corundum, quality.10, Tajikistan.12, spinel, USSR.12, Russia.12, gems, diamond, gold, platinum

Sinkankas: High quality, design, materials, and illustrations provide an attractive treatise on the gems and other objects in the famous “Diamond Fund” of the USSR located in Moscow and on view to the public. The catalog lists 242 items, of which 66 are depicted in color. These include Tsarist jewels, crowns, regalia, orders, exceptionally large diamond crystals from Yakutia, Siberia, one of which weighs 135.12 carats, and a series of gold and platinum nuggets, the largest gold nugget being 36,015.7 gm (the largest ever found in the USSR), and a platinum nugget of 5,918.4 gm, the largest known. Other items are native gemstones, several modern Communist orders, modern jewelry made in the USSR, and both the Orlov and Shah diamonds.