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D I A M O N D S

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Bianca
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« Reply #30 on: September 29, 2007, 02:01:58 pm »








                                                       The Idol's Eye





A flattened pear shaped stone the size of a bantam's egg, its polished size is 70.20 carats. This is another famous diamond that was once set in the eye of an idol before it was stolen. Legend also has it that it was given as a ransom for Princess Rasheetah by the Sheik of Kashmir to the Sultan of Turkey who had abducted her.

After the end of World War II the Idol's Eye re-emerged when it was acquired by a Dutch dealer, from whom Harry Winston bought it in 1946. In the following year Mr. Winston sold the stone to Mrs. May Bonfils Stanton, daughter of Frederick G. Bonfils, the publisher and co-founder of the Denver Post. If many of the earlier characters associated with the diamond's history have proved to be ficticious, Mrs. Stanton goes some way to make up for them.

Once a great beauty, she became a legendary figure in American life. From her early childhood she displayed an interest in jewels and began to assemble a famous collection. In addition to the Idol's Eye it was to include the Liberator Diamond and a diamond necklace studded with twelve emeralds weighing 107 carats, once owned by the Maharaja of Indore.

She lived in beautiful isolation in a palatial mansion copied from the Petit Trianon in Versailles, and was said to have worn the Idol's Eye at her solitary breakfast every morning. The gem was set as the pendant to a diamond necklace containing 41 round brilliants totalling about 22.50 carats, plus another 45 baguettes weighing about 12 carats. Mrs. Stanton was also a supporter of numerous philanthropic causes in her native state of Colorado.

After her death, in her eighties, in March of 1962, her jewels were auctioned in November by Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc. of New York; in accordance with the directions contained in her will the proceeds were distributed among various charities.
In 1962 the Chicago jeweler Harry Levinson bought the Idol's Eye for $375,000, for his wife, Marilyn. In 1967 he loaned it to De Beers for an exhibition at the Diamond Pavilion in Johannesburg.

Six years later in 1973, Mr. Levinson put the diamond up for sale in New York but subsequently withdrew it when the bidding failed to reach his $1,100,000 reserve. In 1979 Laurence Graff of London purchased the Idol's Eye. Harry Levinson loaned the diamond, before it was sold to Laurence Graff, for display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, at a 1982 reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of Harry Winston Inc.

In the following January, Mr. Graff sold the Idol's eye, together with the Emperor Maximilian and a 70.54-carat Fancy Yellow diamond named the Sultan Abdul Hamid II and thought to have once been part of that ruler's jewelry collection.

The sale of these three diamonds to the same buyer is considered to have been one of the highest priced transactions ever known.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2007, 02:05:16 pm by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #31 on: September 29, 2007, 02:09:09 pm »








Probably the largest of Indian diamonds is the Great Mogul, the history of which is very obscure.

This was seen in the treasury of the Great Mogul, Aurungzebe, in 1665, by Tavernier, who both drew and described the stone in detail. This diamond had then the form of a very high and round rosette , and was of good water. It weighed 319 ratis, which Tavernier calculated to be equivalent to 280 carats, assuming 1 rati = 7/8 carat. Authorities, which consider this value of the rati too high, give the equivalent as 188 carats.

The rough stone is supposed to have been found between 1630 and 1650, in the mines at Kollur, and to have originally weighed 787 1/2 carats, a weight which would make it unquestionably the largest of Indian diamonds. The considerable disparity between the weight of the rough stone and its weight when cut, has been attributed to the unskillful manner in which it was cut by Hortensio Borgis, the Venetian diamond-cutter, who at that time was domiciled in India.

The subsequent history of the "Great Mogul is a complete blank; it has been variously supposed to have been lost or destroyed, to be in existence under another name (recut) such as the "Orloff" diamond, or the "Koh-i-noor," to be in the possession of the Shah of Persia, or to be lying forgotten among the jewels of some Indian prince.
 




Another large diamond of the same weight, namely, 320 ratis, is described in the memoirs of Baber, the founder of the Mogul dynasty.

According to this account the stone had long been famous in India, and had formed part of the spoils of war of many an Indian prince, finally passing into the possession of Baber in 1556.

This stone is regarded by Professor Story-Maskelyne as being identical with the diamond seen at Delhi, and described as the "Great Mogul" by Tavernier, and identical with the stone at present known as the "Koh-i-noor"; this view is very generally accepted.



 

The Akbar Shah, is an engraved diamond so called from its first possessor, the Mogul King, Akbar.

When in the possession of Jehan, Akbar's successor, Arabic inscriptions were engraved on two of its faces. It at first weighed 116 carats, but after re-cutting in 1866 its weight was reduced to 71 or 72 carats and the inscriptions were lost in the process.

In 1867 the stone was sold to the Gaikwar of Baroda for £35,000 ($3,802,928). It subsequently disappeared for a long period, reappearing in Turkey, under the name of the "Shepherd's Stone," and still recognizable as the "Akbar Shah" by its Arabic inscriptions.
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« Reply #32 on: September 29, 2007, 02:10:08 pm »








The "Koh-i-noor" is a stone of very considerable beauty, now weighing 106 1/16 carats.

The Koh-i-Noor is said to have come to earth as a gift from the god in India to faithful worshiper.'

Dated through legend from before the time of Christ, this oval-cut diamond is the most famous of all diamonds. It has been said that whoever owned the Koh-I-Noor ruled the world.

Opinions differ as to the derivation of the name "Koh-i-noor," which is sometimes said to signify "Mountain of Light," and is supposed to have been given to the stone by Nadir Shah. It has also been supposed to be a corruption of Kollur, the locality at which it was found, and the name by which it is formerly known in India.
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« Reply #33 on: September 29, 2007, 02:14:54 pm »







The diamond's history began in 1304, where it was reported as owned by the Rajah of Malwa. Following wars in the 1500s, it ultimately fell into the hands of the Sultan Babur, and for the next 200 years the 186-carat diamond was one of the precious jewels of the Mogul Emperors.

It was believed to have once been set as one of the peacock's eyes in the famous peacock throne of Shah Jehan, who reigned in the early 1650s.

In 1739, Nadir Shah, who built Persia into a major power, invaded Delhi. He obtained the Koh-I-Noor - along with the sumptuous Peacock Throne - from the vanquished Indian Emperor Mohammed Shah. Allegedly, when his pillage of Delhi failed to initially uncover the huge stone, he was told by one of the harem women that the conquered Mogul emperor had hidden it inside his turban.

Taking advantage of an Oriental custom, Nadir Shah invited his captive to a feast and suggested they exchange turbans. Following the feast, he unrolled the turban and released the great gem. Seeing it, Nadir Shah cried, "Koh-I-Noor," which means mountain of light. Nadir Shah took the gem back to Persia, and following his assassination in 1747, the diamond was fought over by his successors.

When the state of Punjab was annexed to British India in 1849, the East India Company took it as insurance for the Sikh Wars. As part of its 250th Anniversary festivities, the East India Company presented the famous Koh-I-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria in 1850. The diamond was displayed at the famous Crystal Palace Exposition, but visitors were disappointed that the diamond did not show more fire. So Victoria had the stone recut, reducing the diamond to its present size. It was re-cut in England in 1852 by the diamond-cutter, Voorsanger, of the Amsterdam firm of Coster; the work of re-cutting occupying thirty-eight days, of twelve hours each.

In 1911, a new crown was made for the coronation of Queen Mary featuring the Koh-I-Noor as the center stone. In 1937, it was transferred to the crown of Queen Elizabeth (then Queen Mother) for her coronation. Currently, it is on display in the Tower of London with the British Crown Jewels.




One of the largest of Indian diamonds is the Nizam, a stone of 277 carats, which has been known only since 1835, and which is supposed to have been picked up by a child on the ground in the neighborhood of Golconda. This, however, is not the only version of the discovery of this stone, and its original weight has been placed at 440 carats; it was supposed to be in the possession of the Nizam of Haidarabad.

The Great Table, of Tavernier, in 1642 at Golconda by this traveler, who states that it weighed 242 3/16 carats, and that it was the largest diamond he had seen in India in the hands of dealers. His offer of 400,000 rupees for the stone was rejected and, as in the case of the "Great Mogul" its subsequent history is obscure.
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« Reply #34 on: September 29, 2007, 02:16:10 pm »








The Orloff (also Orlov ) was the largest of the diamonds comprised in the Russian crown jewels, and formed the termination of the imperial sceptre; it is a stone of the finest water, perfectly pure and with a brilliant luster. In form it is very similar to that of Tavernier's drawing of the "Great Mogul".

This stone has had a chequered career; it is said at one time to have formed one of the eyes of Lord Vishnu's idol (one of the Hindu Gods) in the Brahmin temple on the island of Sheringha in the Cauvery River near Trichinopoly. It was stolen from here, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, by a French soldier, who just dug one eye from its socket, because he was terror-stricken at the thought of retribution. He passed into the hands of an English ship's captain, for 2,000 pounds and so the diamond found its way into Europe.
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« Reply #35 on: September 29, 2007, 02:25:24 pm »









The stone arrived at Amsterdam where the Russian count Grigori Orloff, an ex-lover of Empress Catherine the Great was residing. He heard about rumors of the stone, and he bought the diamond for 90,000 pounds and took it back to Russia for Catherine's favor. The stone has been called the Orloff since then.

Catherine received his gift and had it mounted in the Imperial Sceptre. She gave a marble palace to Grigori in exchange for the Orloff. However, Grigori couldn't get Catherine's love. Grigori Orloff passed away in disappointment in 1783.

In 1812 the Russians, fearing that Napoleon with his Grand Army was about to enter Moscow, hid the Orloff in a priest's tomb. Napoleon supposedly discovered the Orloff's location and went to claim it. However, as a solider of the Army was about to touch the Orloff, a priest's ghost appeared and pronounced a terrible curse upon the Army. The Emperor, Napoleon scampered away without the Orloff.
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« Reply #36 on: September 29, 2007, 02:26:32 pm »








                                                The Regent: 140.50 carats





The adventurous history of the Regent is very much like that of several other great diamonds. Greed, murder and remorse play a part in the opening chapter. Trouble - political, social, and personal - accompanies this gem to it's last resting place.

Originally known as the Pitt, this 410-carat stone was one of the last large diamonds to be found in India. It is said to have been discovered by a slave in the Parteal Mines (also spelled 'Partial') on the Kistna River about 1701. The slave stole the enormous rough concealing it in bandages of a self-inflicted leg wound, and fled to the seacoast. There, he divulged his secret to an English sea captain, offering him half the value of the stone in return for safe passage to a free country. But during the voyage to Bombay, temptation overcame this seafaring man and he murdered the slave took the diamond. After selling it to an Indian diamond merchant named Jamchund for about $5000, the captain squandered the proceeds in dissipation and, in a fit of remorse and delirium tremens, hanged himself.

In 1702, Jamchund sold the stone for about $100,000 to Governor Thomas Pitt of Ft. George, Madras, who was the grandfather of William Pitt of American Revolutionary fame. Known to historians as the "Elder Pitt," William was the British Prime Minister for whom Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was named. Pitt arranged for the stone to be cut into its current cushion-shaped brilliant by the only person in England considered capable of the task, which took two years. The result was a stunning gem that is considered the most perfectly cut of all the celebrated diamonds of old.


The Regent is characteristic of the finest Indian diamonds, and has a beautiful light blue tinge. Known at the time as the Pitt, the diamond was sold to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, who was at first hesitant to purchase the gem because of the perilous state of the Treasury. Ultimately, the Duke of Orleans relented, and shortly thereafter, the stone was renamed "The Regent."

Later, it was set in the coronation crown of King Louis XV, and later in a headband worn by his Queen. Many of the French Crown Jewels were reset numerous times at the behest of the queen. Sadly, in September 1792, the Regent and other great diamonds in the Crown Jewel collection were stolen, some disappearing forever. Fortunately, the Regent reappeared in a Paris attic a year later.

After coming to power in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the famous diamond to be set in his sword hilt, which he carried at his coronation two years later. Today, the Regent diamond can be admired at the Louvre in Paris.
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« Reply #37 on: September 29, 2007, 02:31:01 pm »








                                                     The Sancy





Weight: 55 carats
Color: unrecorded
Clarity: unrecorded
Cut: Pear-shape double rose



THE Sancy Diamonds story, and indeed the history of power and greed behind all large diamonds, began at the famous Golconda mines in India.

The Sancy harks back to Golconda, the fabled treasure valley in India, where poisonous serpents huddled over the trove. The treasure hunters, it was said, would throw hunks of meat down from the hills. Jewels would stick to the bloody carcasses, birds would pick them up and fly out --- and then be downed by the hunters, who would thus be up to their necks in ... diamonds.

The Sancy Diamond first came to Europe from India in the fourteenth century, and until 1661, it was the largest diamond– and most secure and concentrated form of wealth– in all of Christendom. In its engaging history, the gem passed among the royal and noble houses of Europe, from Burgundy’ s John the Fearless, England’ s James I, and France’ s Louis XIV to a Russian prince and ultimately to the British Astors. Along the way, there were a succession of royal feuds, intrigues, and betrayals– and the Sancy was used to raise money, settle debts, and enhance power and prestige. What really happened to the Sancy during its two disappearances– once during the sixteenth century and again after the French Revolution is a little blurred.There exists the legend of the Sancy curse, which arose after the violent deaths of Burgundy’ s Charles the Bold, England’ s Charles I, France’ s Louis XVI, and other ill-fated owners.


Lady Astor loaned the Sancy to the Louvre, as a centerpiece for its Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition in 1962. However, after her death in 1964, the British government declared the stone a national treasure, but it reportedly has since been sold to the French government.
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« Reply #38 on: September 29, 2007, 02:33:54 pm »








When the contents of the Iranian Treasury were opened up in the 1960s, the existence of three legendary Indian diamonds was revealed. They are the Darya-I-Nur, the Nur-Ul-Ain and the Taj-I-Mah. It has been conclusively proven that the first two diamonds had been cut from the same stone: the Great Table Diamond.



The Taj-I-Mah, meaning 'Crown of the Moon', is an imposing stone and the largest unmounted Indian diamond in the collection. Most certainly of Golconda origin, it is irregular, Mogul cut, colorless and of the finest quality, slightly worn on top. The diamond weighs 115.06 (metric) carats and measures 32.0 × 24.3 × 14.7 mm.
 
The presence of the Taj-I-Mah among the Crown Jewels in the Iranian capital had been known for a long time. The British administrator and diplomat Sir John Malcolm, who visited Persia in the 19th century, was allowed by Fath Ali Shah (1797-1834) to inspect the Regalia. He wrote: "Darya-I-Nur, or 'Sea of Light' weighs 186 carats, and is considered to be the diamond of the finest lustre in the world. The Taj-I-Mah, or 'Crown of the Moon' is also a splendid diamond. It weighs 146 carats. These two are the principal in a pair of bracelets, valued at near a million sterling. Those in the crown are also extraordinary size and value."



The Nur-Ul-Ain Diamond is one of the largest pink diamonds in the world. The Nur-Ul-Ain is an oval brilliant cut of around 60 carats and measures approximately 30 × 26 × 11 mm.
Considered to be the most celebrated diamond in the Iranian Crown Jewels and one of the oldest known to man, the 186-carat Darya-i-Nur is a crudely fashioned stone measuring 41.40 × 29.50 × 12.15 mm. The name means Sea of Light, River of Light, or Ocean of Light. It is a table or 'taviz' cut diamond
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« Reply #39 on: September 29, 2007, 02:41:55 pm »








Today, nine out of every ten diamonds are processed in India. The country accounts for 80 per cent of the caratweight and 55 per cent by value of all of the world's diamonds. Diamonds are India’s single largest export. After the United States and Europe, India is the world's third largest consumer of polished diamonds.
'From April 2001 to February 2002, India imported almost 120 million carats of rough diamonds, worth$3.84 billion and exported 29 million carats of polished diamonds, worth $5.2 billion. This massive volume of diamonds is handled by a correspondingly huge workforce, perhaps in the region of a million today.
 



Renewed interest in diamond exploration in India has been generated since the country changed its mining statutes to allow foreign investment. 

De Beers (DTC) commenced exploration in India in 2001 and representative offices have been established in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. During 2005, Hindustan Diamond Company, a venture by the Government of India , purchased a 26% interest in De Beers India Pvt Ltd, thus demonstrating the Government’s commitment to diamond exploration and mining in the country. The projects are on at sites in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, but it will take a few more years as the normal gestation period in the sector is about 10 years. DTC is hopeful that area around Golconda in Andhra Pradesh, which was the first diamond-mining site in the world, could again yield diamonds. 

John Robert Sim, managing director of Ford's company, ABF International, said the company is also exploring opportunities of pilgrimage tourism in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, besides re-starting diamond mining in Andhra Pradesh in the Golconda mines, India has an estimated 85 billion tonnes of mineral reserves remaining to be exploited. Besides coal, oil and gas reserves, the mineral inventory in India includes 13,000 deposits/ prospects of 61 non-fuel minerals. Expenditure outlay on mining is a meagre sum when compared to other competing emerging mining markets and the investment gap is most likely to be covered by the private sector.

India welcomes joint ventures between foreign and domestic partners to mobilize finances and technology and secure access to global markets. Potential areas for exploration ventures include gold, diamond, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, lithium, tin, tungsten, silver, platinum group of metals and other rare metals, chromite and manganese ore, and fertilizer minerals. need some 130 years ago.

The foreign investment policy has been further liberalized to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the mining sector, for exploration and mining of diamonds and precious stones, gold and silver
 
 


 

Email  vj@aananta.net Cell  91- 98206 19206 Tel   91- 22- 26492172 Fax   91 - 22 - 26492172

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« Reply #40 on: October 08, 2007, 10:04:21 am »










                                   Rare blue diamond breaks world record in HK sale


 


HONG KONG (Reuters) -

One of the rarest gems in the world, a flawless blue diamond, has sold for US$7.98 million (3.91 million pounds) at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong, making it the most expensive gemstone in the world, per carat, sold at auction.
 
After intense bidding, the 6.04 carat, internally flawless blue diamond fetched $HK61.9 million (3.91 million pounds), or US$1.32 million per carat. The price smashed a 20-year-old record held by the "Hancock Red" -- a red diamond, which fetched US$926,000 per carat at the time, Sotheby's said.

Sotheby's said the buyer was "Moussaieff Jewellers" in London which has a reputation for acquiring extremely rare and costly gemstones. The seller was a private Asian collector.

Blue diamonds have long captivated the rich and powerful -- shimmering with a certain dark mystique. The famous "Hope Diamond", a 45.52 carat grey-blue beauty, was passed down through the ages by King Louis XIV of France, Marie Antoinette and American heiress Evalyn Walsh McClean among others. It now rests in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

The Sultan of Brunei reportedly bought another massive "blue" which surfaced briefly in the 1980s.

While not a large stone, the Sotheby's diamond has an esteemed cut and "fancy vivid blue" hue, factors which contributed to its blockbuster price -- roughly 10 times the per-carat price of regular white diamonds.

The blue hue is a result of trace amounts of boron in the stone's crystal structure.

Other coloured diamonds with pink and red hues can be mined in multiple locations across the globe including Brazil, India and Australia, but "blues" are mostly found at just one site on earth -- the Premier Mine in South Africa.
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« Reply #41 on: October 08, 2007, 01:09:01 pm »

My mother got to hold the Hope Diamond back in 1946.  She was working at Walter Reed Hospital in W.D.C. and Mrs. McLean used to come by to visit soldiers recovering from war wounds. She would let everyone hold it.  Once a guy asked her if he could take it to show his buddy in the ward, who couldn't walk.  She stunned him by saying he could.  Flabbergasted, he asked why she said yes, and she said, "Well, you couldn't do anything with it, it's the most famous piece of jewelry in the world!" True story!...Margaret


Since it was found in the early 1600's, the "Hope Diamond" has crossed oceans and continents and passed from kings to commoners. In 1688, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a French traveller and gem merchant, sold a blue diamond, weighing 1123/6 carats to King Louis XIV of France. The "Hope Diamond" came from India, the only significant source of diamonds at that time. In 1749, King Louis XIV's successor, Louis XV had the diamond reset in a piece of ceremonial jewellery called the Emblem of the Golden Fleece. In 1792, it was stolen during a week-long looting of the tumultuous and turbulent French revolutionary period. Sometime between 1812 and 1824, the diamond was apparently sold to King George IV, who died in 1830 and Henry Philip Hope, a London banker and gem collector bought the diamond in the 1830's and the precious stone acquired the "Hope" name. In 1912 the stone crossed the Atlantic when Evelyn Walsh Mclean acquired it. Subsequently, it changed hands when Henry Winston of New York city purchased it in 1949.

Finally, in 1958, Harry Winston presented the diamond to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where the blue stone commands global attention making tourists ponder over the fascinating and legendary four centuries of travel of the diamond from India to the U.S. capital.



Evelyn's mother-in-law had been particularly appalled by Evelyn's extravagant purchase of the diamond. "Mummie thought my buying that stone was a piece of recklessness," remembered Evalyn in her autobiography. "Mummie said, 'It is a cursed stone and you must send it back before it ruins us all!' I replied firmly, 'Now Mummie, everybody has bad luck. You never know...'"

But when Mummie died, within the year, Evalyn decided to call on the aid of a higher power. "We went to the church of Monsignor Russell. 'Look Father,' I said to him, 'this thing has got me nervous. Would you bless it for me?' He put my bauble on a velvet cushion, and as he began his blessings, a storm broke! Lightning flashed. Thunder shook the church... I don't mind saying various things were scared right out me!"

 
"She loved to tell these stories," says Jeffrey Post of the Smithsonian Institution. "I mean she promoted the heck out of the Hope Diamond. And she just did some wonderful, bizarre things with it. She would hide it behind her cushions and in her toaster; she pawned it; she loaned it to people to wear for their weddings; and she took it to the hospitals where she visited soldiers so they could toss it around from bed to bed.

Every year, it seems, people come up to me and say that their grandmother wore the Hope Diamond to the White House because Evelyn Walsh McLean loaned it to her to wear for the night; or that their kids used to see Evelyn Walsh McLean with the Hope Diamond out in the yard doing yard work. All kinds of unusual stories."

 
"She wore it swimming; she wore it one time when she was having an operation – a serious operation!" adds columnist Sarah Booth Conroy. "She wore it on a roller coaster; fishing in the icy north; just about every place you can imagine. She was supposed to have put it on her Great Dane; the Great Dane would wear it on his collar. She liked to shock people, you know, she liked to surprise them."

She also loved the good life, and no one wanted to miss one of Evalyn's parties. At one event, two thirty-piece bands played jazz and dance music, while a Hungarian band entertained in the garden. The dining tables were stretched out seventy-five feet, each seating one hundred diners, each sheltered by an umbrella of orchids with fountains and changing lights. 
The cost of the flowers alone was $48,000; the payroll covered forty-seven servants. On another occasion, a new wing was added to the house to accommodate the overflow crowd, and fifteen detectives kept an eye on the Hope Diamond while she wore it.

"I think Evelyn Walsh McLean is a fascinating character," adds Post. "She's obviously a person who was a little bit eccentric, but she enjoyed her eccentricity; she used it in a very positive way. And she became fascinated by the Hope Diamond. And so much of the history of the Hope Diamond we can attribute to her. I mean she helped to make the Hope Diamond famous."




This is a newspaper gossip column account about one huge party:


M'LEANS TO KEEP THE HOPE DIAMOND Wealthy Purchasers of Famous Stone to Retain It Despite Sinister Reputation. ORIGINAL PRICE $260,000 Will Be Worn for the First Time Tonight by New Owner at Reception at McLean Mansion. Special to The New York Times. WASHINGTON, Feb. 1. -- The McLeans are going to keep the Hope diamond. This decision was recently by Edward McLean and his young wife, formerly Miss Evelyn Walsh and daughter of the late Thomas F. Walsh, the Colorado millionaire. Mr. McLean, being the son and only heir of John R. McLean, is one of the wealthiest young men, prospectively, In the country. The McLeans agreed to buy the famous gem a year ago, not knowing its reputation. The original price agreed to be paid was $260,000. After learning of the history of the diamond and its reported propensity for bringing bad luck to those who owned or Wore it, the McLeans refused to ecru-i plete the contract of purchase and the Cartiers, the Paris and Ne,v York jewelers, brought suit for specific performance. It is not known what price was actually paid to-day, but it was a fortune, and it was said that It was not very much less than the original contract price. Mr. and Mrs. McLean will give a reception to-morrow night in honor of the Russian Ambassador and A'Ime. Bakhmetieff, the latter being an aunt of Mrs. McLean. The wonderful stone will then be worn by its new owner for the first time. Washington has never before witnessed such elaborate preparations for a social function. The McLeans sent to England for 4,000 yellow lilies, a variety that cannot be purchased in this country. Each one cost $2, the entire number costing $8,OOO. Two men were sent to met the Lusitania which brought the flowers .to this country, and they acted as guards to the shipment from New York to Washington. Fountains have been installed in the Nalsh mansion, where the McLeans live, and the entire house is to be arranged as a garden, even the stairways being formed into a lane of roses. Fifty guests drawn from the most social, diplomatic, and army and navy sets will attend the dinner which is to be given, and fifty additional guests have been invited for the musicale which will follow. Mine. Gluck and Ricardo l,, opera singers, will come from New York to take part in the musicale. Florists, musicians, and caterers are estimating that the evening will cost the McLeans a sum close to $30,000.' This, of course, is aside from the fortune paid for the Hope diamond. The terms of settlement are not made public, but the Price asked by the Jewelers is known to have been $250,000. They sued for this sum, with interest. The Hope diamond is probably the mot talked of of all famous jewels. The latest chapter of its history had to do with the suit brought by Louis C. and Pierre Cartier, Jewelers of New York and Paris, against Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. McLean of Washington, D. C., to recover $260,000, the price of the diamond, which Mr. McLean was alleged to have made a contract to buy. According to legend the l[ope diamond first appeared in 1688, when it was brought to Paris by a traveler named Tavernter. Some said it had been stolen from a Hindo idol, others that it came from the palace of the Grand Mogul at Delhi, Louis XIV. bought it, and it was placed among the crown Jewels. The stoe is said to have brought misfortune to thosewho owned it, and it certainly did to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette; T. Edgar Vlllson says the authentic history of the gem goes back only to 1830, when It appeared in the hands of Daniel Eliason, and was subsequently sold to Henry Thomas Hope, the banker. Through him it came Into possession of the family of the Duke of . Hepe's daughter married the sixth Duke of Newcastle In 1861. Her son, Lord Francis Hope, married May Yohe, a vaudeville actress. She eloped with Putnam Bradlee Strong and was divorced. Lord Hope met financial reverses and sold the famous Jewel, which in the course of time reached the McLeans.

See the Walsh house in Animas Forks, Colorado....a ghost town:

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/animasforks.html
« Last Edit: November 14, 2007, 05:57:29 pm by rockessence » Report Spam   Logged

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Thus ye may find in thy mental and spiritual self, ye can make thyself just as happy or just as miserable as ye like. How miserable do ye want to be?......For you GROW to heaven, you don't GO to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there.

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« Reply #42 on: November 14, 2007, 05:24:13 pm »



A Sotheby's employee holds the largest
brilliant-cut D-color flawless diamond
during a preview at Sotheby's in Geneva,
Switzerland, Monday, Oct. 1, 2007.

The 84.37-carat white diamond touted
by Sotheby's for its unprecedented size
and beauty could beat the record for the
most expensive jewel ever sold when it is
put up for auction Wednesday evening,
Nov 14, 2007. Sotheby's has estimated
the largest top quality, brilliant-cut white
diamond ever to appear in an auction at
US$12 million (euro 8.2 million) to
US$16 million (euro 11 million).

(AP Photo/Keystone,
Salvatore Di Nolfi)






                                                  White diamond sells for $16.2 million
 




GENEVA
November 14, 2007

An 84.37-carat white diamond touted by Sotheby's for its size and beauty sold at auction Wednesday to
Guess clothing company founder Georges Marciano for just under $16.2 million.
 
The jewel — the largest top-quality, brilliant-cut white diamond ever to appear at auction — had been valued
by Sotheby's at between $13.3 million and $17.8 million.

Marciano's winning bid, made by telephone, came to $16,189,769 including the buyer's premium. It was just
short of the all-time auction record for a stone or piece of jewelry, a record held by the same Sotheby's
branch in Geneva for a 100.1-carat diamond that fetched $16.5 million in 1995.

"In my 32-year career, this stone ranks among the most beautiful diamonds I have ever seen," said
David Bennett, the auction house's chairman of jewelry for Europe and the Middle East. He called it a
"magnificent and unique stone."

The diamond has received the highest possible grading, Sotheby's said. It is D-color, or finest white,
has flawless clarity, and its cut, polish and symmetry have all been graded excellent, it said.

The New York-based company is hoping the "Magnificent Jewels" sale at Geneva's historic Beau Rivage
hotel will help it bounce back from the disheartening results of its Impressionist and Modern Art auction,
which sent its stock tumbling.

The sale last week fetched $269.7 million, well short of estimates, and led some analysts to speculate
whether the flight from risk currently gripping financial markets may be spilling over into the art world.

The company announced that it lost $14.6 million by purchasing paintings that failed to sell.

The white diamond already has been showcased in Hong Kong, Paris, New York, Rome, Los Angeles, London,
 Dubai and Bahrain. The auction Wednesday also featured other diamonds, colored stones and gems from
the world's leading jewelers.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2007, 05:31:12 pm by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #43 on: November 16, 2007, 10:42:29 am »



AP - Tue Nov 6, 9:45 AM ET A model holds a ring with a
very rare purplish red diamond of 2.26 carats at a Christie's
auction press preview in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday,
Nov. 6, 2007. The octagonal shaped purplish red diamond
is also the largest ever red diamond offered at an auction.
The ring is expected to fetch an estimated 1,500,000 to
1,875,000 Swiss Francs (US$1.2 million to 1.5 million) in
the upcoming auction Nov. 15, 2007.

(AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)








                                               Rare red diamond sells for world-record $2.6 million





Fri Nov 16, 2007
 
GENEVA (Reuters) - A rare purplish-red diamond ring has sold for 2.97 million Swiss francs ($2.6 million), setting a world record for a red diamond, Christie's said.
 
British jeweler Laurence Graff bought the ring whose octagonal stone weighs 2.26 carats and is the largest red diamond to appear at auction, it said.

The previous record for a red diamond, considered the rarest of colored diamonds, was a 1.92 carat gem that sold for more than $1.6 million in 2001, according to the auction house which held a semi-annual jewelry sale in Geneva on Thursday night.

An emerald and diamond necklace, which belonged to German Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmarck at the end of the 19th century, sold for just over 2 million Swiss francs ($1.78 million) to an anonymous bidder.

In all, Christie's jewelry sale netted 53.9 million Swiss francs ($48 million), with 80 percent of the nearly 400 lots on offer finding new owners.

"After nearly a billion dollars of art changed hands at Christie's New York in the last two weeks, the jewelry sale at Christie's Geneva demonstrated the same trend with spectacular prices achieved for exceptional jewels and gemstones," said Eric Valdieu, director of Christie's jewelry department in Geneva.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Ralph Boulton)
« Last Edit: November 16, 2007, 10:46:25 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #44 on: November 23, 2007, 10:49:08 am »



AFP/File - Thu Nov 22, 3:44 PM ET De Beers'
203-carat 'Millennium Star' diamond.
The world's biggest diamond company De Beers
 is selling its historic Cullinan Diamond Mine
in South Africa.

(AFP/File)








                                   De Beers sells S.African Cullinan Diamond Mine






Thu Nov 22, 9:09 AM ET
 
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - The world's biggest diamond company De Beers said Thursday it was selling its historic Cullinan Diamond Mine in South Africa, where the largest ever diamond was found.
 
It said it was selling the mine for one billion rand (147 million US dollars, 99 million euros).

The sale of the mine, based 40 kilometres (24 miles) east of the capital Pretoria, to the Petra Diamonds Cullinan Consortium -- which has a strong black empowerment element -- completes De Beer's review of its mining portfolio in the country.

"This will enable De Beers to best use our capital to invest in exciting growth opportunities and to sustain a strong diamond mining business in South Africa for the future," said Gareth Penny, Managing Director of the De Beers Group.

"In this way De Beers is strengthening its commercial future in South Africa whilst helping to meet the government's aspirations for a diversified, transformed South African diamond industry."

The pan-African diamond mining group, Petra Diamonds is the second largest producer of diamonds in South Africa after De Beers and is partnered in the country by Thembinkosi Mining Investments (Pty) Ltd which "brings together a significant pool of empowerment players."

"This transaction is a transformational deal for Petra and reflects the opportunities DBCM is creating for new players in the diamond industry," said David Noko, managing director of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM)

The Cullinan Diamond Mine, established in 1902, is famous for the world's largest ever rough diamond, The Cullinan Diamond, which was discovered in 1905 and weighed over 3000 carats uncut.

The mine is also the world's only significant producer of rare blue diamonds.

"The Cullinan Diamond Mine is one of the most illustrious diamond mines in South Africa and we are delighted to have concluded this transaction which will ensure a viable and sustainable mining operation for many years to come," said Petra chief executive Johan Dippenaar.

"Over the last 100 years, Cullinan has played an integral part in writing the history of diamonds - giving the world its largest ever gem diamond, the Cullinan diamond, as well as many of the most famous and spectacular diamonds ever seen, including the two largest polished diamonds," he added."
« Last Edit: November 23, 2007, 11:11:51 am by Bianca2001 » Report Spam   Logged

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