During my recent trip to North Carolina, I visited the Asheville Museum of Science (AMOS) twice, accompanied by two separate groups of friends. It is a local science and natural history museum with interactive exhibits for all ages. If you are heading to Franklin for the upcoming gem shows in July, put this wonderful museum on your itinerary.
The Star of the Carolinas is a large blue-gray star sapphire, cut as an oval-shaped cabochon gem. The original rough stone weighed 2,847.50 carats, and the finished gem weighs 1,445 carats. This star sapphire measures approximately 63 x 57.5 x 37.5 mm. It was listed as the world’s largest star sapphire in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989. The overall quality of a natural star sapphire depends on the quality of the cut, color, clarity, and definition of the star. In sapphires, a six-rayed star appears to float across the surface of the stone.
The rough sapphire was discovered in 1987 at the Old Pressley Mine, located in Haywood County near Canton, North Carolina, by Bruce Caminiti (Star Gems by Martin Steinbach). The gem was cut by master gem cutter John Robinson (1944-2023), born in Kentucky but lived in Nixa, Missouri, where his wife, Faith, owns the Infinity Fine Jewelry store.
The gem is one of the focal pieces of the Asheville Museum of Science (AMOS), on loan from the Stewart B. Coleman Family. It is part of their Gemstone Collection, which contains over 1,000 cut gemstones from around the world…