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Lori Prichard reporting Marilyn Monroe said it best: Diamonds are a girl's best friend. If you can afford a whopping $37 million diamond that was on display tonight in Salt Lake, the girl may just chuck the diamond and say you're her best friend.
"I never thought I would see anything quite like that," diamond spectator Joan Hellstrom said.
Women were snapping photos, and men were crowding to get a closer look at a rare sight. It's one of the world's largest black diamonds.
The $37 million black diamond was on display for all to see today only in Salt Lake at the Korloff Paris boutique.
Daniel Paillasseur owns the boutique and the diamond. The Paris-based jeweler tells the tale of the precious gem that brings luck and prosperity to whomever it touches, but behind the bullet-proof glass no one got close enough to touch it.
"I know the security had to be very heavy here. They had to have helicopters in the air," Hellstrom said.
Police were also called in to cover the armored car delivering the 88-carat stone to the Gateway-based Korloff Boutique.
Speaking through an interpreter, Paillasseur told tonight's dazzled crowd the diamond's history and international draw. "Most think it's coming from Russia, probably Siberia," Paillasseur said.
It's already been on display in Dubai, Beruit, Bahrain and Moscow through the years.
Paillasseur says that diamonds are one of the most universal and purest symbols of love. In any language, spectator Rosie Comollo can agree with that. "I actually just got a diamond, yeah, today!" she said.
By the way, the Korloff Noir is not for sale.
However, it may hold some luck. According to Paillasseur, he let Russian figure skater Alexi Yagudin touch the diamond before performing at the 2002 Winter Games here in Salt Lake. Yagudin won the gold, but I'm sure he wanted the diamond.
