QUESTION = What was known
earlier as the Imperial or Great White Diamond ?
ANSWER =
The Jacob Diamond. The
diamond was put up for sale in 1891 by Alexander Malcolm Jacob, hence the name. It is a large diamond, ranked fifth in the
world, known earlier as the Imperial or Great White Diamond. It is
believed to be the Victoria Diamond, owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad and currently owned by the Government of India.
It is cut in a rectangular cushion-cut, with 58 facets, and
measures 39.5 mm long, 29.25 mm wide and 22.5 mm deep. The
diamond weighs 184.5 carats (36.90 g).
Unlike the
famous Koh-i-Noor,
the Jacob diamond can be branded as a nonviolent diamond, one which has changed
hands only twice in the history of its existence. However, it only came
into the possession of India after its amalgamation of the Hyderabad state into
the Republic of India.
Before it
was sent to Europe to be cut, the uncut diamond is believed to have been over
400 carats (80 g) in weight.
It was offered to Mahbub Ali Khan, the Nizam of Hyderabad. Initially, however, the
Nizam was quite uninterested in the diamond and offered a mere 46 lakhs (4
million) Rupees for it. The Nizam was asked to make a good faith deposit if he
was to go through with the transaction. The European jewel cutters did not like
this offer, but were forced into court when they lost track of the Nizam's
deposit. Ultimately, the Nizam was awarded the diamond for almost half of his
original offer, 23 lakhs (2.2 million) Rupees (approx. $50,000 by 2005 rates)
when the case was resolved. Nevertheless, the Nizam still showed little
interest in the diamond. It was several years after the death of his father
that the last Nizam, Osman
Ali Khan, found the Jacob Diamond in the toe of his father’s shoe
at Chowmahalla Palace, and he himself used it as a
paper weight for a long time until the diamond's true value was realized and it
was stored away as another of the Nizam's treasures.
After much
litigation, the diamond was purchased by the government of India from the
Nizam's trust for an estimated $13 million in 1995, along with other Jewels of The Nizams, and is held at the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.
As part of
the Nizam's jewellery exhibition in 2002 and 2007, the Jacob diamond was a major attraction at Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad.
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