Diamonds: Jewel in the Crowns

The Diamond remains, not only a romantic gem ofsafety of the dynasty depended upon the possession
great beauty, but a legitimate trading item onof this fateful jewel. After a time it came to Runjeet
commodity markets and is an established trade in theSingh, King of Lahore who wore it on his arm between
world's toughest financial markets of London andtwo smaller diamonds. He bequeathed it to the Shrine
Europe. As a commercial commodity diamonds areof Juggernaut but it was later presented to Queen
very popular because of their controlled valueVictoria by Lord Dalhousie on the annexation of the
internationally, mainly by De Beers, who held thePunjab and sent to London in 1850. The Indians
monopoly for a long time.believed the stone would bring misfortune until restored
Aesthetically, it is because of its purity that it capturesto the line of Vira-maditya. It was re-cut in England
immediate attention. There is no other knownwhich decreased its size. Its present location is
substance as hard in the mineral world, yet once theunknown.
stone is cut and faceted it possesses a brilliance whichNapoleon wore the famous Regent diamond in the hilt
seems to hold the potential for the reflection of all theof his sword. The Regent stone was originally found
colors of the rainbow. It is understandably symbolic ofby a slave who concealed it by hiding it in the folds of
human fidelity and truthfulness and of enduring virtuesthe bandage he was wearing over a wound. It was
and is expected to demonstrate a commitment tostolen from him and he was thrown into the sea. The
these values at the time when couples becomediamond was sold to a dealer named Jamchund for
engaged to be married. This custom is so well£1000. Then it was purchased by Thomas Pitt,
established, that it is difficult to concede that any othergrandfather of the Earl of Chatham who purchased it
stone will oust it from its supreme status. It isfor £20,400. By 1717 it was sold to the Regent of
anticipated that marriages will last to endure as theFrance for £135,000. 410 carats in its natural state
diamond - and this is re-enforced by the marketing- after cutting, which took 2 years to complete, it was
slogan "diamonds are forever".reduced to 137 carats and was perfectly white
In fact this purest of all substances of the earth haswithout spot or flaw. During the French Revolution the
been formed by the processes of nature's laboratorydiamond was stolen form the public treasury. Twelve
deep in the earth, sometimes to 150 km, which allowyears later it was recovered and set in the imperial
the blackest of all substances, pure carbon, to bediadem of France.
transmuted into the clear 8 faced crystal whichAnother which has stirred the imagination of many is
confronts us in seeing a diamond, which is laterthe blue Hope Diamond, with its reputation of bringing
transformed and made exquisitely lovely through skilledback luck - a reputation which is claimed to be
expert faceting, into a brilliant.unfounded. It is 45.52 carats in size and thought to be
Diamonds are cut with the aid of diamond dust.now in the U.S.. This famous Hope Diamond was
Diamonds possess luminous properties after exposureoriginally owned by Tavernier, the French traveler born
to sunlight and glow in a darkened room, to fluoresce inin Paris in 1605. In 1668 after time in the East, he sold it
ultraviolet light and also after friction.to Louis XIV. The Duchess de Montespan, the royal
Melting diamonds and other stones in alchemicalmistress, prevailed upon the King to be allowed to
processes is known in the ancient Ayurvedic science.wear the dazzling gem at a Court Ball. From that time
This process is considered to produce a cardiac tonicit attracted disaster. It was later worn by the
and when added to other medicines enhancesunfortunate Marie Antoinette and also lent it to the
therapy, with the best of the elixirs curing many seriousPrincess de Lamballe. But both suffered execution by
diseases.the guillotine. Some believe that it was the blue
In France in the fifteenth century, Louis IX decreed thatdiamond which brought them bad luck. It disappeared
no-one who was not of royal blood could wearfor 30 years but was later found in possession of a
diamonds. At that time they were engraved but notlapidary of Amsterdam, whose son stole it but then
known to be cut and polished until 1496.committed suicide. It passed to a Frenchman named
Diamonds occur either colourless and clear or tinted.Beaulieu who took it to London and sold it to a dealer
The most prized quality has a slight blue tint. The tintedDaniel Eliason and then died mysteriously the following
"champagne diamonds" have been well marketed andday. Mr. Henry Thomas Hope was the next purchaser,
have proven popular in recent years. Diamonds withpaying Eliason £18,000 for it. The stone remained
yellow color are generally quite de-valued. Diamondsin the Hope family until 1901 when Sir Francis Hope sold
with small flaws also sell quite cheaply. Rarely foundit to a diamond merchant, who resold it to an
are blue diamonds, green and even pink diamonds, withAmerican, who sold to M. Jacques Colot who sold it to
the latter marketed by Argyle with great success.a Russian Prince who was stabbed to death. The
There is also a very rare red diamond. The unusualFrench dealer from whom he purchased it ended his
colored ones are generally considered to have moreown life. A Greek merchant met with a violent death
commercial value but those who believe in theafter selling the diamond to Abdul Humid, the ex-Sultan
traditional value place greater importance upon theof Turkey, who narrowly escaped with his life after
pure, clarity of the colourless jewel.losing his throne. A New York jewellers next bought
Diamonds are found in many places of the world,the gem. It was believed to have been lost with the ill
Borneo, Brazil, South Africa, Siberia, China, Canada,fated Titanic but later seems to have been established
India and in recent centuries, Western Australia.as being owned by Mr. McLean, an American
There are some interesting stories about some of themillionaire. One wonders - what has happened since?
famous gems... One of the largest is that whichMost attempts to create artificial diamonds were
belonged to the Rajah of Matan and weighed 318unsuccessful until General Electric in 1954 was able to
carats. The Pitt Diamond weighed 410 carats in theproduce the conditions which resembled those found
rough but was reduced to only 137 carats when cut. In350 km deep in the earth. They produced diamond
1720 it became part of the French crown jewels andcrystals which are now being exported all over the
was later pawned by Napoleon to the Batavianworld. Industrial quality diamonds produced naturally are
government to finally be incorporated into the crownconsidered of less value than these synthetic
of Napoleon III.diamonds in meeting manufacturer's needs. In 1962
Excelsior was discovered in 1893 and was 969 caratssynthetic Diamonds of up to 1 carat were produced in
but only 364 carats after cutting.Japan by the Toshiba Electric Company by a simpler
The largest diamond ever found was the Cullinan inprocess but they were of industrial not gem quality.
1905 in the Transvaal, South Africa. It weighed 3,106Industrial diamond drills are used in various industries
carats. In 1908 it was cut into 9 large and 96 lesserand in cutting through concrete and masonry. Diamond
stones. Two of the largest are in the British Crownblades are now in demand for use in micro-surgery.
Jewels.Creation of artificial diamonds require enormous
The Koh-in-oor, or Mountain of Light, is claimed to bepressures and high temperatures and to this point in
the oldest large diamond and dates back to 59 BC.time have only been moderately successful in Russia,
The founder of the Mogul Empire, Baber, reported it toIreland and South Africa making industrial quality
have come into the treasury at Delhi from thestones, not gemstones. But who would not prefer to
conquest of Malwa in 1304, after passing throughhave the opportunity to appreciate and to benefit by
many Indian rulers' hands. It was thought that thethe sterling qualities of a beautiful natural jewel?