In 1999, De Beers unveiled the De Beers Millennium Jewels - the centrepiece being the De Beers Millennium Star, a ‘D’ colour, flawless pear-shaped stone weighing 203.04 carats.
The rest of the Millennium Jewels were made up of eleven rare blue diamonds with a total weight of 118 carats. The largest was the Heart of Eternity weighing 27.64 carats.
The Millennium Star weighed 777 carats in the rough, and is the sixth largest diamond of gem quality ever discovered.
It took the Steinmetz Group three years to cut the Millennium Star. First of all it was split in Belgium, then polished in South Africa and subsequently finished in New York.
Over one hundred plastic models of the stone were made to design and plan for the optimum cut for beauty and weight. A special room had to be constructed and special tools created for the operation.
In the end the diamond was shaped into a classic pear, with 54 facets. Harry Oppenheimer remarked that it was the most beautiful diamond he had ever seen.
The De Beers Millennium Jewels were displayed in the Millennium Dome at Greenwich in London, in the year 2000, and later at exhibitions in Tokyo and Dubai.