Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

LIFESTYLES

DIAMONDS

A raw and uncut gemstone has neither value nor beauty. It is the skill of the gem cutter that brings to the surface the stone's latent magnificence and turns to poetry its rough dull prose. It is their skill that transforms the crude stone into a gem of 'purest ray serene’.

Diamond Trade Routes in Ancient Times

- K.Y. Padmanabhan

India introduced diamonds to the world. Till 1725, when diamonds were discovered in Brazil, India was the only source of diamonds. Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist who lived in the first century A.D., included stories brought home by sailors and merchants of the diamond mines of India in his Natural History. The state of Golconda in the Deccan, founded in 1518, from the fragments of the former Bahmani Empire, was for centuries a great centre of diamonds. The word Golconda in English became synonymous wi th great wealth. Many famous diamonds, including the Kohinoor (108 carats) which is today part of the crown of the British monarch , came from India. Today diamonds are mined in the Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh. India's share in the world's production of diamon ds from the mines is only 0.015 %. But India imports rough diamonds and has emerged as the largest manufacturer of polished diamonds in the world. Diamond is the single largest item accounting for 12% of the total commodity exports from India.

Famous Diamonds of Indian Origin

Quotations * Nothing is harder than a diamond except making payments on one. * It pays to be an idealist when you pur- chase a diamond. * Here is a unique craft that has an artistic flair, one which is steeped in antiquity, mystery and romance and surrounded by an ever- increasing accumulation of sci- entific data. One which shows a lot of individuality and rarely even are two gems cut identically. Ray W. Dement * Power, like the diamond, dazzles the beholder. * There is nothing more revealing than a naked diamond and the diamond you buy should have nothing to hide. Properties of diamond Hardness - 10; Specific Gravity - 3.52, Crystal structure - Cubic; Atom Bonding - Tight; Colour- Colourless to yellow, also brown, orange, black and red; Streak -

* * Diamonds are classified into two types; Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diamonds contain nitrogen as a major impurity whereas Type 2 diamonds contain only traces amounts of nitrogen. Type 1 is more common, Type 2 diamonds are very rare. Proportion is one of the most important factors for gem diamonds. Qualities * The beauty of diamond as a gem is based on a combination of very high refractive index and optical dispersion, coupled with durability which comes out of ex- treme hardness and chemical inertness. * Diamond is the hardest known sub- stance. It is brittle and will split easily along a cleavage plane. It can withstand tremendous heat and pressure. * The rarest diamond colours are blue and pink. * Pure perfect diamond is colourless. * Diamonds are classified into two cate- gories, crystals or gemstones used in jewellery and industrial diamonds.

SI. So.

Name

Carats Colour

Shape or Cut

Great Mogul

280.00 White

Rose Cut

1 .

2.

Nizam

277.00 White

Elongated Rose

3.

Orloff

189.00 White

Rose-Cut

4.

Darya-i-Nur

186.00 Pale Pink

Oblong Table

Cut

5.

Taj-e-Mah

146.00 White

Rose Step Cut

6.

Regent

140.50 Yellow

Double Rose

8.

Koh-i-Noor

108.93 White

Oval

9.

Hastings

101.00 -

-

10.

Jacob

100.00 -

-

11.

St§r of the East

100.00 -

Pear

12.

Shah of Persia

99.52 Yellow

Cushion

13.

Golconda

95.40 Golden

Emerald Cut

14.

Briolette of India

90.38 -

Briolette/Step

15.

Shah

88.70 White

Bar Shape

16.

Jahangir

83.00 White

-

17.

Nepal

79.41 White

Pear

18.

Nepal Pink

72.00 Pink

Cushion

19.

Akbar Shah

71.70 White

Drop

20.

Idol's eye

70.20 Sky blue

Near Heart-

shape

21.

Black Orloff

67.50 Gun metal

Cushion

22.

Nur-ul-Ain

60.00 Pink

-

23.

Sancy (Astor)

55.00 White

Pear

24.

Iranian XIX

54.58 White

Oval Mogul

25.

Iranian XX

54.35 Peach

Cushion

26.

Iranian XXII

51.90 White

Mogul Cut

Colourless to yellow; Lustre - Adamanture.

27.

Empress Eugenie

51.00 White

Oval

28.

Grand Conde

50.00 Pink

Pear

29.

Indore Pears

50.00 -

Two Pears