The crown worn by the Queen Mother features the controversial Koh-i-Noor diamond.
The iconic Koh-i-Noor diamond is just one of the famous jewels that have been making headlines lately due to the upcoming coronation of King Charles of the United Kingdom.
Last month, reality star Kim Kardashian made headlines when she bought an eye-catching crucifix pendant worn by the late Diana Princess of Wales for a whopping $198,233.
Kardashian, who also acquired the Cartier Tank watch in 2017 from the also deceased former First Lady of the United States, Jackie Kennedy, is said to be creating a jewelry collection that celebrates the women who inspired it.
“An illustrious past can add tremendous value to a piece of jewellery, even more so when the previous owner was extremely glamorous and had built a jewelery collection, like Princess Margaret or Elizabeth Taylor,” said Helen Molesworth, curator of jewelery at BBC Culture Victoria and Albert Museum in London .
Of course, a piece of jewelery is above all valuable for its quality and aesthetic beauty, said the expert, adding that “if it’s a well-known designer, the jeweler who designed it can add a seal of approval.” More often than not, however, it is the provenance of a piece that defines it as truly exceptional.
Over time, various rare gemstones and jewelry designs have appeared in stories that have made them iconic or downright infamous. From emblems of devoted love to symbols of colonial conquest to cursed diamonds and bold styling choices. This article reveals the stories behind the 10 most legendary jewels in the world.
The late Princess Diana of Wales wore what is known as the Attallah Cross, made of amethysts and diamonds, on several occasions.
Attallah’s cross
Kim Kardashian’s striking cross of square-cut amethysts surrounded by 5.2-carat diamonds was created by London jeweler Garrard in the 1920s.
This jewelry was a favorite of Diana Princess of Wales and she commissioned the design of his engagement ring. However, the pendant never belonged to Diana, instead being loaned to her several times by its owner and close friend Naim Attallah, then co-CEO of Asprey & Garrard, who, according to his son, only allowed the princess to wear it. .
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Molesworth thinks Kardashian is a suitable owner for the piece. “She’s a self-made woman buying for herself: a great mark of class and gender equality in the world of commercial collecting,” she said.
Bold and brilliant, the crucifix represented Diana’s increasingly powerful style shift in the 1980s.
“In a way, this unusual pendant symbolizes the growing security of the princess in his tailoring and jewelery choices at this special moment in his life,” said Kristian Spofforth, Head of Jewelery at Sotheby’s in London, before the piece went on sale.
Diana wore the huge cross to a charity ball in October 1987, pairing it with a pearl necklace and a spectacular purple Elizabethan-style dress.
The black diamond was 195 carats in the rough and experts say it was stolen from a shrine in India in the 19th century.
The Black Diamond Orlov
Crystalline black diamonds are exceptional in their own right, making the Orlov black diamond, a 67.49 carat cushion-shaped stone with a metallic hue and a chilling legend, perhaps the rarest of its kind.
According to the story, the 195-carat rough diamond, it was stolen by an idol of the Hindu god Brahma in the 19th century from his sanctuary in India.
It is said that the gem, since cursed, caused the death of the thief and the suicide of three of its owners: A Russian princess named Nadia Vygin-Orlov, one of her relatives, and JW Paris, the diamond merchant who imported her to America.
However, recent studies have thrown this story into question, with experts believing the diamond’s origins in India are unlikely and questioning the existence of Nadia Vygin-Orlov.
What is known is this The diamond has been re-cut to create three individual gems hoping to break the curse and that subsequent owners of the Black Orlov – now mounted as a pendant with a laurel wreath surrounded by diamonds – escaped seemingly unscathed.
Actress Elizabeth Taylor owned an unusual jewel that belonged to European monarchs such as Queen Mary I of England and Napoleon’s older brother.
the pilgrim bead
A stunning pear-shaped pearl found off the coast of Panama in 1576, La Peregrina has a history as important as its shape.
“Simply It is one of the most perfect pearls in the worldif not most, and it has a great story and romance,” Molesworth explained.
Weighing 202.24 grams (50.56 carats), the pearl was originally purchased by Philip II of Spain for his wife, Queen Mary I of England, and was passed down through generations of Spanish kings before falling into the hands of Napoleon’s older brother Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte fell.
Much later, in 1969, was bought by actor Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor and was mounted on a necklace designed by Cartier.
“It’s a great love story, but it’s also funny,” Molesworth said of this chapter in the pearl’s story.
“Taylor told in her autobiography how once, while sitting on the sofa with Burton, she noticed that the pearl had come loose from her necklace. She looked down and saw her pup chewing on something on the carpet: the pearl was between his teeth. Luckily he was able to salvage it relatively unscathed,” said the specialist from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
La Peregrina was auctioned by Christie’s auction house in New York in 2011 $11,842,500making it the most expensive natural pearl ever auctioned.
The Hope Diamond, with an unusual blue color, is now one of the main attractions of the renowned Smithsonian Museum in the United States.
the hope
Another haunting gemstone with a sinister past is the “cursed” Hope Diamond, which is the crown jewel of the Smithsonian Museum’s National Gem Collection.
“It’s a very rare deep blue diamond that’s named after its owners,” said Arabella Hiscox, a jewelry specialist at Christie’s in London, who told BBC Culture that the gemstone is 45.52 carats.the largest known diamond of its kind.
“When exposed to ultraviolet light, it glows blood red, which only adds to its mystery,” he added.
In his 1996 book The Unexplained, Karl Shuker recounted the legendary origins of the diamond: a Hindu priest impiously tore it from the forehead of an Indian temple idol.
In 1668, Louis XIV of France bought the diamond that was stolen during the French Revolution amid rumors that the monarch and Marie Antoinette had fallen victim to his curse.
Pierre Cartier set the Hope in the striking white diamond necklace it now adorns, and sold it in 1912 to the hapless mountain farmer Evalyn Walsh McLean.
“Two of McLean’s children are said to have died while she was carrying him,” Hiscox claimed.
In 1958 the then owner of the Hope, jeweler Harry Winston, donated it to the Smithsonian Museum in what Hiscox calls “a very clever tax break.”
The wife of the abdicated King Edward VIII received from him the so-called Pantera bracelet, a piece of jewelry with diamonds and emeralds designed and manufactured by Cartier.
Panther bracelet by Wallis Simpson
The famous love story between Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII, who abdicated the British throne in 1936 to be with the American socialite, can be traced in many ways through the impressive collection of Cartier jewelery the couple have accumulated over the years Years mutually gave their lives.
A large proportion of the pieces the couple collected were sold at auction by Sotheby’s in 2010.
The star of the sale was Simpson’s 1952 Panther bracelet, decorated with diamonds and emeralds. The jewel was a gift from Eduardo during the couple’s exile in Paris.
“This piece has almost all the qualities that make a piece of jewelry iconic”Magali Teisseire, head of jewelry at Sotheby’s in Paris, told BBC Culture.
“It’s very important in the history of Cartier. It was designed by Jeanne Toussaint, nicknamed ‘La Panthère’ by Louis Cartier, who created his original Panther designs. So it has the quality, the historical design and of course the provenance. romantic,” adds the specialist.
American singer Madonna is said to have tried on the bracelet before the auction while filming the Simpsons biopic. However, the buyer pays a staggering $5.4 million through the cat jewel, was never revealed.
Queen-Consort Camilla will not use the Queen Mother’s crown during the coronation on May 6 amid claims from various countries that they are returning the diamond
The Koh-i-Noor Diamond
One of the largest cut diamonds in the world, the 105.6 carat Koh-i-Noor is also one of the most controversial British Crown Jewels. Believed to have been quarried in southern India in the Middle Ages, its written origin dates back to 1628 when it adorned the inlaid throne of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
In 1739, the Persian ruler Nader Shan plundered the throne during his invasion of Delhi and took the diamond with him to what is now Afghanistan. According to Smithsonian magazine, the stone “passed through the hands of various rulers in bloody episode after bloody episode” before returning to India, where it fell into the hands of Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh in 1813.
The British East India Company, then colonizing much of the Asian subcontinent, learned of the diamond’s existence and, delighted with its mythological status, decided to claim it. They did so in 1849, forcing the 10-year-old heir to the Punjab throne to renounce both the diamond and his sovereignty presented the Koh-i-Noor to Queen Victoria.
The stone appeared at the Great Exhibition of 1851, where it was derided for its dullness and subsequently recut and polished amid rumors that it harbored a curse.
The Koh-i-Noor is currently gracing the crown of the late Queen Motherbut the governments of India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have demanded the return of this unique symbol of colonial conquest.
The ring that Queen Marie Antoinette wore on her little finger is not only made of diamonds but also contains a lock of her hair.
Marie Antoinette’s ring
“Marie Antoinette is at the top of the list for jewelry owners,” said Arabella Hiscox of Christie’s. And the proof is a set of 10 jewels that once belonged to the French Queen and were later purchased by the Bourbon-Parma family, only to later be sold for millions at Sotheby’s in 2018.
A beautiful natural pearl pendant was the best-selling piece in the historical collection, hand-packaged and placed in a wooden chest by Marie Antoinette and shipped to Brussels, Belgium, just prior to her capture.
However, Teisseire believes that what really makes it special is a tiny little ring with the monarch’s monogram on it.
“It bears the letters MA in diamonds and Inside is a lock of Marie Antoinette’s hair.. It’s an incredibly intimate piece and a ring that I’ve worn a lot,” he explained.
“I remember asking the specialist who appraised the pieces how much such a rare piece could cost. The answer was ‘a lot’ sold for 50 times‘ he recalled.
Actress Audrey Hepburn made the unique yellow diamond famous by starring in the 1961 film Diamonds for Breakfast.
The Breakfast at Tiffany’s Stone.
Purchased in the 1870s by Tiffany & Co founder Charles Lewis Tiffany, the diamond became famous for being worn by actress Audrey Hepburn in promotional stills for the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Diamonds for Breakfast).
The Yellow DiamondVisually spectacular and culturally treasured, it has a troubled past. The 128.54-carat gemstone has only been worn by four women: socialite Mary Whitehouse, Hepburn (who wore it in a Ribbon Rosette necklace by Tiffany jeweler Jean Schlumberger), Lady Gaga and Beyoncé (who wore it in an updated context). wore: a 2012 necklace with 100 carats of white diamonds).
But the air of exclusivity surrounding the dazzling diamond has put the stone’s much more sinister origins under closer scrutiny.
The diamond was unearthed in 1877 in the South African Kimberley minewhere black workers endured terrible working conditions and miserable wages under British colonial rule.
In a 2021 Washington Post column, writer Karen Attiah said that while the term “blood diamond” often refers to stones “used by dangerous militias and warlords to fund their operations,” the label does should contain stones.
The reason? In recognition of the “thousands of African lives lost and communities destroyed in the colonial quest for control of the continent’s resources,” he said.
One of Queen Victoria’s most prized possessions was a tiara designed for her by her late husband Albert.
Queen Victoria’s crown
One of the most iconic treasures in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s illustrious jewelery collection is what Molesworth described as a “beautiful but striking crown of sapphires and diamonds” that Prince Albert designed for Queen Victoria in 1840, the year of her marriage.
The piece was made by Joseph Kitchingby London jewelers Kitching and Abud, and was one of Victoria’s most treasured possessions throughout her life.
“When I was young I wore the tiara as a diadem closed around the chignon, and in mourning I wore it on the widow’s hat: it was obvious a way to keep his beloved Alberto closesaid Molesworth.
Sapphires are particularly iconic to the royal family, Molesworth noted, something that began with Albert’s designs for Victoria and extended to Diana’s engagement ring.
“They symbolize the blue of royalty and faith and trust, so they’re ideal for marriage,” he said.
Ultimately, the deeply meaningful piece does what Molesworth says of the finest pieces of jewelry: “Contains both a public signal and a personal meaning.”
Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife received from him a necklace made of hundreds of diamonds of different types and sizes.”
The Napoleon Diamond Necklace
The historic Napoleon diamond necklace was given by the French Emperor to his second wife, Marie Louise, in 1811 on the occasion of the birth of their son, Napoleon II, who would become Emperor of Rome.
The stunning silver and gold design was created by Paris-based jeweler Etienne Nitôt & Sons and was originally shown, according to the Smithsonian 234 diamonds: 28 old mine cut diamonds, nine pendulums and 10 briolettesenhanced by several smaller gems.
“All the stones were mined in India or Brazil, which is where the best diamonds came from back then,” Hiscox explained of the necklace’s hypnotic appeal.
“They have an extraordinary crystalline quality, like water,” he added.
After Napoleon’s fall, his wife and her many jewels returned to her hometown of Vienna and after her death the necklace passed into the hands of her sister-in-law, Sophia of Austria. The Archduchess decided to shorten it by removing two stones and turning them into earrings, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
The necklace stayed in the family until 1948, when it was sold first to a French collector and then to American businesswoman Marjorie Merriweather Post, who donated it to the Smithsonian in 1962. It continues to be venerated in the museum, Hiscox said, as “one of the most spectacular pieces of (its) time.”
This article was originally published in English on BBC Culture