Presidential Busts – Reward

Over the years, the Kazanjian Brothers acquired many large sapphires from these sapphire fields, which they quietly stored, giving no hint of their existence.

Crown jewels of the United States of America 

Having acquired the world’s largest black star sapphire, the Black Star of Queensland, in 1947, brothers Harry and James Kazanjian could not risk the discovery of a larger specimen. They set themselves the task of buying every sizeable piece of sapphire that might rival the significance of the Black Star. Four of these substantial sapphire pieces were carved into USA presidential busts. 

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These larger pieces of rough were found here in the Reward area and secured through one of Australia’s leading gem merchants of the time, Harry Spencer of Rubyvale. 

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The blue sapphire destined to become the bust of President Abraham Lincoln was flown to America in December 1948. Work started on the famous carving in November 1949 and took almost two years to complete. 

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The 1,997-carat piece of blue corundum used for the George Washington bust was dug by Roy McKinney’s wife, Hilda in September 1948. Harry Spencer sent this gem in a parcel of other large pieces of corundum to the Kazanjian Brothers. It was carved by Harry B. Derian and revealed to the American public in February 1954. 

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The Dwight D. Eisenhower bust was carved from a 2,097-carat black star sapphire. A unique feature of this gem was a fine star at the base of the neck. The bust sits on an 18-carat gold box fitted with a mirror and light making the star visible. The Eisenhower carving was unveiled in Washington, D.C. in September 1955. 

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The Thomas Jefferson bust was carved from a 1,743-carat piece of blue sapphire. Work commenced on the bust in March 1955 and was completed in April 1957. In March 1984, a sapphire carving of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. mounted on a gold box was unveiled at an Oriental Jewel display held at the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California. 

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These pieces all remain part of the Kazanjian Foundation collection in Beverly Hills, California, where they are loaned out from time to time to various US institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the White House

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