Famous Named Diamonds
The Koh-I-Nur Diamond:
It has been said that whoever owned the Koh-I-Noor ruled the world, a suitable statement for this, the most famous of all diamonds and a veritable household name in many parts of the world. Legend has suggested that the stone may date from before the time of Christ; theory indicates the possibility of its appearance in the early years of the 1300s; history proves its existence for the past two and a half centuries.
In 1992 a new HM Stationary Office publication on the British Crown Jewels and regalia gave the revised weight of 105.602 metric carats for the Koh-I-Noor. The stone was found to measure 36.00 × 31.90 × 13.04 mm. The stone is set in the Maltese Cross at the front of the crown made for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.when Britain, or rather its proxy, the East India Company, triumphed over the Sikhs in 1849, it was natural that the resulting Treaty of Lahore should include the transfer of a little booty. And that is why the Koh-i-Noor diamond now sits in a crown in the Jewel House in the Tower of London. And why the Indians, and Pakistanis, want it back.
The Koh-i-Noor is not the biggest diamond in Crown Jewels – that distinction belonging to the Cullinan 1 which adorns the sovereign’s sceptre – but it enjoys the greatest mystique. Its origins are lost in time and, like all great treasures, it comes with a curse.
The Cullinan I and Cullinan II Diamonds:
In 1905 the manager of the Premier mine in Transvaal, South Africa, making a routine inspection by the mine discovered by chance a twinkle in one of the walls of the mine, took their instruments and began to dig. He found nothing less than a diamond of more than half a kilogram of extraordinary purity. In this rough diamond was named Cullinan.
The stone was bought by the Transvaal government, at the suggestion of General Louis Botha, Prime-Minister, for £ 150,000.00 and presented to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday in 1907. The king then entrusted the work of stone carving experts Joseph Asscher & Co. of Amsterdam.
Then it was divided into nine main parts, 96 small brilliant approximately 10 carats. The largest stone was removed from the diamond was 530 carats of fantastic. A total of 150 stone carvings that were ordered and named according to their weight as Cullinan I, Cullinan II, Cullinan III, etc. The Cullinan I is the largest cut diamond in the world and is set in the scepter of King Edward VII. Meanwhile, the Cullinan II, the other great Cullinan diamond from the original, is the main attraction of the British imperial crown, jewel preserved in the Museum Tower.The use was 34.25 percent, therefore the total weight was carved stones 1063.80 carats.Finally say that this diamond is known as "Southern Star" or "Star of Africa".
The Regent Diamond:
Pitt bought the diamond for £20,400 (£2,964,490 as of 2011), and had it cut in to a 141 carats (28g) cushion brilliant. After many attempts to sell it to various European royalty, including Louis XIV of France, it was sold to the French Prince, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans in 1717 for £135,000 (£18,634,090 as of 2011). The royals used the stone in many ways including being set in the crown of Louis XV for his coronation in 1722, in a new crown for the coronation of Louis XVI in 1775, and as an adornment in the hat of Marie Antoinette. In 1791 its appraised value was £480,000 (£46,922,530 as of 2011).
In 1792, during the revolutionary furor in Paris, "Le Régent," as the diamond came to be known, was stolen along with other crown jewels of France, but was later recovered, after being hidden in some roof timbers. The diamond was used as security on several occasions by the Directoire and later the Consulat, before being permanently redeemed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801.
Napoleon used it to embellish his sword, designed by the goldsmiths Odiot, Boutet and Marie-Etienne Nitot. In 1812, it appeared on the Emperor's two-edged sword, the work of Nitot.
Napoleon's second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, carried the Régent back to Austria upon his death. Later her father returned it to the French Crown Jewels. The diamond was mounted successively on the crowns of Louis XVIII, Charles X and Napoleon III.
Today, mounted in a Greek diadem designed for Empress Eugenie, it remains in the French Royal Treasury at the Louvre. It has been on display there since 1887.
The Hope Diamond:
It turned out that he had in his possession an intriguing steel blue stone which at first look seemed to be a large sapphire, but the well-experienced Tavernier soon realized it was a diamond – the largest deep blue diamond in the world.
Legend has it the diamond came from the eye of an idol in a temple on the coleroon River in India. If that is so, one can only conjecture that the eye must have had a mate, but the fate of "the other eye" has never come to light. It would not be the first famous diamond that started it's notoriety in a religious idol. The Idol's Eye, the Eye the Goddess, the Heart of the Goddess and the Orlov came from idols, according to legend. Tavernier purchased the stone and smuggled it to Paris, where he later sold it to King Louis XIV. It was cut there into a triangular-pear-shaped stone weighing 67.50 carats, and was then known as the French Blue.
The Orlov Diamond:
The Orlov is mounted in the Imperial Sceptre, made during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-96). Its weight has been recorded as 189.62 metric carats. The clarity is typical of the finest Indian diamonds and its color possesses a slight bluish-green tint.
The Krupp Diamond:
The Krupp is an emerald cut, with length and width proportions which are closer to that of an Asscher cut. It also has a fairly large culet facet, indicating it was likely cut before the 1920s, when culet facets were being phased out.
The diamond is named for the Krupp family of German industrialists, and it was sold as part of the estate of Vera Krupp (1909-1967), second wife of Alfried Krupp.
Elizabeth Taylor wore the Krupp Diamond as a ring, and called it her favorite piece. The Krupp Diamond and other famous pieces of jewelry in Taylor's collection became part of Taylor's image.
The Shah Diamond:
It was rendered to the shah court in Ahmadnagar. In 1591, Shah Nizam ordered carving on one of the facets of the diamond: "Burhan-Nizam-Shah Second. Year 1000".
In the same 1591, the ruler of the Northern India, the Great Moghul Akbar, occupied Ahmadnagar and seized the diamond. After Akbar's grandson, Shah Jehan (trans. "the ruler of the world") came to the throne of Great Moghuls, he commanded to carve another inscription: "The son of Jehangir-Shah Jehan-Shah. Year 1051". By the modern calendar, it was 1641. The son of Jehan-shah Aureng-Zeb hung the diamond above his throne and encircled it with rubies and emeralds. Till 1738, the diamond Shah was kept in Delhi.
In 1738, Nadir Shah attacked India, seized the diamond, and took it to Persia. In 1824, the third inscription appeared on the third facet: "The ruler of the Kadgar-Fath ali-shah Sultan. Year 1242".
In 1829, Russian diplomat and writer Alexandr Griboyedov was murdered in the capital of Persia, Tehran. The Russian government demanded severe punishment of those responsible. In fear, the court of Shah Fath Ali Shah sent the Shah's grandson Khosrow Mirza to Saint Petersburg, where he gave the Shah diamond to the Russian Tsar as a present. In 1914, the Shah diamond came to the Kremlin Diamond Fund, where it is exhibited as one of Seven Historical Gems. It remains there at the Kremlin.
The Tiffany Yellow Diamond:
Discovered in South Africa in 1877, the stone was purchased by New York jeweler Charles Tiffany. His gemologist, George Frederick Kunz, studied the gem for a year before beginning to cut it; reducing it from 287 carats (57.5g) to its current size. The cutting was carried out in Paris. Kunz was a mere 23 years old at the time. It was mounted by Jean Schlumberger.
The gem was on loan from Tiffany & Co. to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. and was on display until 23 September, 2007.
The diamond is known to have been worn by only two women during its lifetime. It was worn by Mrs.Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball held in Newport, Rhode Island, mounted for the occasion in a necklace of white diamonds.It was subsequently worn by Audrey Hepburn in 1961 publicity photographs for Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Saphires
The Star of India Saphire:
In 1964 the Star of India (along with the Delong Star Ruby) was the object of an infamous burglary, carried out by Jack Murphy, known as Murph the Surf, and two other men. They were ransomed from $25,000 and both recovered. The Delong Star was found at a designated drop off site - a phone booth in Florida.
Emeralds
The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara:
Queen Mary, who was renowned for her collection of royal jewels, and took pride in superbly bejeweling herself for formal occasions had an intimate knowledge of jewelry and their designing, and decided that the "Vladimir Tiara" needed modification. Her intention was to make provision for the pearl drops to be interchanged with emerald drops, as and when the need arose. Accordingly she got the court jewelers Garrard & Co. to cut and polish fifteen of her remaining Cambridge emeralds as drop shaped emeralds, and to make provision for their replacement on the tiara whenever it was needed, after removing the pearl drops. As anticipated the replacement of the pearls with the emerald drops further enhanced the beauty of the tiara, which became a favorite tiara for Queen Mary, particularly when she was wearing the matching emerald suite, the Cambridge and Delhi Durbar Parure. Thus the incorporation of the exceptional quality Cambridge emeralds into the "Vladimir Tiara" made it a complementary piece to the Cambridge and Delhi Durbar Parure.
The "Vladimir Tiara" that was a favorite piece of Queen Mary, was inherited by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953, according to the last will left by Queen Mary. Thus the "Vladimir Tiara" entered the personal jewelry collection of Her Majesty the Queen.
As much as the "Vladimir Tiara" was Queen Mary's favorite, it also became the favorite tiara of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty the Queen, had been wearing this tiara on formal occasions since the time of her coronation in 1953. Photographs of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, appearing below, show Her Majesty during the early years of her reign, wearing the Vladimir Tiara with the emerald drops, together with matching pieces of the Cambridge and Delhi Durbar Parure such as the Delhi Durbar Necklace, and Cambridge emerald earrings.
The Cambridge and Delhi Dunbar Parure:
