Saffronart Co-founder Minal Vazirani and jewellery historian Usha Balakrishnan on the upcoming conference, The Timeless Legacy of Indian Jewels.
Read more ›Watch Now: The Timeless Legacy of Indian Jewels
Saffronart Co-founder Minal Vazirani and jewellery historian Usha Balakrishnan on the upcoming conference, The Timeless Legacy of Indian Jewels.
Read more ›Amit Kapoor of Saffronart on some of India’s most famous precious stones and jewels
In my last blog post, I spoke about the ‘rich India’ of the past and its noble treasures. Some of the famous diamonds that have originated in India include the Hope Diamond, the Kohinoor, the Darya-i-Noor, and the Dresden Green, to name but a few.
Almost all of these stones were owned or were in the possession of the wealthy and elite classes, most often emperors and nobles. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French national who used to travel to India frequently during 16th century, documented and traded some of these precious jewels.
The Tavernier Blue sketch
Image credit: wikipedia
Of the jewels Tavernier successfully brought back from India to France, a 118-carat (24 g) blue diamond is probably the most famous. This diamond came to be known as the Tavernier Blue, and was subsequently sold to Louis XIV of France in 1668. In 1678, Louis XIV commissioned the jewel to be re-cut to a stone weighing 67.125 carats (13.425 g), which became known as The French Blue. In 1792, during the French Revolution, The French Blue mysteriously disappeared.
The Hope Diamond
Image credit: Smithsonian Institution
Twenty years later, this stone re-emerged in London as the Hope Diamond, now weighing approximately 45.52 carats, and is currently housed at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC after the famous jeweler Harry Winston donated it to the institution. The Hope was graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as a VS1 clarity diamond of fancy dark grayish blue colour. Read more about the GIA’s diamond grading.
The parcel in which the Hope Diamond was shipped
Image credit: Smitsonian Institution
Most of the gems that remained in India while it was under British rule, were used to pay the taxes they exacted from the rulers and nobility. The few jewels that survived were passed down through the generations. However, with changes in consumer preferences, many old cut diamonds and older pieces of jewelry have been refashioned to match modern trends.
This article talks about some of the noble, ancient jewels that have survived this refashioning process.
Amit Kapoor of Saffronart explores the diamond industry outlook for India
New Delhi: What does the sliding rupee mean to Indian diamond manufacturers/importers and to importers of gold? Today, these precious beauties are all imported to India (ironically, some of the worlds most famous diamonds originated in Indian mines) and significant changes in dollar price as well as import duties by successive Indian governments leaves a big impact.
This current article talks about the annual Jewelers Circular Keystone (commonly known as the JCK show) in Las Vegas where lower numbers of Indian were seen buying this time around. However, there is hope that the coming festive season in India will keep demand alive. It also includes an interesting note on the changes in value of these precious stones and metals. Also listen to Varda Shine, Chief Executive of DeBeers, talks about the diamond industry outlook for India, and in general, prices of diamonds, and DeBeers’ facility in Gaborone, Botswana.
