maximum brilliance showed itself. In 1988, the American Gem Society gave the Strawn-Wagner diamond the highest grade of 0/0/0, scoring the flawlessness in its cut, color, and clarity. The American Gem Society then labeled the Strawn-Wagner diamond the most flawless diamond they certified. The American Gem Society’s Laboratory Director also described the Strawn-Wagner as a one-in-a-billion diamond. (Source: Internet Stones)