In the world of diamonds: the most famous, beautiful and expensive stones

Diamond is a crystalline form of carbon. This is the hardest rock, while the most expensive. Jewelers consider this gem a real gift to humanity, which came to us from the depths of the earth's interior.

There are few in the world of precious diamonds, whose weight exceeds 100 carats. Of course, their number increased after the discovery of copies in South America, but nevertheless remained very limited. The value of the stones is such that each one of them is more than just jewelry. It is a symbol of power, a source of all kinds of benefits and the cause of many ills. At the time of the oppressive rulers, the largest diamonds sometimes found themselves in weak and insecure hands — greedy but powerful neighbors used this, plunging the country into the depths of bloody and ruthless wars.

In a more civilized society, the owners of the largest gems often used them as a pledge, if necessary, to replenish the depleted treasury.

In times of financial and social disasters, the owners of unique jewelry could always sell them at a real price - even when banknotes in their eyes lost their importance and turned into pieces of paper.

Stories of the largest and most expensive stones are often associated with romantic events, stories of great love and no less great hatred.

Among all countries involved in diamond mining, India is recognized as the birthplace of stones with history, and this is primarily due to the fact that for many years it was from here that the most expensive stones were imported to Europe.

There are several diamonds that are known all over the world.

This is one of the world famous diamonds, acquired around the year 1570 in Constantinople by the ambassador of France, Nicolas de Arles. After some time, he resold his stone to Queen Elizabeth. His further fate is unknown, but there are confirmed facts that a century later he was presented to Louis XIV.

The next mention of Sancy is dated already in 1828, when it was sold to the Russian prince Demidov, and 40 years later it was bought up by Lord Astor as a wedding gift to his beloved son.

There are many legends associated with this stone. So, one of them says that the diamond originally belonged to Charles the Bold and was stolen on the battlefield from the deceased king. Another asserts that at the end of the 19th century the stone was handed over to an Indian trader and passed into the ownership of the Maharajah Patiala - but neither one nor the other legend has any confirmation whatsoever, and historians assert that, most likely, this The cases are about completely different stones.

This stone was discovered in 1893. It was distinguished by its pleasant blue and white color and was of exceptionally high quality. Initially, its mass was 995 carats, but later it was divided into 21 stones with a total mass of 373 carats - thus, the weight loss was about 62%.

It is one of the most famous diamonds in the world.Legends say that after the discovery, the stone was in the hands of the ruler of the Great Mogul dynasty, then came to Shah Jahan and became the main decoration of his Peacock throne.

A few years later, India was captured by a Persian shah named Nadir, who became the new owner of the stone. In the middle of the 18th century, a bloody coup took place in the country, during which the diamond was in the hands of Afghan Ahmad Abdali, who attempted to seize the throne, but after its failure, he fled to Kandahar, taking the booty with him. At the new place, he adopted the name Durr-i-Dur, which in translation means the Pearl of the Century. After his death, a long period of unrest followed: power passed from one hand to another — one of the false rulers was forced to seek asylum from Raja Ranjit Singh, who was given to him in exchange for all the jewels.

Until 1849, the stone remained in Tashkhan, then the treasure was owned by the East India Company and was presented as a gift to Queen Victoria. On her instructions, the diamond was re-cut into a smaller diamond - its weight was reduced from 191 to 109 carats. The reasons for this decision are still unknown, but the play of light has improved in the new form, although the entire historical value of the diamond has disappeared with the loss of the original form.

It is known that for many years Queen Victoria wore this stone as a brooch, after her death the jewel was equated with the royal regalia - the stone decorated the Royal Crown of Britain.

It is believed that the history of this diamond is even darker than the fate of the Kohinur stone. According to Indian legends, the stone brought misfortune to its owner. It is no coincidence that this diamond appeared in Paris simultaneously with the plague that claimed thousands of lives.

The stone was presented to Louis XIV, who wished to make a diamond in the shape of a heart out of this blue diamond of extraordinary beauty. This ornament he gave one of his favorites, however, soon cooled to her. At the same time, the king began to pursue failure - he suffered one military defeat after another. Still, Louis the Sun lived a rather long and comfortable life, which cannot be said about the other owners of this diamond. So, it is known that the stone later came to Marie-Antoinette, who presented it to her beloved daughter. During the revolution, the princess was killed, and the queen herself was publicly executed.

Soon after, the royal treasury was crushed - one of the jewelers managed to remove the stone from London, but soon both he and his son fell at the hands of an unknown murderer.

In 1830, the diamond was in the hands of the Hope dynasty family and remained there until the head of the family sold it to cover his debts. The stone was bought by the Turkish sultan for his second wife, but soon the sultan was overthrown, a woman was killed and robbed. After that, the stone came to Russia to Prince Korytkovsky. The grandee presented him to his mistress, but after a few years he killed her out of jealousy, and the nobleman himself was shot dead a little later.

But the story of the diamond does not end there - he finds himself at some Spaniard who died during the Titanic crash, and when selling the property of this man got into the house, where the only beloved child suddenly died after buying, the owner of the diamond went crazy with grief.

This stone is perhaps the most unusual of all those found in India. It was discovered in the middle of the 18th century - at that time its weight was 300 carats, and it was a larger piece of stone - according to expert estimates, the “parent” diamond weighed about 450 carats.

The diamond was bought by Shah-Jahan, who performed a facet in the form of a rose with a large number of small faces - by the way, the form has been preserved until now, so the stone is of such historical interest.

According to an old legend, this diamond served as one of the jewels that adorned the statue of Brahma, but at the beginning of the 18th century it was stolen by a French soldier who fraudulently rubbed his trust in the servant of the temple. Later he sold the diamond to the captain of an English ship for only 2,000 pounds, and he sold it to a merchant in London for 12,000.

It is not known how true these facts are, but it was documented that in 1773 he was in the hands of Grigory Orlov, who presented it to Empress Catherine The second, whose favorite, according to historians, was quite a long time.

The largest diamond in the world is considered to be Cullinan, also known as the “Star of Africa”. Its weight is more than 3000 carats, which corresponds to an example of 620 grams, no less impressive, and its size is 10x6.5x5 cm. This unique stone was discovered by chance in the South African mines in 1905, most likely it was a fragment of an even larger crystal, which was never found. After 2 years, the stone was presented as a gift to the English king Edward the Seventh in honor of his birthday, at the instruction of which he was split into several rather large parts. The total weight of the stones obtained was 1063 carats, which corresponds to only one third of the initial mass of the jewel.. The decision to split the stone was forced: the fact is that there were cracks in it, and it was not possible to make one large faceted gem out of it. The court jeweler studied the “Star of Africa” for several months, before in the presence of other famous jewelers he put a chisel on the diamond and hit it with a hammer - this decision was so difficult for the master that he even lost consciousness for a while.

One of the most beautiful and large stones was discovered in North Botswana in 2015. It was named “Our Light” and became the second largest stone in the history of the millennium with a mass of 1109 carats and dimensions of 6.5x5.6x4 cm. In 2016, an attempt was made to sell it at Sotheby's auction, but it failed miserably - the maximum sale price of $ 61 million was lower than expected at 70 million.

"Constellation" - a gem weighing 813 carats, also found in 2015 in Botswana.

One of the most expensive stones in the world is the Pink Star diamond. Its mass is 59.6 carats, in 2013 it was sold at Sotheby's auction for $ 83 million - this is a record price in history, however, a few months later it became known that the buyer was unable to collect the necessary amount and the stone was sold to him, but for 72 million

The largest diamond of all ever put up for auction, with a mass of 101.7 carats, was named “The Legacy of Winston”. He was sold for 27 million dollars. It is known that this stone was obtained by cutting a 236-carat diamond found in Botswana.

One of the most famous stones in the world is the diamond "Tiffany". He was found in Africa, after which the creator of the Tiffany company immediately bought it - he drew him not so much by size as by his canary color. At the direction of the jeweler, a diamond was cut, after which it acquired a perfect, unusual for diamonds form - a quadrangle with rounded edges. In the strict sense of the word, it cannot be called one of the most expensive stones - it has never been put up for sale. Thus, it does not have an auction valuation, but nevertheless takes its place alongside such well-known diamonds as the “Golden Jubilee”, “Graf Wittelsbach” and others.

Few of the people who lived in this world can boast of holding this unique stone in their hands - one of the lucky women became a famous actress Audrey Hepburn, who showed this diamond in an advertisement for the legendary film “Breakfast at Tiffany's”.

Review of the most expensive diamonds on our planet - in the next video.