HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF GEMSTONES
The history of gemstones is rich with stories of adventures, of legends, of tales of good
fortune or curses resulting in financial ruin, ill health, or even death. Throughout antiquity, gemstones have been worn as a talisman, valued for their healing properties and
endowed with spiritual values. The magical and mystical properties that are ascribed
to gemstones have much to do with their rarity, beauty, feel and colour.
Gems have long been seen as exotic, rare and valuable. Many were carried long distances along perilous trade routes and their value. As different gemstones have become available, fashions have changes and preferences have varied worldwide. Nowadays, a DIAMOND is thought of as the ultimate gem, worn in engagement rings and given as token of love, but this has not always been the case.
At various times in the past, TURQUOISE, AMETHYST, LAPIS LAZULI, JASPER and CARNELIAN have all been regarded as the ultimate gem. JADE was a favourite in China and Mexico. The ancient Egyptians and the civilizations of Central and South America valued EMERALDS. SAPPHIRES, AMERHYST, EMERALDS, JASPER and CARNELIAN were the Roman’s preferred choice, while Diamonds were used to engrave cameos rather than be worn as jewelry.
Gems have long been seen as exotic, rare and valuable. Many were carried long distances along perilous trade routes and their value. As different gemstones have become available, fashions have changes and preferences have varied worldwide. Nowadays, a DIAMOND is thought of as the ultimate gem, worn in engagement rings and given as token of love, but this has not always been the case.
At various times in the past, TURQUOISE, AMETHYST, LAPIS LAZULI, JASPER and CARNELIAN have all been regarded as the ultimate gem. JADE was a favourite in China and Mexico. The ancient Egyptians and the civilizations of Central and South America valued EMERALDS. SAPPHIRES, AMERHYST, EMERALDS, JASPER and CARNELIAN were the Roman’s preferred choice, while Diamonds were used to engrave cameos rather than be worn as jewelry.
Many of the stories associated with gemstones have been handed down by words of
mouth. Others are gleaned from the diaries and letters of the travellers and collectors,
or as entries in the inventories of private collections, museums or royalty. In the 13th
century, Marco Polo (c.1254-1324), trader from Venice, travelled to Asia and wrote in his
journal, The Book of Marvels, that he carried sapphires as calling cards when he visited
the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol Emperor. The sapphires were form the Southwest
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), from the area around Ratnapura (“City of Gems” in Sinhalese). In the 17th century, the French merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-89) made
his fortune by trading in gemstones. Tavernier made six trips to India and Persia (now
Iran) between 1631 and 1668, described many large diamonds and acquired a number
of gems, some of which were sold to King Louis XIV of France.
Most of the famous named gemstones are diamonds. Renaming and recutting as ownership changes may complicate their history, and the secrecy surrounding some gems
and their whereabouts makes confirmation of size, shape, and weight difficult if not impossible. Museum specimens can be researched and some famous diamonds can be
recognized from paintings and photographs, but those that are bought at auction by an “unknown private buyer”, or those that are lost or are the victims of theft, simply “dis-appear”, sometimes for many years. The azure “Nassak” (now 43 carats but originally 90 carats), also known as “The Eye of the Idol”, was placed in the forehead of a statue
of Shiv at a temple in Nassak, India, but disappeared when British troops looted the temple in 1818. In 1927 it resurfaced and was recut in New York.
The oldest diamonds with the longest histories largely originate from the alluvial deposits of the Golconda region of south-central India. They include the Koh-i-Noor, Orlov, Regent (Pitt) and Hope diamonds. Some of the largest and most famous diamonds are from the Premier Mine in South Africa, including the Cullinan and the Taylor-Burton (cut 69.42 carats). The largest diamonds in the world, the Golden Jubilee or Unnamed Brown (545.67 carats) and the De Beers Millennium Star (203 carats, which took ten people two years to cut) are both African. In 1988 the Centenary diamond (599 carats uncut, 273. 85 carats cut) was cut by the company De Beers Consolidated mining operations.
Famous coloured diamonds include the blue Hope diamond, the Dresden Green, and the golden-yellow Tiffany diamond (cut 128.54 carats). Other blue diamonds include the Townshend Blue(in the Victoria and Alberta Museum, London), and the aforementioned pale-blue Nassak. The Dresden Green is the world’s largest pear-shaped green diamond (41 carat) and apart from occasional loans, it has been kept in the vaults at Dresden Palace since its purchase by Frederick Augustus II of Saxony for US $150,000 at a Leipzig fair in 1743
The oldest diamonds with the longest histories largely originate from the alluvial deposits of the Golconda region of south-central India. They include the Koh-i-Noor, Orlov, Regent (Pitt) and Hope diamonds. Some of the largest and most famous diamonds are from the Premier Mine in South Africa, including the Cullinan and the Taylor-Burton (cut 69.42 carats). The largest diamonds in the world, the Golden Jubilee or Unnamed Brown (545.67 carats) and the De Beers Millennium Star (203 carats, which took ten people two years to cut) are both African. In 1988 the Centenary diamond (599 carats uncut, 273. 85 carats cut) was cut by the company De Beers Consolidated mining operations.
Famous coloured diamonds include the blue Hope diamond, the Dresden Green, and the golden-yellow Tiffany diamond (cut 128.54 carats). Other blue diamonds include the Townshend Blue(in the Victoria and Alberta Museum, London), and the aforementioned pale-blue Nassak. The Dresden Green is the world’s largest pear-shaped green diamond (41 carat) and apart from occasional loans, it has been kept in the vaults at Dresden Palace since its purchase by Frederick Augustus II of Saxony for US $150,000 at a Leipzig fair in 1743
The Golden Jubilee Diamond, a 545.67 carat (109.13 g) brown diamond, is the largest cut and faceted diamond in the world.
Today, pink diamonds from Argyle mines in Western Australia are particularly prized.
In 1986, a huge diamond referred to as the “Unknown Brown” was used by Dee Beers
to test their new laser cutting technology. The diamond weighed 755.50 carats when
rough and 547.7 carats once cut. It was renamed the “Golden Jubilee” after its presentation to King Rama IX of Thailand in celebration of 50 years on the throne. Another
brown diamond is the “Incomparable” (407 carats) found in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (formerly Zaire) in 1980. Black diamonds have been cut weighing more than
115 carats. The Black Orlov or “Eye of Brahma” cushion-cut black diamond (67.50
carats, not to be confused with the Orlov, see southern India, and to have weighed
195 carats in the rough.
Other famous gemstones include the red spinels known as the Black Prince’s ruby (in the British crown jewels) and the Kuwait ruby (formerly the Timur ruby), Saint Edward’s sapphire and the Stuart sapphire (both in the British crown jewels), the Devonshire emerald, the Edwardes ruby, and the Rosser Reeves and Appalachian Star rubies.
Other famous gemstones include the red spinels known as the Black Prince’s ruby (in the British crown jewels) and the Kuwait ruby (formerly the Timur ruby), Saint Edward’s sapphire and the Stuart sapphire (both in the British crown jewels), the Devonshire emerald, the Edwardes ruby, and the Rosser Reeves and Appalachian Star rubies.
THE MOST FAMOUS DIAMONDS IN HISTORY
KOH_I_NOOR DIMAOND
Koh-i-Noor Means “Mountain of Light” in Persian. In legend, the Koh-i-Noor was worn by the god Krishna and the person who owns it is invincible.
However, it is also said to bring misfortune to any male owner. The first record of the gem is in the memoirs of Barbur, founder of the Mogul Empire in
India. Babur recorded that the gem, weighing 739 carats, was among the treasures seized from the Raja of Malwa in 1304. The Mogul Emperors recut
the stone, reducing it to 186 carats. It remained in Mogul hands until 1739, when the Persian ruler Nadir Shah conquered the Mogul Empire. According
to legend, Nadir Shah heard that the Mogul Emperor Muhammad Shah kept the gem hidden in his turban and demanded an exchange of turbans as a
sign of good faith. In 1849 the British acquired the diamond, and the following year it was given to Queen Victoria. In 1852, the Amsterdam lapidary M.
Coster recut the Koh-i-Noor to its present oval and weight of 105.60 carats. The recutting took nearly 450 hours of labor. In 1936 the Koh-i-Noor was
mounted into the crown of Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother).
Image Courtsey: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Archives
HOPE DIAMOND
The Blue Hope Diamond, known largely for its history and legends of curses and bad
luck, rather than its size (45.52 carats), is presently on display at the Smithsonian
Institution of Washington, D.C. Named after its British buyer, Henry Philip Hope, there
is strong evidence to suggest that the Hope diamond once formed part of the
“Tavernier Blue”. In 1642 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier bought a 116-carat diamond in India.
In 1688 Tavernier sold the gem to King Louis XIV, who had it recut into a 67-carat
stone and set in gold. In 1792, at the height of the French Revolution, the “French
Blue” was stolen from the royal treasury.
CULLINAN DIAMOND
The Cullinan is the largest gem diamond ever found. In 1905 Frederick Wells, a super-intendent of the Premier Mine in South Africa, discovered the colossal gem embedded
in a mine wall. According to reports, when Wells took it to be weighed, the inspector
thought that the stone was too large to be a diamond and thew it out of the window.
Wells retrieved the gem, which was later authenticated at 3,106 carats – three times
larger than any other known diamond. The diamond was named after the mine’s
owner, Colonel Thomas Cullinan.
The Transvaal government bought the stone and presented it to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday in 1907. In 1908 the Amsterdam lapidary Joseph Asscher was given the task of cleaving the diamond. Apparently, the knife broke on the first attempt but the diamond remained intact. At the second attempt, the diamond broke as expected and Asscher fainted! A second cleavage yielded three main sections. Each day for eight months, diamond cutters worked on the stone, producing nine major gems (Cullinan I – Cullinan IX) and 96 smaller brilliants.
Cullinan I (also known as the “Star of Africa”) was the largest diamond cut from the rough crystal. Cut as a pear-shape and weighing 530.20 carats, it is mounted in the Sovereign’s Royal Scepter of the British crown jewels. Cullinan II is a 317.40 carat, cushion-cut stone mounted in the British imperial state-crown
The Transvaal government bought the stone and presented it to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday in 1907. In 1908 the Amsterdam lapidary Joseph Asscher was given the task of cleaving the diamond. Apparently, the knife broke on the first attempt but the diamond remained intact. At the second attempt, the diamond broke as expected and Asscher fainted! A second cleavage yielded three main sections. Each day for eight months, diamond cutters worked on the stone, producing nine major gems (Cullinan I – Cullinan IX) and 96 smaller brilliants.
Cullinan I (also known as the “Star of Africa”) was the largest diamond cut from the rough crystal. Cut as a pear-shape and weighing 530.20 carats, it is mounted in the Sovereign’s Royal Scepter of the British crown jewels. Cullinan II is a 317.40 carat, cushion-cut stone mounted in the British imperial state-crown
Queen Mary wearing Cullinans I and II as a brooch on her chest, III as a pendant on the Coronation Necklace, and IV in the base of her crown, below the Koh-i-Noor
REGENT (PITT)
It is said that in 1701 a slave worker at an Indian mine discovered a 410-carrat rough diamond. The slave escaped with the stone hidden inside a wound in his leg. In return
for safe passage, the slave divulged his secret to an English sea captain, who murdered him. The captain then sold the diamond to an Indian merchant and soon after committed suicide. In 1702 the merchant sold the gem to Thomas Pitt, governor of Madras. Pitt had it cut into a 140. 50 carat, cushion-shaped brilliant-cut. In 1717 it was sold to
Philippe, Duc of Orleans and Regent of France, and henceforward known as the “Regent Diamond”. In 1723 the diamond was part of the coronation crown of King Louis XV.
In 1804, for his coronation as Emperor, Napoleon had it mounted in his sword hilt. In 1825 it was placed in the coronation crown of King Charles X. Emperor Napoleon III
had it placed in a diadem for Empress Eugenie in 1889. It is now on display at the Louvre, Paris.
EUREKA DIAMOND AND THE STAR OF SOUTH AFRICA
Although not a particularly exceptional stone, the Eureka diamond (10.73 carats) has
historic importance. The Eureka was cut from the first diamond to be discovered in
South Africa. In 1866 Erasmus Jacobs, a young Shepherd, picked up what he thought
was a pebble on the banks of the Orange River, near Hopetown. The pebble was later
discovered to be a 21.25 carat yellow diamond and prompted the diamond rush of
1867. It was bought by the De Beers group and later given to the government of South
Africa. The second diamond found in South Africa was so-called “Start of South
Africa”. According to legend, the 82.5 carat rough stone was found in 1869 by a young
shepherd, who exchanged it for 500 goats, ten head of cattle, and a horse. It was cut
into a 47.69 carat, flawless pear-shaped diamond.
ORLOV
The size and shape of a pigeon’s egg, the rose-cut Orlov is one of the world’s biggest diamonds (189.62 carats) and is named after Count Orlov, who presented it to his lover
Russian Tsarina Catherine the Great. Catherine mounted it in the Imperial Kremlin. In the 17th century, according to legend, the diamond was stolen from the eye of a statue
of Hindu god in a temple in Mysore, southern India. It was sold to an English sea captain for Euro 2,000. It travelled via Persia to Amsterdam, where Orlov bought it in 1773.
