Lost Treasure: The Eagle Diamond

Watch on MW Video or Read Below to learn more about the Lost Treasure of the Eagle Diamond:

On the night of October 29th, 1964, Jack Murphy (aka Murf the Surf) and Allan Kuhn climbed up the stone walls of the American Museum of Natural History and stole some of the most precious gems from the J.P. Morgan’s Jewel Collection.  The Star of India, the Delong Ruby, the Schettler Emerald, numerous other emeralds, and almost all the diamonds, of the collection, including the Eagle Diamond, were stolen.

Although the thieves were apprehended within days of the daring heist, and many of the jewels recovered, the Eagle Diamond remains missing to this day.

The Eagle Diamond was discovered in 1876 by Charles Wood in Eagle, Wisconsin.  He was digging a well on a piece of land he and his wife were renting when he discovered the hard stone.  Wood hadn’t suspected it was diamond, but rather thought it was a piece of topaz. It was sold for pennies, and was only later realized to be a valuable 16.25 carat diamond ‘of a warm sunny color’.

The diamond made its way to Tiffany’s in 1889, who bought it for $850, and who later sold it to J.P. Morgan in early 1900’s.  Morgan then donated the large stone to the Museum of Natural History where it was on display until its disappearance during the infamous midnight theft.

The beautiful gemstone is believed to have been carried to Wisconsin by a glacier, and may have originated from Northwest, Canada, where kimberlite pipes have been discovered.  Kimberlite is a type of rock which is known to contain diamonds.  Other diamonds have been found in glacial deposits of Wisconsin as well.  The Theresa Diamond, found in 1888, weighed 21.5 carats and is the largest diamond found in Wisconsin.  It is thought there may still be diamonds to be discovered in areas of these past glacial movements. Is there a larger diamond waiting to be found?

As part of the J.P. Morgan collection, the Eagle Diamond was a prized piece.  The jewel thieves were inspired to steal the gems while watching the movie ‘Topkapi’.  In this film an emerald encrusted dagger is stolen from the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.  Murf, leader of the gang, while watching the movie, felt they could do something similar shown in the movie, and staked out Morgan Hall to finalize plans.

Unfortunately, for them, they were caught within hours of the heist and headed to jail.  It was a sensational jewel heist catching headlines all across the world.  It now has created the mystery of ‘what happened to the Eagle Diamond’?

While it is postulated the large diamond was cut down to smaller pieces, this is not for certain.  Might the Eagle Diamond, of its original size, be out there somewhere to be recovered?

Time will tell.

 

 

Best of luck with all that you seek!  Always Treasure the Adventure!