Social Solutions

5 Of The Most Famous Diamonds in the World

The Beau Sancy Diamond (photo from Belle News)

1. Beau Sancy

The Beau Sancy Royal Diamond sold earlier this week to an anonymous buyer for more than a quarter of a million dollars per carat — the pear-shaped, rose cut diamond weighs in at 35 carats, making the sale price nearly $10 million. The diamond has passed from royal hand to royal hand over the last 500 years until this week, when, due to the anonymous nature of the buyer, it is unknown if the diamond is now in the possession of a commoner. (via BBC News Europe)

The diamond has a storied history that winds through an entangled web of politics, intrigue, war, debt and marriage — it was purchased in 1604 by King Henry IV of France who gave it to his wife, Marie de Medici, who wore it for her  coronation as Queen Consort in 1610. After assassinations and country-fleeings, the Queen eventually sold the diamond to the Prince of Orange-Nassau to ameliorate her heavy debts. The Beau Sancy was then given to Mary Stuart in 1641as part of the marriage settlement made by her father-in-law. Twenty years later, it was Mary’s turn to pawn the diamond to pay her debts (incurred assisting her brother Charles regain the English throne). In 1702, after more marriages, inheritance battles and disputes, the extraordinary diamond finally returned to the House of Orange, where the first King of Prussia made it the centerpiece of the royal crown.

The Hope Diamond (photo from The Smithsonian)

2. The Hope Diamond

The Hope Diamond when unearthed in the 17^th century was more than 110 carats, and described by the merchant traveller who purchased it as being a “beautiful violet.” In 1668, the merchant sold it to King Louis XIV of France, who eventually had it recut to a 67 carat stone that was nicknamed the “French Blue.” A century later, during the French Revolution, the French Blue was stolen — and it was 20 years before a diamond resembling the French Blue reappeared on the market, when it was thought to have been purchased by King George IV of England and then sold in 1830 to help pay his debts.

In 1839, the diamond came to belong to Henry Philip Hope — from whence its new name the “Hope Diamond” — and 60 years later, his descendant, Lord Francis Hope sold the diamond to pay off his debts. It landed in the famous jewelry collection of Washington, D.C. doyenne, Evalyn Walsh McLean (who also owned the 94.8 carat Star of the East diamond, the 15 carat Star of the South and the 31 carat diamond now known as the McLean Diamond. Harry Winston, Inc. purchased all of Mrs. McLean’s jewels after her death in 1947 — and in 1958, Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institute.

The Taylor-Burton Diamond (photo from The List Café)

3. The Taylor-Burton

In 1969, Richard Burton bought this 69.42 carat diamond from Cartier — the first time a diamond at auction commanded more than $1 million — to give to his new wife Elizabeth Taylor, who wore it for the first time to Princess Grace of Monaco’s (formerly Grace Kelly) fortieth birthday party. When Richard Burton died, Elizabeth Taylor auctioned off the diamond and built a hospital in Botswana with the $5 million. The diamond is now owned by Robert Mouawad, of Mouawad Jewelry, who also owns the Jubilee Diamond, the Queen of Holland Diamond and the Indore Pears in his peerless collection of famous diamonds.

4. The Jubilee Diamond

Originally known as the Reitz Diamond, this 245.35 carat beauty was renamed in honor of the 60^th anniversary (“Diamond Jubilee”) of Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1897. The Jubilee is currently thought to be the sixth largest diamond in the world.

The Crown of Queen Elizabeth (photo from BizCovering)

5. The Koh-i-Noor

The Koh-i-Noor has the distinction of having the longest history of any known diamond — dating back, depending on your source, to 1304, 1526 or 1665. 109 carats, this stone comes from the earliest diamond producing regions, Andrha Pradesh in India — and is thought by many to have been passed down for centuries by the Sultans of Delhi, eventually being given to the first Mughal Emperor in 1526. More than a century later, another Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan (famous for erecting the Taj Mahal as a monument to his love) placed the stone in his Peacock Throne, where it stayed for nearly another 100 years, until Nader Shah invaded the area and absconded with the stone.

Legend has it that it was Nader Shah who took one look at the diamond and shouted “Koh-i-noor!” (“mountain of light”), giving the rock the name it would carry into the next millenium. In 1747, Nader Shah was assassinated and the diamond found its way to the Shah of Afghanistan, but in 1830 the then Shah was deposed and fled the country with the diamond, trading it to the Maharaja of Punjab for his help regaining his throne.

Not long after, the British formally declared Punjab part of the British Empire and explicitly stated in the treaty that the “gem called the Koh-i-Noor… shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England.” The stone is now set into the Crown of Queen Elizabeth. Lucky for the Queen, the legendary curse of the Koh-i-Noor affects only the men who wear the jewel — as history shows that every man who has owned the jewel has either lost their throne or been beset by other terrible fates.

8 Facts About Mothers and Mother’s Day

1. From Greece to Egypt to the U.S.A.

In ancient Greece, festivals were held once a year to honor Rhea, the mother of the Greek gods, while in ancient Egypt, celebrations were held to honor Isis, the mother of the pharaohs.

Americans didn’t start celebrating motherhood officially until 1907, when a Philadelphian by the name of Anna Jarvis successfully completed her own mother’s 50 year campaign to designate one day a year in honor of mothers.

Temple of Isis on Philae Island

2. Long memories and longer pregnancies

Elephants have the longest pregnancy of all animals at nearly two years — an elephant is pregnant 22 months before giving birth to her baby.

3. That’s a lot of mothers

The United States Census estimates that there are more than 82 million mothers in America.

4. Things only a mother says

Mothers are famous (or infamous) for their warnings, advice and wisdom — including such pearls as

1.         On peer pressure: “If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?”

2.        On plastic surgery: “Keep making faces like that and your face will freeze that way.”

3.        On logic: “Because I said so, that’s why!”

4.        More on logic: “Finish your dinner, there are kids starving in (Africa, India, Ethiopia, the rest of the world…)”

5.        On discretion: “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

6.        On anatomy: “I have eyes in the back of my head, that’s how.”

7.        On gardening: “Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know!”

8.        Why you’re going to call her on Mother’s Day: “I’m your mom and I love you no matter what.”

5. Carnations, please

The official flower for Mother’s Day is a red carnation. White carnations are to honor mothers who have passed away.

6. Don’t forget to call Mom

Mother’s Day is the busiest phone day of the year. More than 120 million phone calls to mothers are made.

7. It starts with M

In most languages around the globe, the word for mother starts with the letter M — mere, maman, madre, majka, mana, mae, mam, morsa.

8. Nobody Knows but Mother

In She Walks In Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems, Caroline Kennedy gathered a selection of poems on marriage and motherhood, including this one:

Nobody Knows but Mother

by Mary Morrison

How many Buttons are missing today?

Nobody knows but mother.

How many playthings are strewn in her way?

Nobody knows but mother.

How mant thimbles and spools has she missed?

How many burns on fat little fists?

How many bumps to be cuddled and kissed?

Nobody knows but mother…

How many hats has she hunted today?

Nobody knows but mother.

Carelessly hiding themselves in the hay

Nobody knows but mother.

How many handkerchiefs willfully strayed?

How many ribbons for each little maid?

How for her care can a mother be paid?

–nobody knows but mother!