Origin of name
The diamond gets its name from Empress Eugenie the
consort of Emperor Napoleon III, who purchased the diamond in 1853, and
presented it as a wedding gift to his bride, Eugenie de Montijo, daughter of
a Spanish Nobleman.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The diamond is a 51-carat, perfectly cut, oval-shaped
colorless, brilliant of unknown color and clarity grade.
Early history
The diamond first came into prominence in 1762, the year
Catherine the Great of Russia, ascended the throne as Empress of Russia. She
wore the diamond as the centerpiece of a hair ornament, a piece of jewelry
she wore quite often at her court. The diamond is possibly of Brazilian
origin. Diamonds were discovered in Brazil in the early 18th Century, and
after 1725, Brazilian diamonds in large numbers found their way to countries
in Europe.
Catherine II the Great, the German-born empress of Russia
has gone down in the history of Russia as one of its greatest rulers.
Catherine the Great, who ruled between 1762 and 1796, carried on the work
begun by Peter the Great, and led her country into full participation in the
political and cultural life of Europe. Among the achievements of her 34-year
rule was the reorganization of the administration and law of the Russian
Empire, and the extension of the Russian territory, adding the Crimea and
much of Poland. She reorganized 29 provinces under her administrative reform
plan, and built more than 100 new towns, and expanded and renovated the old
towns. She also expanded trade and communications. She presided over a
brilliant court, which attracted the intellectuals and the greatest minds of
Europe. During her 34-year rule Russia turned out to be one of the greatest
powers of Europe. What the German-born Catherine achieved for Russia during
her reign, which only a few other Russian Emperors could equal, puzzles the
modern historian.
But, Catherine's private life was not so exemplary. She
was not the type of woman who would be tied down to a single man. Through
out her long reign she took many lovers, often elevating them to high
positions as long as they held her interest, and then pensioning them off
with large estates and gifts of serfs. One of her first lovers was a young
artillery officer in the Russian Army, Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, with
whose help in 1762, she organized the coup d'etat that ousted her husband
Peter III, and later installed herself as the Empress of Russia. Catherine
then gave her lover the title of Count, and promoted him to the rank of
Adjutant General, and also made him the Director General of Engineers, and
General-in Chief. In 1772, Catherine appointed Count Orlov as her chief
delegate to a peace conference to end the Russio-Turkish war that began in
1768.
In 1774, Count Orlov ceased to be Catherine's lover, and
she took Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, who had distinguished himself in
the war with Turkey, as her new lover. Potemkin was the only one of
Catherine's favorites, who was not only her lover but also had the privilege
of sharing power with the great empress. Potemkin was an experienced
diplomat as well as a brilliant military officer. The capture and annexation
of the Crimea from the Turks is credited to Potemkin, and this together with
the acquisition of the territories of the Crimean Khanate helped Russia to
gain possession of the strategic north shore of the Black Sea. Catherine's
glorification reached its climax in a voyage to the Crimea, arranged by
Potemkin in 1787. In a festive Arabian Nights atmosphere the Empress crossed
the country to take possession of her new provinces.
In recognition of his services both military and
diplomatic, and for conducting her triumphant tour through the newly
acquired Crimea, Catherine the Great, presented the 51-carat oval-shaped
brilliant, which later came to be known as the "Empress Eugenie" diamond, to
her lover Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin. She also bestowed on him the
surname taurisschesky, derived from the Russian name for Crimea,
Khersonesus Taurica, and gifted him a magnificent palace called Tauria.
As a minister of Catherine the Great, Potemkin, had
acquired an extensive collection of jewelry, which after his death in 1791,
was inherited by his favorite niece, Countess Branitsky, from whom the
jewelry, which included the Eugenie diamond, passed to her only daughter,
Princess Colorado. In 1853, Napoleon III of France, purchased the
diamond from Potemkin's grandniece, and presented it as a wedding gift to
his bride Eugenie de Montijo. The diamond was later mounted on a beautiful
diamond necklace, and Empress Eugenie gave it her own name, by which it is
still known today.
Modern history
Napoleon III, who was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte,
ruled France first as President from 1948 to 1952, and later as Emperor from
1952 to 1970. He gave his country two decades of prosperity under a stable
authoritarian government. Countess Eugenie de Montijo visited Paris in 1851,
the year before Louis Napoleon became emperor of France. Louis Napoleon was
installed as Emperor Napoleon III of France in 1852. Having failed to obtain
the hand of a princess of equal birth, Napoleon III married the countess
Eugenie de Montijo, the daughter of a Spanish nobleman, in 1853. The City of
Paris, honored their new empress by giving her a wedding gift of 600,000
francs, but at her request the money was used to build a college for
females. Empress Eugenie subsequently made an official trip to Great
Britain, with her husband Emperor Napoleon III, and this visit heralded the
beginning of a close relationship between Empress Eugenie and Queen
Victoria. Empress Eugenie, who was the last Empress of France, influenced
her husband in foreign policy matters, and served as regent during his
absence.
After the disastrous Franco-German war of 1870-71, in
which Napoleon III was defeated, and surrendered to the Germans, he was
deposed and France proclaimed the Third Republic. With the fall of the
French Empire, Empress Eugenie escaped with her son Louis to England, where
she was warmly welcomed by her friend Queen Victoria. Subsequently, when
Napoleon III was released by the Germans, he too joined Empress Eugenie and
his son Louis in England. Empress Eugenie carried some of her jewelry, which
included the Eugenie diamond, when she left France in 1870. She later
deposited them in the vaults of the Bank of England, for safe keeping.
Empress Eugenie gradually disposed of her jewelry as and
when the need arose through the renowned London auction house Christie's,
but the 51-carat Eugenie diamond was sold to an Indian Maharajah,
Mulhar Rao, the Gaekwar of Baroda, for about $ 75,000. The Maharajah was
said to be the eighth richest man in the world at that time, and he had a
renowned gem and jewelry collection, which included the "Star of the South"
diamond and the "English Dresden" diamond.
In 1874, Mulhar Rao, the Gaekwar of Baroda, was involved
in a sensational case that implicated him in the attempted murder of
the British Resident Colonel Phayre, by mixing diamond powder in his food.
The plot was unsuccessful, and the Maharajah was tried on a charge of
attempted murder by poisoning. The Jury that tried the Maharajah consisted
of three Englishmen and three Indians, and they failed to reach a unanimous
verdict. But Lord Northbrook, the British Viceroy decided to depose the
Maharajah, on the grounds of mismanagement, and was replaced by another
appointee from his family. The Eugenie diamond together with the other
famous diamonds such as the Star of the South diamond, the English Dresden
diamond, and the Akbar Shah diamond remained in the Gaekwar family until as
recently as 1988, when Fatehsinhrao Gaekwad and his wife Shanthadevi had
declared the diamonds as part of their valuables in the wealth tax returns
for 1988. However the present whereabouts of the diamond are not known.
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!!!
