I love the insignificant 30ct Golconda center stone in the brooch.  I am a sucker for older cuts with stunning crystal (*SIGH* the insignificant size is OK with me too, LOL!). Thank you so much for posting these wonderful photos.

The paper weight/old shoe story is hilarious. If only I, too, could have too many BIG jewels lying around... 

Oldmancoyote, I spent all of yesterday looking in all my shoes but unfortunately no luck, but jokes apart, its funny you mention this because I have an aunt who is crazy about diamonds and she has collected quite a few over her lifetime.  The one time she had to leave home for extended travel so she hid a pair of her diamond stud earrings in a shoe, and forgot about it.  Several months later the house cleaner brought them to her saying she had found some glass pieces in the shoes........lucky for my aunt, the cleaner did not know they were diamonds!  Also, one more interesting fact I learned about yesterday......the Nizam's biggest and most valuable diamond a 280+ CT diamond (said to be the 5th largest in the world) went missing in the 1940's when the royal family were forced to sell all their jewels to the Indian government.  It it said to have either been stolen by a government official or is still lying lost/hidden in one of the several palaces of the Nizam.  His family have started a systematic and official search for the diamond.  It is claimed to be worth about $212 million.  They say if stolen, it is useless for the person who has it because it is too important to go unnoticed, however, I am sure there are ways to get rid of such things in international underworld markets. 
They are recruiting volunteers for the search, and whoever finds it keeps it.............;-)  want to join??

I'll bring my magnifying glass and help, too!