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 The article in The Guardian of September 2007 was
the real burst of sensation. It told that there was mined the largest diamond in
Africa to weigh over six thousand carats. In the soonest time the stone was
revealed to be fake. That was done by the landlords for the sake of increasing the
value of lands with mines therein. Large diamonds are rare in nature and only
one stone is known to the world to be embedded with a great myth.
The largest diamond discovered in Transvaal which is
in the North-East of the Republic of South Africa in 1905 was Cullinan Diamond.
It weighed over 3106.75
carats and was named after the mine owner Cullinan where the diamond was
developed. The diamond was then purchased by the government of the Transvaal Republic
to present to Edward VII, the King of Britain in later. A special ship was leased
to transport the stone with the fake stone in the safe-cabin. The unique
diamond was sent to the King in London in an ordinary parcel, instead.
The King Edward failed
to appreciate the gift and he caused the court jewelers to make several precious
stones from the whole one. So, two special large diamonds appeared later, with seven
medium-sized and several smaller ones whereas the most part of the precious stone
was lost during faceting process. The Cullinan-I is the most reputed diamond
among them, so called Star of Africa, weighing 530 carats. Currently
the Cullinan-I is housed on the top of the scepter of the British monarch. The second large part of the diamond, the Cullinan-II
was incrusted into the crown of the British King, weighing 370 carats. The smaller
Stars of Africa aka Cullinan-III with 94.5 carats and Cullinan-IV of 63 carats
are known to the one who are concerned in precious stones.
The diamonds are called bloody not specially for the
color of the gem but for they caused dramas, wars and tragedies following the
beauty of mere precious stones. One of the diamonds mostly known as disastrous
was the stone of six hundred carats, the only stone that was never sold or
purchased. The diamond was discovered in
India in the 14th century called Koh-i-noor meaning the Mountain of Light. The diamond
was kept with the local radjah for some longer time to travel to the Ruler of
the Great Mogul Empire. The diamond was set into the Peacock Throne, the chair
of the Emperor made from gold and incrusted with precious stones.
The stone was then seized by the Persian Ruler in the
18th century and then the stone was travelling through Afghanistan, Sikhs and
the stone appeared in Britain in the 19th century. The diamond was cut in
London of about one hundred and nine carats and presented to the Queen Victory.
The Queen caused the diamond set into the small Royal Crown. Currently this
diamond is kept in the Tower Museum.
Another diamond known as Regent has the traces of blood
on it. The stone weigh 136
carats. One of the Hindu slaves working in the Indian diamond pits happened to
find the stone. The man incised the part of his thigh to hide the precious
finding there in the wound. He escaped then from the country on
the British ship. He did not manage to keep the secret, though. The stone was then
stolen and sold for only one thousand pounds sterling while the stone owner was
murdered. The person who captured
the diamond, the governor of the St. George Fort, re-sold the diamond to the
regent of France, the duke of Orleans. Yet, his name was then
attributed to this diamond. The
stone disappeared during the French Revolution to appear on Napoleon’s sward
haft as a fine decoration. When the Napoleonic Empire was
broken, the Regent appeared in Louvre where he is still kept there.
Some diamonds have the bloody and dark past history.
One of them is Black Orlov, the diamond of the steel shade weighing one
hundred
and ninety five carats prior to faceting. However, there is still
mystery about
the stone. As one of story versions say the stone was mined in India to
be set
in the statue of Brahma. When the temple was plundered, the black
diamond was cursed
to bring bad luck to its owners. Other sources state that the stone
belonged to
Grigoriy Orlov, the favourite of the Russian Queen, Catherine II. That
was, however,
not evidenced in documents. Whatever they argue, the stone is unique
since
black diamonds so effective for jewelry faceting are extremely rare in
nature. After the cut the stone weighed 67.5 carats. The diamond
was set into the necklace made from platinum that was then put to
various auctions
and demonstrated at various jewelry shows.
One of the famous and intriguing diamonds is the blue
diamond Hope kept today in the Smithsonian Museum in USA. The Hope was found in
Indian to appear in the 17th century with Louis XIV. The court jeweler cut the
stone at his discretion. Soon after the plague burst out in Europe and people assumed
that was all about the cursed diamond. The owner of the diamond, Louis XIV died
from gangrene after he stepped on a rusty nail and had a wound. Marie
Antoinette, another Hope owner, was beheaded.
So, what’s the history of this diamond to strike lives
and fortune of people? Is that all fatal damnation, a good legend or just
coincidence of event? There is no answer.
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