Italiano
FrançaisThe Diamond as never seen before
Maso da San Friano (Firenze 1531-1571) La Miniera dei Diamanti
THE MYTH
Adamas, the indestructible stone, is said to concentrate and spread infinite powers. The third eye that reveals the soul of the person who wears it.
In every Civilization, the Diamond evokes the Force of Power and Seduction, inherited directly from God and there is no Creed or Religion in which it is not present.
Home of the Precious Stones, India attributes a miraculous origin to them. An ancient belief claims that they emerged from the body of an “Asura” (demon) struck by the gods, from whose mortal remains “mountains of Gems” sprang forth. From the bones of the demon, called Bala or Vajra according to tradition, Diamonds are born, from his teeth Pearls, from his blood Rubies, from his gall Emeralds, from his eyes Sapphires, from his cry the Cat’s Eye, from his skin Topaz, Chrysoberyl from nails, Garnet from sap, Carnelian from chyle, Rock Crystal and Coral from fat. As soon as the body of the “Asura” had returned its harvest of gems, a multitude of celestial beings and demigods took possession of them to make them known in the three worlds.
“Devas, Yaksas, Siddhas, Nagas grabbed those scattered jewels like seeds. In their hasty flight across the clear space they dropped it all around, and wherever it fell, in the sea, in the rivers, on the mountains, in the forests, this seed of enormous weight formed the deposits.” (L. Finot, Les Lapidaires Indiens)
INDIAN LAPIDARIES
It is not possible to establish when the creation of the Indian “lapidaries” dates back, even if the compilation is quite recent. The most ancient writings of classical India, especially the Kama Sutra, have numerous references to the magic of gems and their influences on the fate of the owner.
Among all the known Indian lapidaries, the “Ratnapariska” or “Knowledge of Gems” is particularly mentioned and can undoubtedly be considered the father of all lapidaries. In fact, India is considered the cradle of precious stones and all the science inherent to them. Among the ancient Indians three categories of people must have possessed the “Ratnapariska”: the traders who were directly interested in it; the princes, because a lord always had to be able to judge a stone; the poets who in their descriptions of palaces and courts exhibited all the joys in which India was rich. The Indian lapidary is of a very particular type, certainly not for what concerns the structure, as it follows very precise canons in the description (origins, quality, defects, virtues, price), but rather for the belief that all the works are very often a gift or punishment from a divinity and therefore, depending on the case, bringing good or bad luck. Indians are people with profound beliefs who often combine culture with legend.
continued story on lapidaries
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The cursed history of the Koh-I-Noor diamond, among the most precious jewels of the English crown
The journey of one of the most precious and discussed gems ever.
Its name literally means Mountain of Light, due to its 105,602 carats.
Since 1849 it has been part of the most precious jewels of the English crown – not only as a metaphor: it is set right in the center of the Maltese cross in the crown of Queen Mother Elizabeth. It arrived in the hands of Queen Victoria in 1849, during the conquest of the Indian region of Punjab when the then British Empire was expanding its dominions. Soon the stone went to enrich the royal crown, finding its new home in the Tower of London.
The ownership of the diamond, however, is still a battleground with four other claimants: India, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Very little is known about its origins. Some believe it was found in a river bed in India around 1300, others that it was instead extracted from the Kollur mine. Be that as it may, it has since become the object of desire of the greatest sovereigns. For centuries it passed from hand to hand among the Indian Mughals, Iranians, Afghans and Sikh communities. Legend has it that if a man owned the gem, he would have been the ruler of the world, but he would have suffered great misfortune. If it had been owned by a woman, she would have been very lucky instead
The first historical evidence sees it in the hands of the Mughal ruler Muhammad Babur, who obtained it as a peace offering in 1526, when he invaded and conquered Delhi.
A few years later, his son Humayun fell ill and, again according to the legend, Babur was warned of the diamond’s bad luck but did not want to believe it, until, desperate for his son, he prayed that he would be saved, in exchange for his own life. So it happened: Humayun recovered from his illness, while Babur’s health worsened, leading to his death in 1530.
The news on the events of the diamond – up until the British possession – remain unclear and complex, but they always saw it as a pledge of exchange, the seal of peace pacts in the conquests of the sovereigns of the Middle East. What is certain is that the historian Mohammad Kazim Marwi claims to have seen it many years later in Herat, set in the head of one of the peacocks of the famous Peacock Throne – built at the beginning of the 17th century by Emperor Shah Jahan in the Red Fort of Agra – seat costing more than the Taj Mahal and which brought together the most glorious stones collected by the Mughals throughout India.
Its current name is due to Nadir Shah, a valiant leader who in 1739 managed to defeat the sovereign Muhammad of the Mughals. He also obtained the Indian sovereign’s jewelry, including the Peacock Throne, but was informed by a concubine of Muhammad that he was hiding two precious stones in his turban. Shah therefore devised a deception to get his hands on the stones, without compromising the newly signed peace: he invited the Indian sultan to a reception and, according to ancient custom, proposed exchanging the crowns as a sign of alliance. Returning to his chambers, he unrolled the emperor’s turban and found the glorious diamond there: “Koh-i-noor!” – He exclaimed in Farsi – “mountain of light”.
However, Nadir Shah went mad, turning into one of the cruelest tyrants in the Middle East, until he was murdered in his sleep in 1747. The kingdom, including jewels, was then disputed between his sons and grandsons, until Ahmad Shah Abdali, general of Nadir Shah, came to power and took the Koh-I-Noor. The new dynasty settled in Afghanistan and the diamond passed from one ruler of the family to another, until 1810 when the kingdom fell and the last ruler found refuge in the court of Ranjit Sikh, Sikh emperor of Punjab. Ranjit immediately demanded the Koh-I-Noor, but the Afghan ruler tried to keep it for himself: first he claimed to have sold it, then he sent him a miserable topaz passing it off as the famous diamond. Ranjit in response surrounded Shah Shuja’s palace, preventing any supplies, until he obtained the stone.
The diamond remained in the hands of the Sikhs until 1849, when India was annexed to the British Empire with the Treaty of Lahore, in which explicit mention of the Koh-I-Noor was made. It arrived in the hands of Queen Victoria on 3 July 1850. It was exhibited in 1851 at the Crystal Palace during the Universal Exhibition in London in Hyde Park, where it was visited by more than six million people, more than 30% of the British population at the time.
Critics – and even Prince Albert – however believed that the diamond, which then measured 186 carats, was poorly cut and not very bright. Mozes Coster was then called, the largest Israeli-Dutch diamond merchant who sent his best craftsmen to the court, even having a special steam machine built for cutting, which was completed in thirty-eight days, under the strict supervision of the Prince. . Two years later it was set in a tiara with another 2000 diamonds, where it remained until in 1911 it was mounted on a platinum crown composed exclusively of diamonds, on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Mary, wife of George V. it was then transferred to the crown of Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, where it remains today.
India then claimed possession of the Koh-I-Noor several times, even presenting the case to the United Nations. The most recent episode dates back to a visit to India by British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2013, who declared the return of the diamond “illogical”.