The Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection was unveiled at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History on Tuesday, April 1st, with Smithsonian dignitaries and Mr. Ronald Winston in attendance to present the donation.
Headlining the 41 diamond display is the 2.33-carat Fancy Red cushion brilliant (an Old Mine Cut, with its small table, large culet, and noticeable wear along the girdle edge), a stunning diamond displaying a jaw-dropping vivid dark red color. This is the red all other red diamonds hoped to be.
The supporting diamonds displayed behind the Winston Red are a rainbow of colors that include a rare purple, a fantastic green (not olive), an outstanding deep orange, a vivid blue, and a super vivid yellow. (see images below) The collection even features what we will call a true white diamond (milk, not colorless)!
The Winston Collection is now on permanent display at the Natural History Museum in Washington D.C. in the Winston Gallery, and just a few feet away from the Hope Diamond, the 45.52-carat Fancy Deep Blue Diamond, largest in the world, the Whitney Flame Topaz, a 48.86-carat natural deep red topaz, one of the finest Imperial Topazes in the world, and the 4.6 pound, 14 inches tall, Munsteiner cut “Dom Pedro” Aquamarine.
Sant Director Kirk Johnson and Coralyn W. Whitney Curator of Gems and Minerals Gabriela Farfan
Photo by Phillip R. Lee, Smithsonian Institution
On a Personal Note
Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA
I had the pleasure of being in Washington, D.C. on April 3rd to co-lead a tour of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History’s Gem & Mineral Hall. This was an additional pre-event Gems & Jewelry tour for attendees of the International Society of Appraisers’ Assets 2025 Conference.
Joining me was Smithsonian volunteer Ken Rock (yes, that’s his real name), an expert in environmental sciences, and editor for the MSDC, the Mineralogical Society of the District of Columbia’s newsletter. Together, we had the privilege of introducing the group to the Winston Gallery’s newest highlight: the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection.
I don’t often get personal in the Roskin Gem News Report. Typically, we focus on delivering gemological insights—details you might not have known, facts that deepen your understanding and appreciation of the gems and gem-set jewels we find newsworthy. But with the Winston Red, I feel compelled to speak from personal experience. So here goes…
The Largest Red?
This diamond isn’t remarkable simply for being a large red diamond. While it is indeed a sizable red diamond at 2.33 carats, that’s not what sets it apart.
And it’s not about being 1-in-a-million, or 1-in-25-million, or any other numerical rarity you might toss about. The Winston Red transcends statistics.
It’s really all about the color!
The Winston Red exists in a color class all its own. Singular. Unrivaled. A true pinnacle of red diamond color. Amongst red diamonds, this one stands at the summit.
Yes, They Are Rare
Red diamonds are amongst the rarest and most extraordinary gemstones in the world. Many come from sources like Western Australia, southern Africa, Russia, and Brazil… and many of those red diamonds exhibit secondary hues, such as brown or purple, noted as “Fancy Brownish-Red” and “Fancy Purplish-Red” on grading reports. Even red diamonds graded as a straight “Fancy Red” may show these secondary colors, even though they may not be explicitly noted on the laboratory report.
This is not to diminish the beauty of those diamonds—they are all remarkable in their own right. But when viewed alongside the Winston Red, this stone reveals a red that is, quite simply, unmatched.
Pure Red?
Do I believe the Winston Red is the world’s finest red diamond? It certainly could be. What I know is that of all the red diamonds I have seen in my career, this one has the finest color – red without any secondary color that I can see, with medium to dark tone, even color distribution, and that strong vivid saturation (which, by definition, a red must have). So, you can take it from me, or you can go see it for yourself. Let me know what you think. The 5-carat DeYoung Red is close by if you feel the need to compare. And you will be in the Smithsonian, in amongst the finest gem and mineral collection in the world. Do spend some time to see what other beautiful miracles mother nature has provided.
As for the Winston Red, Ronald Winston is a collector of some of the most extraordinary fancy color diamonds in the world. He knew exactly what he had in the Red. That’s why he kept it all these years. And because of its importance, and the importance of his fancy color diamond collection, all of these diamonds now reside in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, with his name forever attached to them, for millions of visitors to see and enjoy. – gr
Photo by Robert Weldon
For the record, as our discussion on color is so critical here, and in case anyone wonders if the Winston Red really looks like this image vs. all of the other images in our report here, Robert Weldon shares his method in giving us an accurate image. “My lighting involves meticulous white-balance measurements from studio lights (where I know the exact color temperature) matched to the camera’s color profile. The resulting RAW file is viewed next to the gem on a color-calibrated monitor.
Finally, I diffuse the light to render a balanced hue, with few spikes of light.”
– through the glass at the Smithsonian
The Collection includes top examples from several hues, including orange, green, purple, yellow, white, pink, and more.
GIA Press Release
GIA Gems & Gemology, Spring Issue 2025
– A team of scientists from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), collaborating with their colleagues from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History Department of Mineral Sciences, and the curator from the Paris School of Mines, recently examined the Winston Red.
“The Winston Red diamond is one of the most exquisite gems on earth, from its unparalleled deep-red color to its rich history,” said Susan Jacques, GIA president and CEO. “Natural fancy-colored diamonds are very scarce, and red diamonds are exceedingly rare treasures of Mother Nature. Just two dozen pure red diamonds over one carat exist in the public record. Evaluating this spectacular gem is a scientific milestone for GIA and builds upon our expansive expertise in fancy-colored diamonds.”
Through careful analysis using advanced instrumentation and drawing on decades of research, experience and historical records, GIA scientists and their collaborators were able to determine the cause of the diamond’s rare color and its possible geographic origin, which is most likely Brazil or Venezuela, based on its mineralogical characteristics and history.
“When the Winston Red was recently submitted to GIA for grading, I immediately recalled examining it in 1987—it is an unforgettable diamond,” said Tom Moses, GIA executive vice president and chief laboratory and research officer. “The Winston Red diamond is an historic and very rare diamond; its old mine cut, deep red hue and inclusions tell a story that can be traced back to September 1938 when Jacques Cartier sold the stone to the Indian Maharaja of Nawanagar.”
“It’s as if the diamond was squeezed and now is intensely blushing,” said Dr. Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson, senior manager of diamond research at GIA in New York City. “The reason why so few diamonds are red has eluded scientists for generations. Our detailed examination of the Winston Red, supplemented by data from other red diamonds evaluated over decades by GIA, uniquely positions us to probe this question. We can attribute the color to features introduced by plastic deformation – subtle changes to the diamond’s crystal structure caused by a long and stressful history under tremendous heat and pressure deep within the earth. The highly concentrated red color, along with its documented history, makes this diamond extraordinary.”
“This gift by Ronald Winston of the Winston Red diamond and the Winston Fancy Color Diamond Collection is one of the most significant to the National Gem & Mineral Collection in recent decades. It is an honor for the Smithsonian to be the forever home for these natural history treasures, especially as a place where they can be enjoyed by the public,” said Dr. Gabriela A. Farfan, curator of gems and minerals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. “Over the past two years, we have been working hard to study the Winston Red and get it ready for its big exhibit debut in the Winston Gallery, next to the Hope Diamond. The exhibit was inspired by the symphony, where the Winston Red acts as the conductor to a rainbow of other fancy color diamonds.”
Dr. Farfan is the lead author and Dr. Ulrika D’Haenens-Johansson is a co-author of a scientific article on the Winston Red to be published this spring in Gems & Gemology, GIA’s quarterly scientific journal. The other co-authors are Russell C. Feather, II, collection manager for the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian Institution; Dr. Eloïse Gaillou, director and curator of the Mineralogy Museum of Mines Paris – PSL (Paris School of Mines); Stephanie Persaud, a research associate at GIA; Dr. W. Henry Towbin, a postdoctoral research associate at GIA; and Dr. Daniel C. Jones, a research scientist at GIA. The article will be freely available, as are all issues of Gems & Gemology since 1934, on GIA’s website, www.gia.edu/gems-gemology.
Photo by Gary Roskin
