By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
January 27, 2012

Remember the adage, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend?” This time, diamonds are The Salvation Army’s best friend.

Soon, The Salvation Army will auction off a unique, European cut diamond that experts say is at least 100 years old.

An anonymous donor slipped the .82 carat diamond into a red kettle in front of a Walmart in Shawnee, Kan., this past December.

According to Meirotto’s Jewelers, this particular European cut is no longer used.

“European cut diamonds were prominent starting in the late 1700s and possess a certain beauty and magic reminiscent of a past time,” said Carol Meierotto, owner of Meirotto’s Jewelers, Kansas City, Mo. “When it was made, diamonds cost around $48. The age of the diamond leads us to assume it has been in a family for years, being passed down at least one generation and perhaps more.”

Meirotto’s appraised the unusual diamond and donated an 18 karat white gold ring accented with side diamonds totaling .50 carat for the Ebay auction. Combined with the European cut diamond, the value of the ring totals $3,000.

The Ebay auction for the ring will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, and will end Tuesday, Feb. 7 – just in time for the day of love, a.k.a. Valentine’s Day. To bid on the item, visit www.ebay.com and search for item number 280815255278.

“This beautiful diamond has been on a journey,” said Maj. Charles Smith, divisional commander of The Salvation Army in Kansas City. “The path of that journey up to now is unknown to us, but we do know that whoever donated it chose to pass a piece of themselves and their history on to help others.”