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NO RESERVE - CROSS, AN DE BEERS ORNAMENTAL PRESENTATION PEN HOLDER comprising a polished quartz base with a rough diamond embedded in a piece of host rock, with two articulated pen holders, together with two CROSS ballpoint pens, the gold-tone plaque reading 'PROFESSOR SIR CHARLES FRANK, F.R.S. WITH THANKS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF DIAMOND FROM ALL YOUR FRIENDS AT DE BEERS, pens signed CROSS stamped 10KT Rolled Gold, 28.7cm x 7.8cm. Accompanied by a wooden protective chest. 

Cataloguing Note

Sir Frederick Charles Frank, FRS (1911–1998) was a distinguished British theoretical physicist whose work profoundly influenced the fields of crystallography and solid-state physics. Over the course of his career he made fundamental contributions to the understanding of crystal defects, crystal growth, and the physics of liquid crystals.

Frank is particularly renowned for his work on crystal dislocations and, in collaboration with Thornton Read, for proposing the Frank–Read source, a mechanism describing how dislocations are generated and multiplied within crystalline materials. This concept became central to modern theories of plastic deformation in diamonds, metals and other crystalline solids.

Among his many scientific achievements, Frank also introduced the concept of the disclination in liquid crystals and made important contributions to the theory of crystal morphology and growth. Earlier in his career he proposed the cyclol reaction, an early hypothesis concerning protein structure that, while later superseded, formed part of the broader historical development of molecular biology.

In recognition of his exceptional scientific contributions, Frank was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1994, the Society’s highest honour. His work remains foundational in the study of crystalline materials and the physics of defects.