We had 1,113 carats and got it down to 888.” “I said, ‘I think I can make it into a sugarloaf pear-shape and still keep the star in it.’ She and I sketched it out. “We had the rough form and I took it over to Brad and Angie’s house,” Procop recalls. Procop wasted no time in getting his famous client, friend, and collaborator’s take on it. Like a couple apples or a big gold pocket watch.Īlthough the sapphire was discovered in Queensland, Australia, in 1937 by James Kazanjian-of the Beverly Hills, Calif.–based Kazanjian Brothers, gem dealers with a long history of trading in star sapphires-it remained uncut until 2011, when Procop acquired it from James’ son, Michael Kazanjian. The carat weight of the Star of Jolie is equal to about 177 grams, or roughly six ounces. It’s like “an anchor to your yacht in the Mediterranean,” he joked.įor a gemstone, the piece was heavy. He reached in, pulled it out, and handed it to me unceremoniously. of additional black star sapphires, the piece was stuffed into Procop’s pocket when he greeted me. Set into a fetching 18k rose gold necklace loaded with 104.42 cts. I’d made the drive to Costa Mesa, about an hour south of my home in Hollywood, so I could feel 888 cts. The occasion was Procop’s day-long personal appearance at Saks Fifth Avenue at South Coast Plaza, the luxury mall in Costa Mesa, Calif., that has, for 50 years, served as a magnet for the region’s most affluent consumers.

Last Thursday I had the chance to hold the inky stone and behold its luminescent star, a hypnotic sight for anyone with a love of color. Named after actress, director, and philanthropist Angelina Jolie by its owner, the Beverly Hills jeweler Robert Procop, the pear-shape sugarloaf cabochon is the largest star sapphire in the world.

black star sapphire known as the “Star of Jolie.” That reality sometimes obscures the fact that truly peerless gems pass through our midst. The jewelry industry is awash with superlatives: the biggest, the rarest, the most expensive.

Black star sapphire price