Linus won't find this Great Pumpkin in his pumpkin patch. It will outshine any harvest moon on Halloween. On the eve of Halloween in 1997, Sotheby's auction house auctioned this very rare 5.54 ct. cushion cut, natural Fancy Vivid Orange diamond. It was purchased by the Harry Winston Company and was christened the 'Pumpkin Diamond'. The diamond was discovered in 1997 in the Central African Republic, and it displayed brown hues in the rough state. William Goldberg and Joe

It was the most beautiful diamond you had ever seen.  He had it tucked inside his shirt pocket. Nervously, he nearly dropped it onto the san

Balanced carefully on a corner, it looks like an odd shaped aquarium with an underwater scene. Blues, greens, pinks and golden colors bouncing the light within. This is the Contra Luz Opal, discovered in Opal Butte, Oregon. It weighs approximately 119 ct. and was recently sold at Bonhams for $20,000. Opals are found in the US too.

Writers have compared opals to volcanoes, galaxies, and fireworks. Admirers gave extraordinary opals poetic names like Pandora, Light of the World, and Empress. In ancient Rome, this gem symbolized love and hope. The Romans gave it a name—opalus—that was synonymous with “precious stone.” In 75 AD, the Roman scholar Pliny observed, “Some opali carry such a play within them that they equal the deepest and richest colors of painters. Others…simulate the flaming fire of burning s