MALAPARTE. MORTE COME ME di Rita Monaldi e Francesco Sorti

... Mentre Mona Williams mi dava il benvenuto nel viale d'ingresso della sua villa a Capri, il mio sguardo rimbalzava tra i suoi meravigliosi occhi color acquamarina e l'enorme zaffiro di Cartier, sorretto a fatica da un collier di brillanti, che le pendeva al collo. Era il biglietto da visita preferito di Mona quando riceveva gli ospiti, perche' ricordava a tutti che Mona aveva sposato Harrison Williams, un uomo da 600 milioni di dollari. ....

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.