Red diamonds are among the rarest colored diamonds in the world, with fewer than 20 stones certified as “red” known to exist.



The New York Times reports that one of these unusual diamonds is now on display at the American Museum of Natural History – the Kazanjian Red Diamond, a 5.05-carat emerald cut stone of a deep red hue.



When the Kazanjian Red was first mined in South Africa – a fact that makes the diamond even more unique, since the vast majority of the world’s red and pink diamonds come from Australia – it weighed 35 carats. The Goudiv brothers firm in Amsterdam was hired to cut the stone to its current size and shape.



The diamond was then sent twice to Tiffany & Co, but somehow made its way back to the Netherlands, where the Nazis found it in 1944 and confiscated it. After the war, the red diamond was sold to Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, who sold it to the Royal Asscher Diamond Company.



In 1970, Douglas Kazanjian obtained the diamond and researched its history.