Movie Gemstones?

June 13, 2005 8:54 PM

I am compiling a list of large gemstones in movies. Anything to add to the following list?

Emerald from Romancing the Stone/Jewel of the Nile
Heart of the Ocean from Titanic
Stone of the Snake Temple in Conan the Barbarian
Ceremonial stone from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Diamond from Snatch

(Yeah, yeah, I may not have all the name correct in the current list. I'm not worrying about that level of detail at this stage, so no imdb call-outs... well, okay, you can call me out, but be nice.)

posted by lalalana to Media & Arts (31 answers total)

Don't for get the Pink Panther
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 8:57 PM on June 13, 2005

The Pink Panther (diamond) from "The Pink Panther": Ultrasuave jewel thief Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), aka the Phantom, is in hot pursuit of the Pink Panther, one of the world's most precious jewels, now in the possession of Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale). (from here)
posted by taz at 9:02 PM on June 13, 2005

There's also a large diamond in The Wrong Trousers, but I'm not aware that it has a name; of course the movie is a claymation short, but a masterpiece nonetheless.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 9:19 PM on June 13, 2005

Best answer: There's a huge diamond in THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER.

[If you had a little spare time, you could go to imdb.com -->more searches
Go to word search, select "plots" in the pull down and enter "gems", "jewels", etc.]
posted by Gucky at 9:27 PM on June 13, 2005

The recent Pierce Brosnan/Salma Hayek flick After the Sunset resolved around a couple of so-called "Napoleon" diamonds.

"The Galaxy" in Men in Black is a gemstone on a cat's collar.

I don't remember the details, but from the title, it seems like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone should be about, well, a stone of some sort.

My wife isn't so sure of this one, but I think the title object in Bond's Goldeneye is some sort of big crystal.
posted by robhuddles at 9:29 PM on June 13, 2005

Aren't there a bunch of diamonds in Diamonds are Forever?
posted by bshort at 9:34 PM on June 13, 2005

Small diamonds in Marathon Man, but... memorable.

Weren't there huge stones in Congo? Or did it just take huge stones to make that disaster in the first place?
posted by dreamsign at 9:34 PM on June 13, 2005

Big diamond in the most excellent movie, The Hot Rock.
posted by googly at 9:40 PM on June 13, 2005

There's the big crystal in Risky Business, if that counts for anything beyond a detuned piano.
posted by Tuwa at 9:46 PM on June 13, 2005

Wasn't the diamond in the Great Muppet Caper called the baseball diamond?

I think that Topkapi is about jewelry theives, but I don't remember if they steal a large stone, or just a gem encrusted item.
posted by gnat at 9:49 PM on June 13, 2005

I knew there had to be a Sherlock Holmes entry in this game: Terror by Night ("Star of Rhodesia" diamond).

Also, Beau Geste begin with the theft of a famous sapphire.
posted by taz at 9:59 PM on June 13, 2005

Does The Dark Crystal count?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:28 PM on June 13, 2005

A magic gem stars in Miyazaki's Laputa, Castle in the Sky.
posted by dazed_one at 11:09 PM on June 13, 2005

I like the old Beatles movie "Help"! Ringo has one stuck on his finger:

Ringo's Gem
posted by Instrumental at 11:29 PM on June 13, 2005

More Sherlock Holmes - someone must have filmed the Blue Carbuncle
posted by Cranberry at 12:25 AM on June 14, 2005

In "Oliver", all the stolen gems sink into the mud.
posted by Cranberry at 12:26 AM on June 14, 2005

Old Marilyn Monroe-Jane Russell movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" featured the song "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend"
posted by Cranberry at 12:34 AM on June 14, 2005

In "Reservoir Dogs", the boys were after diamonds - "The finest uncut stones" from somewhere.
posted by vito90 at 12:37 AM on June 14, 2005

I believe the emerald in Romancing the Stone was called "Mi Corazon" (My Heart). The jewel in Jewel of the Nile was a person.
posted by deborah at 1:06 AM on June 14, 2005

The coolest fictional diamond I can think of is the Moonstone, from Wilkie Collins's novel of the same name. IMDB confirms that a few movies were made from the book, though I haven't seen any of them.
posted by painquale at 1:19 AM on June 14, 2005

I believe the stones in Temple of Doom was called Sankara stones. There was also Lao Che's diamond at the beginning in Club Obi-Wan.

Smaller, but the "eye" of the bird on Raiders' headpiece to the staff of Ra was a red jewel of some sort.
posted by blueberry at 4:20 AM on June 14, 2005

How about the crystal thing Tom Cruise catches in Risky Business?
posted by schoolgirl report at 4:29 AM on June 14, 2005

Does Superman's Kryptonite count?
posted by McIntaggart at 4:57 AM on June 14, 2005

I have a fuzzy memory of a movie mentioning a gigantic diamond at the core of Jupiter, but I can't point any farther than that.

(I think that was an older, actual theory about Jupiter as well, which would explain it showing up in a movie...)

That would be a biggie.
posted by socratic at 5:06 AM on June 14, 2005

There's a jewel heist involving 'black diamonds' in Cradel 2 the Grave.
posted by the cuban at 5:31 AM on June 14, 2005

I think there was a Sherlock Holmes movie version of the Case of the Blue Carbuncle...

And in Small Time Crooks Woody Allen turns to a little jewel theiving near the end of a famous necklace.
posted by mrs.pants at 8:24 AM on June 14, 2005

Does the Crystal from The Dark Crystal count?
posted by necessitas at 8:39 AM on June 14, 2005

L'etoile de Joie, a big diamond, from Herby Goes to Monty Carlo.
posted by greatgefilte at 9:49 AM on June 14, 2005

The Devil's Eye diamond from The Rescuers.

Man, do people even read the thread before they contribute?
posted by Specklet at 9:52 AM on June 14, 2005

socratic, you are, I believe, thinking of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 series. I don't remember if it's in the film 2010 or in one of the books, but the heart of Jupiter (or was it Saturn) is revealed to be a giant diamond.

There was a shitty Martin Lawrence movie (redundant, I know) where he played a jewel thief masquerading as a cop to retrieve a diamond he had stolen and subsequently lost. I think a Baldwin was in it.

OK, here it is: Blue Streak. Luke Wilson, not a Baldwin.
posted by UKnowForKids at 12:14 PM on June 14, 2005

Another Sherlock Holmes movie diamond: The Star of Delhi from the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The sequel to Conan also features a diamond, but I don't think they ever give it a name.
posted by unreason at 1:26 PM on June 14, 2005