

“In recent years the University of Cincinnati was not able to verify the existence of the diamond in their collections.”Īlthough the newspapers hailed the Taylor diamond as the first ever to be found in the Cincinnati area, it was not the first nor would it be the last. Vierthaler reported in a 1961 article for Gems & Gemology that the Taylor diamond was still among UC’s mineral samples, but the Ohio Geological Survey’s Fall 1982 newsletter has this note: Norton lectured on the Taylor stone in December 1898.

Most sources claim that the University of Cincinnati acquired the stone. While the Taylor diamond was renowned for its brilliancy, its subsequent history is murky at best. Its rare beauty gives it a value incommensurate with its weight, but leaving this out of the question, the unique position that the gem occupies would also cause it to be prized.” “Tints unseen in other diamonds flash forth from its many faceted sides, and a hidden fire continually lurks within its depths. According to the Enquirer, the jeweler, Herman Keck Jr., president of the Duhme Jewelry Company on Fourth Street in Cincinnati, had the stone cut and polished. Taylor took it to a jeweler, who proclaimed it a diamond of excellent quality. Taylor noticed the children at play and was struck with the odd shape of the ‘lucky stone.’ On closer examination it appeared very remarkable to him, as he had never noticed anything similar to it in the neighborhood before.”

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer the children picked up this “lucky stone” along with a handful of quartz pebbles to play “jack stones.”

As it developed, that stone was a diamond weighing about six carats. Taylor just outside Milford discovered a curious pebble and brought it home. Two young girls playing in the plowed field of a farmer named Joseph R. The most famous diamond found in this region was discovered around 1896. When was the last time you went out for a stroll, intent on finding a diamond? In the Greater Cincinnati region, some very nice stones have turned up in creeks and farm pastures.
