The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is a 1922 novella by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in Smart Set and later included in Tales of the Jazz Age. The story follows John T. Unger, a teenager from Mississippi, who visits the Montana estate of his mysterious classmate Percy Washington, only to discover it sits atop a massive diamond. As John learns of the Washington family’s secret wealth, ruthless measures to protect it, and encounters romantic entanglements with Percy’s sister Kismine, he witnesses the consequences of greed, vanity, and illusion. The tale climaxes in a dramatic destruction of the estate, leaving John to confront the harsh reality behind the glittering facade.
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