The Story Of The Logan Sapphire

The beginnings of the Logan sapphire remains a mystery however the first owner was said to be a native Sri Lankan who was beheaded for failing to return the stone to his leader. The stone was then sold to a Maharaja, then in the early 1900s, it was purchased by an Englishman. 

The stone then remained in the hands of the jeweller who eventually sold it onto Guggenheim in 1952 where it was a surprise gift for Rebecca ‘Polly’ Guggenheim. One very lucky lady. 

Polly was born in Virginia, whose father was a leading developer of Virginia Beach & mother was a colonial dame.  It was while she was studying in Boston that she caught the eye of Colonel Guggenheim. In 1938 Polly & the Colonel got married in Miami aboard his 175-foot yacht, called the firenze. They lived aboard the ‘firenze’ yacht for several years. In 1942 they settled in Washington DC living aboard the yacht on the Potomac river. 

They eventually purchased a 20-acre estate in northwest DC and built a fifty-nine room Tudor-style mansion where they entertained powerful guests in Washington and were known to host elaborate parties at their Firenze house. Polly wore the sapphire to inaugural balls, White House dinners & their many private dinners. She would warn that as the owner of this world renowned gem, ‘You can never forget about it. You have to have your clothes designed for it. People always notice when you wear it and mention it when you don’t’ 

In 1959, Colonel Guggenheim died and Polly a year later decided to donate the gemstone to the Smithsonian Institution where it remains today. Although Polly had agreed to hand over the gem, she held onto it and occasionally wore it until 1971 when she finally handed it over. 

The extraordinary egg-sized gemstone is one of the largest & finest sapphires in the world believed to have been found in the Sri Lankan gravel deposits. When Polly was once asked if her 422 carat sapphire was too large she responded ‘I thought so too until I owned it’ 

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Reference: The Smithsonian National Gem Collection - Unearthed: Surprising Stories Behind the Jewels 

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