Precious stones are found in different parts of the world. Burma, a country located in south-east Asia, has
been one of the most important precious stone producing countries for many centuries. Burmese rubies* in
particular have often surprised the experts with their clarity and size. Some of them were so amazing that
they were given special names. For example, a 100-carat ruby discovered at the beginning of the twentieth
century was named the De Long Star Ruby after one of its owners. In terms of size, the De Long Star
Ruby is the second largest star ruby in the world after the Rosser Reeves Star Ruby. Star rubies reflect a
six point star on the surface. The star effect is best seen in the sunlight or when the stone is examined
under an artificial source of light.
The De Long Ruby has an interesting history. In the 1930s, a businessman called Martin Leo Ehrmann
bought this unusual ruby and in 1937 he sold it to Mrs. Edith De Long for 21,400 dollars. Mrs. De Long
then gifted it to the American Museum of Natural History in the same year. The museum exhibited the
extraordinary ruby together with another famous precious stone, the Star of India, which is a light blue
sapphire. The two stones were displayed in the Morgan Hall of Precious Stones and became two of the
most popular exhibits in the collection.
In 1964, several valuable stones, including the De Long Star Ruby, were stolen by a famous surfer Jack
Murphy and two of his companions. The robbers stole precious stones and left the museum without being
noticed, which was possible because one of the windows on the second floor was regularly left open.
Murphy and his partners climbed in through that open window. It was amazing that no one had tried to
burgle the museum before.
The value of the stolen stones was more than four hundred thousand dollars, making this the largest
robbery ever at the time. The news media called it the Robbery of the Century. Three of the stones were
so famous that they would be impossible to sell, so the museum authorities managed to pay money to the
burglars and got the precious stones back. Some sources say that the robbers left the stones in a phone
booth in Florida, others claim that they were left in a storeroom at a bus station in Miami. Jack Murphy
and both of his partners, Alan Kuhn and Roger Clark, were arrested two days after the stones were found
and they were sentenced to three years in prison. The robbery later became the subject of a popular
Hollywood movie shot in 1975 and named ‘Murph the Surf’. The movie was directed by Marvin
Chomsky and it starred Don Stroud as Murphy.
