Origin of name
The name Black Orlov for the diamond seems to be inspired
by the color of the stone, as well as the name of the onetime purported
owner of the diamond Princess Nadia Vyegin Orlov of Russia. The other Orlov
diamond which is a 189.62-carat, colorless, Indian rose-cut diamond, presented
by Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov to Empress Catherine the Great
(1762-96), and later mounted on the royal scepter, is presently preserved
among the treasures of the Kremlin Diamond Fund.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Black Orlov diamond is a 67.50-carat, cushion-cut,
black diamond, which is the 6th largest black diamond among the known black
diamonds in the world. See table below.
List of famous black
diamonds
|
S/N |
Name |
carat weight |
shape/cut |
|
1 |
The Spirit of Grisogono |
312.24 |
old moghul-cut |
|
2 |
The Black Star of Africa |
202.00 |
|
|
3 |
The Table of Islam |
160.18 |
emerald-cut |
|
4 |
The Gruosi diamond |
115.34 |
heart-shaped |
|
5 |
The Korloff Noir |
88.00 |
|
|
6 |
The Black Orlov |
67.50 |
cushion-cut |
|
7 |
The Amsterdam |
33.74 |
pear-shaped |
The 67.5-carat Black Orlov diamond is presently set in a
diamond brooch surrounded by 108 white diamonds and suspended from a
124-diamond necklace. The color contrast between the black and white
diamonds is very striking and enhances the beauty of the stone. It is the
beauty of this setting that inspired the "King of Black Diamonds" Fawaz
Gruosi in 1996, to experiment with black diamonds as an ornamental stone,
that almost instantly turned out to be a tremendous success, and have made
black diamond jewelry, the most sought after by women around the world.
Properties of black
diamonds
Black diamonds, being opaque are in a class by themselves
and do not fit into the classification of conventional diamonds, which are
divided into type I and Type II, depending on the presence or absence of
nitrogen.
The properties of black diamonds are entirely different
to that of conventional diamonds.
1) Whereas conventional diamonds are produced deep inside
the earth's surface, probably in it's mantle and are subsequently brought up
along Lamproite and Kimberlite pipes, black diamonds are never found in
Kimberlite pipes, and usually occur in alluvial deposits.
2) Whereas conventional diamonds build up as enormous
crystals made up of giant molecules of repeated tetrahedral units of carbon
atoms, black diamonds appear to be composed of millions of minute diamond
crystals stuck together, giving it a porous nature. Iron compounds such as
hematite and magnetite could sometimes be associated with the conglomerate
crystals giving it magnetic properties.
3) Whereas conventional diamonds are free of trapped gas
bubbles, as the high pressure conditions in which they were produced do not
allow the existence of gases, black diamonds are full of gas bubbles trapped
in the porous material, containing gases that were present when the diamonds
were formed.
4) Whereas conventional diamonds are the hardest
substances known on earth, black diamonds are even harder than the
conventional diamonds, and are therefore extremely difficult to cut and
polish. However there hardness may not not be uniformly distributed. There
may be areas in the porous material that are loosely bound and are softer
than other areas.
5) Whereas conventional diamonds can be cleaved along
cleavage planes, in spite of their hardness, black diamonds do not
have cleavage planes and their extreme hardness is attributed to this
property.
6) Whereas conventional diamonds are more suitable for
ornamental purposes, black diamonds are more suitable for industrial
purposes; gem quality black diamonds being quite rare.
Occurrence of black
diamonds
Black diamonds do not seem to have originated deep inside
the earth's crust like conventional diamonds and are therefore not found in
Kimberlite pipes. Therefore not a single black diamond has ever been
produced in the conventional Kimberlite diamond mines of South Africa,
Russia, Canada, and Australia, the main sources of the approximately 600
tons of conventional diamonds produced in the last century. Today the only
important source of black diamonds in the world are Brazil and the Central
African Republic. Even in the long history of exploitation of diamonds from
the five groups of diamond mines on the eastern Deccan Plateau of the Indian
sub-continent, the discovery of any significant black diamond has never been
reported. Therefore the purported origin of the Black Orlov diamond in the
historical diamond mines of India, seem to be highly improbable, and the
story of the origin of the diamond from the eye of the statute of Brahma,
from a temple in Pondicherry, India, seems to have originated from the
fertile imagination of a seasoned story teller. This story may be similar to
the story of the Idol's Eye diamond originating from the eye of an idol at a
temple in Benghazi, Libya, an Islamic country, where idol worship had been
abolished since 8th century A.D.
Early history
The early history of the Black Orlov diamond, seems to be
as dark as the diamond itself and shrouded in mystery. According to a
legend, the Black Orlov diamond also known as the "Eye of Brahma"
diamond was an uncut black stone of 195 carats, prised out of the eye of the
statute of a sacred Hindu God Brahma, from a temple near Pondicherry in
Southern India. This act of sacrilege infuriated the Hindu priests of the
temple, who placed an alleged curse on the diamond, that condemned all
future owners of the diamond to a violent death. Other famous diamonds of
Indian origin that seem to have had similar infamous beginnings are the Hope
diamond, the Orlov diamond and the "Idol's Eye" diamond. Out of these only
the Hope Diamond is alleged to have been cursed, and is the most notorious
of all cursed diamonds, bringing misfortune and sometimes death to it's
owners or their close relatives. Since the stealing of diamonds from the
eyes of statutes followed by curses being paced on them had become a
favorite theme that imparts notoriety to diamonds, the person or persons who
created the story of the alleged curse of the Black Orlov diamond, seem to
have been inspired by this theme, to gain popularity for the diamond, which
may eventually have a bearing on it's price.
It is not known in which period or year the diamond was
stolen from the temple. However, the stolen diamond somehow found it's
way to Russia, where it is believed to have been acquired by a Princess. No
details are available as to how the diamond reached Russia, and at what time
it became the property of the so called Princess. The name of the Princess
is said to be Nadia Vyegin Orlov, but there is no documentation of Russia
having had a Princess by that name. But, it has been reported that there was
a Princess by the name of Nadezhda Petrovna Orlov, who fled Russia after the
Bolshevik revolution of October 1917, and took up residence in France.
Victims of the curse
Eventually the diamond is said to have found it's way to
the United States in 1932, acquired by a diamond dealer by the name of J. W.
Paris, but the person from whom he purchased the diamond is not known. The
first casualty of the curse is J. W. Paris, who is reported to have jumped
to his death from a New York City skyscraper, shortly after selling the
stone in 1932. It is rather strange, that the curse had waited till the
diamond arrived in the United States, for it to claim it's first victim.
Possibly, the priests in India placed a "delayed action curse" that exempted
the Russian owners of the diamond, in Russian soil. It appears that there is
no record of a jeweler having jumped from a New York skyscraper in 1932.
The curse waited for another 15 years to claim it's 2nd
and 3rd victims, but instead of taking revenge from the current owner of the
diamond who purchased it from J. W. Paris, it seems to have affected two
Russian Princesses, who are said to have separately owned the Black Orlov, at one time or
another in the past, possibly when they were in Russia. The curse seem to be
showing some form of retro-action, taking revenge from past owners. Princess
Nadia Vyegin Orlov, the non-existent Princess according to Russian records,
and Princess Leonila Galitsine Bariatinsky, committed suicide several months
apart in 1947, by jumping from buildings in Rome. But there are no records
to show that such suicides did take place. In fact, Princess Leonila
Galistine Bariatinsky, lived up to the ripe old age of 102 years, and died
long before 1947, in Switzerland, in the year 1918. How she could have been
resurrected from the dead, and leapt from a building in Rome, experiencing a
second death, is beyond anyone's comprehension. As for the other Princess
who also leapt to her death, it seems in all probability that she was a fictitious character. The real
princess Nadezhda Petrovna Orlov, who took up residence in France, lived up
to 90 years, and died of natural causes in 1988, in France.
It is also said that in an attempt to break the
curse an Austrian cutter cleaved the original stone into three pieces and
the largest piece was eventually transformed into the 67.50-carat,
cushion-cut, black Orlov diamond we know of today. The whole operation it is
said, took more than two years. This is quite understandable given the
extreme hardness of black diamonds and the lack of cleavage planes in the
diamond. However the identity of the cutter and the year in which such
operation was performed is not given, raising doubts as to whether such
operation was actually carried out. Moreover the fate of the remaining two
pieces is also not known.
The drastic loss of weight from the original 195 carats
to 67.50 carats is something very common in the processing of rough black
diamonds because of the porous nature of the stones and the possibility of
the occurrence of loose material in the stone.
Apparent breaking of the
curse
Strangely enough after the curse took it's two victims in
1947, it's effects seem to have mellowed down, and did not claim the lives
of the subsequent owners of the stone, whose ownership is well
authenticated. Such an owner was Charles F Winson, the New York City gem
dealer, who valued the stone at $ 150,000. In fact Charles F. Winson appear
to be the first authenticated owner of the Black Orlov, but unfortunately it
is not known from whom he acquired the stone. The stone appears to have been
set in the brooch surrounded by white diamonds by Cartier. While in the
possession of Charles F. Winson, the stone was
exhibited on two occasions in the United States, one at the American Museum
of Natural History in New York in 1951, and the other at the Wonderful World
of Fine Jewelry and Gifts, at the 1964 Texas State Fair, Dallas. The stone
was taken to South Africa in 1967, and exhibited at the Diamond Pavilion in
Johannesburg. In 1969, the stone was sold to an unknown buyer by
Charles Winson for $ 300,000. The diamond came up for auction again in 1990
at Sotheby's and was sold For $ 99,000. But, the highest value for the stone
was realized in 1995, when it was sold at an auction to an anonymous private
collector, for $ 1.5 million. Then in the year 2004, J. Dennis
Petimezas, a jeweler and diamond dealer of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, acquired
the diamond from the anonymous private collector, who purchased it in 1995
for $ 1.5 million, after protracted negotiations conducted on his behalf by
a gem broker of 5th Avenue New York. The purchase price of the diamond was
not disclosed, but considering the time spent on negotiations, almost 6
months, it may not be less than $ 1.5 million.
Dennis Petimezas owned the diamond for almost 30 months,
and dismisses the purported curse placed on the diamond. He says that the
diamond had brought him nothing but good luck during his tenure of
ownership. According to him, during this period he married his long time
sweetheart, and moved into their own dream home, and enjoyed continued
growth in the diamond business. However, it was during his period of
ownership that the "infamous" Orlov Diamond received it's widest media
publicity both for it's beauty as well as the alleged curse placed on it.
The media characterized the diamond as the "most accursed of all gems" and
the "evil death gem," and gave accounts of alleged suicides committed by the
two Russian Princesses and the American diamond dealer J. W. Paris. The
media publicity came in the wake of two highly publicized events, the
display of the "accursed" Orlov diamond in U.K. for the first time, at the
Natural History Museum's "Diamonds Exhibition," held between 21st September
2005 and February 2006, and the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony held in Los
Angles in March 2006.
Black Orlov at the
"Diamonds Exhibition" in London
At the "Diamonds Exhibition" held in the London's Natural
History Museum the Black Orlov was displayed together with other world
renowned diamonds like the 203.04-carat "Millennium Star," the 59.6-carat
"Steinmetz Pink", and the 407.48-carat the "Incomparable" diamond. The
exhibition was sponsored by the Steinmetz Group, with the Diamond Trading
Company as co-sponsors. The event was characterized as a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to see such an astonishing array of important diamonds in
one exhibition. There was an enthusiastic response from the diamond-loving
public to view this rare exhibition. However, on November 22nd, 2005, just
two months after the 5-month long exhibition started, the Director of the
Museum decided to close down the exhibition, on the advice of the London
Metropolitan Police, who said that criminals were planning to target the
exhibition. The Director, Dr Michael Dixon said, the museums priority was
the safety and security of the visitors and staff, and the only responsible
course of action in this situation was to close the exhibition.
Black Orlov at the Oscars
2006
The Black Orlov diamond then traveled to California to
make it's next star appearance at the Academy Awards held on Sunday, March
5th, 2006, and was accompanied by it's owner Dennis Petimezas. The star of
the film "Desperate Housewives," Felicity Huffman, who was nominated for the
Best Actress award for her role in the film, was supposed to choose the $ 2
million Black Orlov necklace to be worn at the glittering ceremony, to be
telecast live around the world. The black Orlov necklace was put on display
at the pre-Oscar festivities held at the Mondrain Hotel Penthouse on March
2nd 2006, where celebrities were able to view $ 12 million worth of Jewelry,
exhibited by 25 jewelers. The jewelry displayed in the Platinum Guild
jewelry suite was intended to give celebrities an opportunity to borrow
pieces for the weekend's festivities.
Last transaction and
present owners of the diamond
Dennis Petimezas, who owned the Black Orlov diamond for
30 months finally decided to dispose of it, as he was planning to by the
Monroe Diamond. Christie's of New York, put up the diamond for sale on
October 11th, 2006, and the diamond was eventually sold to an anonymous
buyer from a different continent, for $ 360,000.
Please submit
your contributions ,comments and questions (See below)
-When you submit a question/comment we will build a
page exclusively for you. You can add more contributions, or let visitors
add comments and ratings
-The idea is Ask one or Answer one!
This way, you save yourself and others the trouble of asking the same
questions on famous diamonds, famous gemstones etc. or become my co-expert on this subject by
rating and submitting comments. I'd appreciate a
little help here! Absolutely!!!
