Displaying a vivacious color often accompanied with yellow as a secondary hue, orange diamonds are amongst the rarest colors in the world, with a price to match. Red, Pink, Purple and Yellow are the secondary hues most often found in natural Fancy Orange diamonds.

The Pumpkin Orange is a 5.54-carat, Fancy Vivid Orange, Cushion-shaped diamond. The 11.00-carat, Brownish Orange colored rough was mined in South Africa in 1997, but the mine of origin is unknown. Its original owner was a farmer and it is therefore assumed to have been found in alluvial deposits.

The rough was cut and polished by William Goldberg of the William Goldberg Diamond Corporation. Once the polishing was commenced, an incredibly unique intense orange color was revealed. The stone was assessed by the GIA which stated, at the time, that "The Pumpkin diamond is one of the largest fancy vivid orange, naturally colored diamonds in the world."

Orange is a rare color in fancy color diamonds, while Fancy Vivid is a high color rating for any color of diamond. And although the Pumpkin is not the largest diamond around, combine the two rarities of color and color rating and it results in the Pumpkin being one of the rarest diamonds in existence.

So how did the pumpkin come to acquire its unique name? On October 30th, 1997, only one day before Halloween, the diamond was purchased by Ronald Winston, of the esteemed House of Harry Winston, at a Sotheby’s auction for a price of $1.3 million. One of the symbols of Halloween is the “jack-o-lantern,” a pumpkin carved into a scary face with a candle inside. Considering the shape and color of the diamond and its purchase on the eve of Halloween, it is safe to assume that this combination of factors had a strong influence on the name.

Ronald Winston and Phillip Bloch designed the ring which was worn by the actress Halle Berry when she accepted her Best Actress Oscar for the movie “Monster’s Ball” at the 2002 Academy Awards. The Pumpkin Orange diamond was set between two smaller white diamonds.

In 2003, the Pumpkin Orange was displayed as part of the Smithsonian's "Splendor of Diamonds" Exhibition. The exhibition also featured other famous diamonds, including the De Beers Millennium Star, Allnatt, Heart of Eternity, Steinmetz Pink, and the Ocean Dream.

The Pumpkin is rumored to have been sold to an anonymous buyer in March 2005 for just above USD 3 million.

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