MALAPARTE. DEATH LIKE ME by Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti

... While Mona Williams welcomed me in the driveway of her villa in Capri, my gaze bounced between her marvelous aquamarine eyes and the enormous Cartier sapphire, supported with difficulty by a diamond necklace, which it hung around her neck. It was Mona's favorite calling card when she received guests, as it reminded everyone that Mona had married Harrison Williams, a $ 600 million man. ....

The sapphire was purchase in 1926 by the Countess von Bismark in Sri Lanka during her honeymoon with Harrison Williams. The magnificent sapphire exhibits the highly-prized deep blue color of sapphires from Burma. Historically the finest sapphire gems came from Burma (now Myanmar), Sri Lanka, and the Kashmir region of India. Although sapphires occur in a wide variety of colors, traditionally blue has been the most popular and valuable. Sapphire is the gem variety of the mineral corundum. Pure corundum is colorless, but small amounts of impurity atoms can impart a range of colors. In this case, iron and titanium are responsible for the beautiful blue color of the sapphire. The 98.57-carat Bismarck Sapphire is mounted in a platinum necklace designed by Cartier set with 312 baguette and round brilliant cut diamonds and accented with 8 square-cut sapphires. The Countess Mona von Bismarck donated the necklace to the Smithsonian in 1967, and it is on display in the Gem Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History.