Diamonds, Royalty, And Beliefs

7/28/2019 Diamonds, Royalty, And Beliefs

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Important Details You ShouldKnow About Diamonds

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Copyright 2013
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Copyright 2013 www.mydiamonds.com.au 2

Table Of ContentsPage 3 Five Interesting Factoids About The Koh-i-NoorPage 5 A Brief History Of The Sancy DiamondPage 7 Cool Trivia About The Cullinan DiamondPage 9

Is The Hope Diamond For The World To AdmireBut Not For One Person To Enjoy?

Page 11 The De Beers Centenary Diamond AbsolutelyPerfect In Every Way


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Five Interesting Factoids About The Koh-i-Noor

Named one of the most famous diamonds in the world, the Koh-i-Noor

diamond is also considered one of the most expensive types there

is. Because its extremely valuable, its actual financial worth

has yet to be determined. The Koh-i-Noor white diamond is

absolutely flawless but it comes with some very interesting trivia

which spawn so many stories. Listed below are five facts about one

of the biggest precious stones in the world.

1.Koh-i-Noor literally means mountain of light in Urdu,which is one of the five official languages spoken in India.

This diamond is believed to have originated from the Andhra

Pradesh Region of India along with its double, the Darya-ye

Noor (sea of light).

2.This diamond first became publicly known in 1306 when it wastaken from a Rajah of Malwa whose family had ownership of the

diamond for hundreds of years.

3.It initially weighed 186 carats and was an oval-cut whitediamond the size of a small hens egg. However, it was re-
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cut after British Governor General of India Lord Dalhousi

arranged for the diamond to be presented by former leader of

IndiaRanjit Singhssuccessor, Duleep Singh, to Queen

Victoria (who became the Empress of Indiaand had it mounted

on a brooch she so often wore). In 1852, the stone was re-cutupon the order of Prince Albert to increase the stones

beauty and brilliance. The Koh-i-Noor became part of the

Crown Jewels of England and was mounted in a tiara with more

than two thousand smaller diamonds after the death of Queen

Victoria. The Koh-i-Noor diamond now just weighs 108.93

carats (however, gemmologists claim that its real current

weight is just 105.6 carats or 21.6 grams).

4.There is such a thing called The Curse of the Koh-i-NoorDiamond which states that He who owns this diamond will own

the world, but will also know all its misfortunes. Only God,

or a woman, can wear it with impunity. The history and

lives of all the rulers who once possessed this diamond were

filled with tremendous hardships in the form of violence,

torture, treachery, killing and mutilation. Hence, when the

British Royal family took possession of the Koh-i-Noor

diamond, it either went to the Queen Consorts or the wives ofthe British kings. The last Queen Consort to wear it was

Queen Elizabeth (or the Queen Mother).

5.The Koh-i-Noor diamond now calls the Queens Gallery in theTower of London home, where it is part of the Royal

Collection.


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A Brief History Of The Sancy Diamond

Among all the diamonds in Europe, one stands out spectacularly for

having the richest history and a most unconventional appearance.

The Sancy diamond, which is one of the most expensive diamonds in

the world, is a pale yellow 55.23 carat shield-shaped stone,

believed to be of Indian origin (the Golconda region,

specifically, where the Koh-i-noor and Darya-ye Noor diamonds

originated from as well). It is one of the first large diamonds in

history to be cut with symmetrical facets. This diamond isincredibly unique for it has no pavilion (one of the four main

facets on brilliant cut stone between the girdle and culet; it

just has a pair of back-to-back crowns).

The pale yellow hue naturally sets it apart from the clear white

diamonds that are included in the roster of the most valuable

diamonds to ever be discovered. Its unique beauty, however, never

fails to inspire awe in people lucky enough to see it.

According to history, Henry III of France capitalised on the

unusual elegance of the Sancy diamond by borrowing it to decorate

the small cap he often wore to effectively conceal his baldness.
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Nicolas de Harlay,Seigneur de Sancy, an avid jewellery and gem

stone collector who purchased the diamond in Constantinople, was a

prominent figure in the French Court at that time and Henry, the

vain but weak son of Catherine de Medici, Queen Consort of France,

easily learned about the amazing gemstone in the possession of de

Sancy and decided it was the best fashion element to upgrade his

favourite functional accessory.

Due to the diamonds incredible beauty and value, it was borrowed

again by another royal. This time, however, it was not for

fashion but rather for financing his armies. Legend has it,

however, that the jewel never reached its supposed destination,implying that the messenger possibly could have run away with it.

De Sancy, who had a lot of faith in the loyalty of his messenger,

conducted a long search and found that his messenger had been

robbed and murdered. The precious jewel was found in the faithful

messengers stomach where the robbers could never get to it.

Following that, the Sancy diamond travelled all the way to England

and then back to France but generally remained in the possessionof royalty and wealthy nobles. In 1903, the precious stone was

purchased by William Waldorf Astoria who sold it to The Louvre in

1978 for $1 million (which is not necessarily the real value of

the stone). For those who want to see it, the Sancy diamond is on

display at the Apollo Gallery along with the Regent and Hortensia.


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Cool Trivia About The Cullinan Diamond

Diamonds come in different kinds and values. Growing in greatpopularity these days are coloured diamonds, especially now that

Hollywood personalities seem to have an obsession with them, but

white diamonds remain the most valuable and impressive because of

their amazing sparkle and pure appearance. And when it comes to

impressive diamonds, it would be hard to go through the list of

the best, most valuable and beautiful without mentioning the

Cullinan Diamond. But what makes this particular diamond really

unique? Provided below are cool facts or trivia about the Cullinan

Diamond which would explain why its one of the most coveted and

important diamonds in history.

1.It is the largest gem-quality ever discovered. Its so bigthat people thought it was a fake. It was found in 1905 at

the Premier Diamond Mining Company in South Africa (where the

De Beers Centenary Diamond was also found). In its raw form,

the Cullinan Diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats (621.35 grams).2.It was Frederick Wells who discovered this diamond. He was 18

feet below the earths surface when he spotted a flash of

light embedded in the wall just above him.
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3.The Cullinan Diamond got its name from Sir Thomas Cullinanwho owned the mine.

4.Sir Cullinan sold the diamond to the Transvaal provincialgovernment which then presented it to King Edward VII as a

birthday gift.5.In fear of the possibility that the stone could get stolen

during the journey from Africa to London, the King arranged

for a decoy to be guarded heavily by detectives as a

diversionary tactic. The real Cullinan was kept in a plain

box throughout the transit.

6.Because of its large size, it had to be cut into 9 largestones and over 100 smaller ones, some of which are among the

British Crown Jewels.7.The cutting job was entrusted to Joseph Asscher of theAsscher Diamond Company of Amsterdam. In his first attempt,

the steel blade he used broke but failed to break the stone.

His second attempt was successful in shattering the gem as

planned; however, Asscher fainted from nervous exhaustion.

8.This diamond is valued at $400,000,000 which makes it thethird most expensive diamond in the world.

9.The Cullinan diamond is also known as The Great Star ofAfrica. The large, rough diamond was cut into nine smallerpieces with the Cullinan I being the largest part.

TheCullinan II or The Little Star of Africa, a smaller

section of the rough stone, is the fourth largest diamond in

the world.

10. Currently, the Cullinan I is mounted in the BritishSovereigns Royal Sceptre while the Cullinan II sits in the

Imperial State Crown. Both can be found secured inside the

Tower of London.
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Is The Hope Diamond For The World To AdmireBut Not For One Person To Enjoy?

One look at the worlds most famous blue diamond and people are

instantly amazed at natures ability to produce something

intensely beautiful. However, the Hope Diamond, beautiful and

famous as it is, is truly a jewel for all the world to admire

but not really for the possession and personal benefit of just one

individual. History details that each one of those who have tried

to keep this rare blue diamond in their ownership all suffered aseries of unfortunate events in their lives that extended to the

people they held dear. Apart from this, some correlate the rich

blue colour to the lonely, desolate mood its believed to

represent, reinforcing the belief that the Hope Diamond is truly

better off left alone and just admired from a distance.

The last person to own the beautiful diamond was Evalyn Walsh

Mclean who purchased it from world-renown jeweller Pierre Cartier.She tried very hard to put an end to the curse of the diamond by

using it as a good luck charm. She wore it all the time as a

pendant for her necklace that even when she needed a goiter

operation, it still took a lot of persuading from her doctor to
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take it off. Needless to say, she was very attached to the

diamond.

Even if she insisted that the Hope diamond was her good luck

charm, Mclean, like the previous owners of the jewel, alsosuffered tremendous losses which revived the belief that the

beautiful blue stone truly was cursed. Mcleans first born son

died in a car accident at a tender age of nine, and later on, she

lost another child her daughter, who took her own life at the

age of twenty-five. The series of bad luck continued when her

husband was declared insane and had to be taken to a mental asylum

where he stayed until his death.

Mclean still wanted to keep the jewel in her family despite

everything that had happened, but after her demise, the Hope

Diamond was sold to settle the debts her estate had accrued in the

winter of her life.

Another famous jeweller took hold of the Hope Diamond; Harry

Winston purchased it in 1949 and allowed the diamond to be worn at

balls and galas to raise money for charity. However, he didnt

keep hold of it for long; many believed he was afraid of thenegative history of the jewel so he donated it to the Smithsonian

Institution. Winstons decision is proving to be the smartest

one; with the jewel in the possession of a national museum, more

people can marvel at its spectacular beauty without getting

trapped into the curse it supposedly brings.


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The De Beers Centenary Diamond AbsolutelyPerfect In Every Way

If youre looking for something beautiful in every sense of the

word thats the final product of the synergistic efforts of

nature and mans skilful workmanship, the De Beers Centenary

Diamond is it.

It has a colour grade D by the Gemological Institute of America

which makes it the diamond with the highest level of colour

grading; it is colourless and flawless both on the interior and

exterior. It doesnt have any of those bubbles carefully

concealed by the precise cuts on the surface of the stone. Experts

have inspected it and theres absolutely no single blemish on it

not even any hint of colour variation. Without light, the stone

is bound to be as clear as the purest water. For being such

complete perfection, the De Beers Centenary diamond is valued at a

staggering $100 million dollars.

The De Beers Centenary diamond was discovered in 1986 using an X-

ray imaging system and it is the third largest diamond discovered

at the Premier Diamond Mine. In its rough or raw state, it was 599
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carats and 120 grams. The final properly cut version weighs 54.77

grams and 273.85 carats. It has 247 facets that magnificently

reflect light in all directions. When people talk about the

blinding sparkle of jewels, this diamond is the best example of

the description.

Cutting at the surface of the Centenary Diamond to achieve the

magnificent, brilliant look demanded the expertise of a specially

picked group of engineers and electricians. The process was

completed in a special underground room in the De Beers Diamond

Research Laboratory inJohannesburg, South Africa where work

conditions were fully controlled and operations were thoroughlysecured. According to reports, the initial efforts were

accomplished by hand rather than the usual saw or laser equipment

so as not to heat or vibrate the diamond (which could possibly

compromise or alter its flawless quality).

After the removal of 50 carats of cracked and chipped material,

the final result was an egg-shaped stone of approximately 500

carats. Several designs of cuts and shapes were presented to theDe Beers board and the final design they went with was heart-

shaped one without a groove (though there are some people who

think that the design resembles a clam with a slightly pointed top

valve more than a heart). The idea behind the design came from the

desire for a shape that would fit perfectly as an adornment for a

Sultan or Maharajas headdress, as truly the flawless beauty of

this diamond is only fit for royalty.
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Diamonds, Royalty, And Beliefs