Important Details You Should Know About Diamonds

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Table Of Contents
Page 3 Page 5 Page 7 Page 9
Five Interesting Factoids About The Koh-i-Noor A Brief History Of The Sancy Diamond Cool Trivia About The Cullinan Diamond Is The Hope Diamond For The World To Admire But Not For One Person To Enjoy? The De Beers Centenary Diamond Absolutely Perfect 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 was taken 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 white diamond the size of a small hens egg. However, it was re Copyright 2013 www.mydiamonds.com.au 3

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-cut upon 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-Noor Diamond 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 of the 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 the Tower 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 is incredibly 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 diamonds diamonds fails to yellow hue naturally sets it apart from the clear white that are included in the roster of the most valuable to ever be discovered. Its unique beauty, however, never 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 possession of 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 great popularity 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 big that 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 Cullinan who owned the mine. 4. Sir Cullinan sold the diamond to the Transvaal provincial government 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 large stones and over 100 smaller ones, some of which are among the British Crown Jewels. 7. The cutting job was entrusted to Joseph Asscher of the Asscher 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 the third most expensive diamond in the world. 9. The Cullinan diamond is also known as The Great Star of Africa. The large, rough diamond was cut into nine smaller pieces with the Cullinan I being the largest part. The Cullinan 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 British Sovereigns 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 Admire But Not For One Person To Enjoy?

One look at the world s 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 a series 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, also suffered 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 the negative 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 Absolutely Perfect 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 Xray 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 in Johannesburg, South Africa where work conditions were fully controlled and operations were thoroughly secured. 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 the De Beers board and the final design they went with was heartshaped 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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