Origin of name
The Golconda d'or diamond was one of a few yellow
diamonds discovered in the famous Golconda mines of Southern India, reputed
the world over for the production of the highest quality colorless
diamonds known presently as D-color diamonds. The Golconda d'or diamond was
one of the last large diamonds discovered in the reputed mines, before
production gradually decreased and the mines were finally abandoned. The
name Golconda d'or partially reflects the mine of origin of the diamond but
the origin of the second part of the name remains a mystery. It may perhaps
be the name of of one of the owners of the diamond, in its long journey in
history from India to Iran, Turkey, England and eventually to Australia.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Golconda d'or diamond is a 95.40-carat, emerald-cut,
golden yellow diamond, re-cut in 1908 by I. J. Asscher & Co. of Amsterdam,
from its original 130 carats. It was at one time considered to be the
largest emerald-cut yellow diamond in the world, but today it has been
pushed to the 3rd place after the 150-carat Siba yellow emerald-cut, and the
108.84-carat Anon yellow emerald-cut diamonds. In the list of famous yellow
diamonds greater than 90-carats in weight, the Golconda d'or occupies the
30th position. See table below.
The diamond being golden yellow, an intense shade of
yellow is undoubtedly a Type Ib diamond, whose occurrence is only 0.1 % of
natural diamonds. The pale to medium shades of yellow diamonds belong to
Type Ia, which constitute almost 98 % of naturally occurring diamonds.
In Type Ib diamonds the intense yellow and orange colors
are produced by single nitrogen atoms that are scattered in the crystal
structure of the diamond. These nitrogen atoms absorb visible light in the
blue region of the spectrum, causing its complementary color yellow to
appear. Rarely nitrogen atoms absorb visible light in the green region of
the spectrum causing its complementary color orange to appear. Thus intense
yellow diamonds including canary yellow and golden yellow diamonds are
considered to be Type Ib diamonds.
In Type Ia diamonds the pale to medium yellow colors are
caused by aggregates of odd numbers of nitrogen atoms in the crystal, such
as aggregates of 3-atoms known as N-3 centers. These N-3 color centers
absorb visible light in the blue region of the spectrum, but the color
produced is pale to medium yellow.
List of famous yellow
diamonds greater than 90-carats in weight
|
S/N |
Name |
Carat Weight |
Shape/Cut |
Color |
|
1 |
Incomparable |
407.48 |
shield shaped |
fancy brownish yellow |
|
2 |
Oppenheimer-uncut |
253.70 |
natural octahedral |
yellow |
|
3 |
De Beers |
234.65 |
cushion |
light yellow |
|
4 |
Red Cross |
205.07 |
cushion |
canary yellow |
|
5 |
unnamed |
200.87 |
pear |
yellow |
|
6 |
Moon |
183.00 |
round |
pale yellow |
|
7 |
unnamed |
180.85 |
briolette |
yellow |
|
8 |
Star of Peace |
170.49 |
pear |
brownish yellow |
|
9 |
Hope of Africa |
151.91 |
cushion |
fancy yellow |
|
10 |
Unnamed / Siba |
150.00 |
emerald |
yellow |
|
11 |
Florentine |
137.27 |
double rose cut |
light yellow |
|
12 |
Algeiba Star |
135.03 |
square brilliant |
yellow |
|
13 |
Sarah |
132.43 |
cushion |
fancy vivid yellow |
|
14 |
Golden Hue |
132.42 |
cushion |
yellow |
|
15 |
Tiffany Yellow |
128.54 |
cushion |
canary yellow |
|
16 |
Stewart |
123.00 |
brilliant |
yellow |
|
17 |
Meister |
118.00 |
cushion |
yellow |
|
18 |
Vainer Briolette |
116.60 |
briolette |
fancy light yellow |
|
19 |
Unnamed |
114.64 |
briolette |
yellow |
|
20 |
Unnamed |
114.03 |
cushion |
yellow |
|
21 |
Mouna |
112.50 |
cushion |
fancy intense yellow |
|
22 |
African Yellow |
112.00 |
- |
yellow |
|
23 |
Anon |
108.04 |
emerald |
yellow |
|
24 |
Rojtman |
107.46 |
cushion |
yellow |
|
25 |
Soleil d'or / Golden Sun |
105.54 |
emerald |
yellow |
|
26 |
Golden Door |
104.95 |
pear |
yellow |
|
27 |
Alnatt |
101.29 |
cushion |
fancy vivid yellow |
|
28 |
Sunrise |
100.52 |
emerald |
yellow |
|
29 |
Shah of Persia |
99.52 |
cushion |
yellow |
|
30 |
Golconda d'or |
95.40 |
emerald |
golden yellow |
Diamonds number 25 and 30 in the above list bear the
names Soleil d'or and Golconda d'or respectively. Both diamonds are
emerald-cut and yellow. There is also a similarity in their names in respect
of the second part of the name. The only difference is in the weights of the
two stones. While Soleil d'or weighs 105.54 carats, the Golconda d'or weighs
95.40 carats. It is not known whether both names refer to one and the same
stone. Readers who may have any information about this are kindly requested
to provide us the same through our "Contact Us" page.
History
The Golconda d'or diamond is said to be among the last
large diamonds that were discovered in the famous Golconda mines of Southern
India, before the mines were eventually abandoned. The weight of the rough
stone is not known, but given the fact that the finished stone originally
weighed 130 carats, and allowing for a maximum of 50 % loss of weight, the
rough stone would have weighed over 250 carats.
Diamonds produced in the Golconda mines had become
internationally famous for their exceptional quality. The diamonds were
extremely pure, and colorless with a very high clarity grade. These diamonds
were known variously as "whiter than white", "brighter than bright",
"diamonds of the purest water" etc. In fact even today the standard for an
absolutely colorless D-color diamond is a Golconda Diamond, and the term
Golconda is used to refer to any D-color diamond of absolute purity
irrespective of the source and country of the diamond.
Thus diamonds produced in Golconda and other groups of
mines in the river basins of the eastern Deccan region of central and
southern India, were famous for their high quality. In the history of
diamond production in India only a few famous yellow diamonds have been
produced. They are the 137.27-carat Florentine diamond, the 135.03-carat
Algeiba Star or Mahjal diamond, the 88.70 Shah Diamond, and the diamond
under consideration, the 95.40-carat Golconda d'or diamond. Large quantities
of yellow diamonds including most of the famous yellow diamonds listed
above, came into prominence only after the discovery of diamonds in South
Africa. Originally these diamonds were considered to be of poor quality and
people were reluctant to invest their money on them. The greatest boost for
the popularity of yellow diamonds came in 1889, when Nasser-ad-Din Shah, the
Qajar Emperor of Iran purchased a whole lot of South African yellow diamonds
numbering up to 22 and weighing between 38 carats to 135 carats, on his
third visit to Europe, and added them to the crown jewels of Iran. From then
onwards the popularity of yellow diamonds increased, and today some intense
yellow diamonds are fetching prices equal to, or sometimes higher than their
colorless counterparts.
The Golconda d'or diamond
enters the Mogul court
The Golconda d'or diamond that perhaps was discovered in
the early 18th century, found its way to the court of the Mogul Emperors.
This was also the period when Golconda was under their direct rule, until
Mir Qamar-ud-Din also known as Asaf Jah declared independence from the Mogul
Emperors and founded the dynasty of the Nizams of Hyderabad, in 1724. The
diamond eventually came under the ownership of Mogul Emperor Muhammad Shah,
who ruled between 1719 and 1748.
The Golconda d'or diamond
leaves India for Persia
During the period of rule of Emperor
Muhammad Shah, Nadir Shah the mighty conqueror of neighboring Iran invaded
Delhi and Agra and sacked the two cities and plundered their wealth. Among
the loot carried away by Nadir Shah were the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jahaan, and several famous diamonds like the Koh-i-Noor, the Darya-i-Nur,
the Nur-ul-Ain etc. and valuable precious stones like emeralds, rubies and
pearls. The Golconda d'or was believed to be part of this enormous loot. The
estimated value of the entire loot was said to be around 700 million rupees,
and gave a tremendous boost to the Iranian economy, so much so that Nadir
Shah was able to exempt all Iranians from taxes for three years.
The Golconda d'or diamond
leaves Persia for Turkey
As was the custom around that time Nadir Shah presented
some of the jewels and jewelry to rulers of neighboring kingdoms such as the
Ottoman Emperor Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754), the Russian Empress Elizabeth
(1741 to 1761), daughter of Peter I the Great and the ruler of Bukhara
(Uzbekistan) Abul Faiz Khan. However the Golconda d'or diamond was not part
of the manifestation of Nadir Shah's generosity, but eventually in the early
19th century during the reign of Fath Ali Shah (1797-1834) it did become an
important item in the exchange of diplomatic gifts between Fath Ali Shah and
the Ottoman Sultan of Turkey, either Sultan Selim (178r9-1807) or his
successor Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839).
The Golconda d'or diamond
leaves Turkey for Australia
The Golconda d'or diamond remained part of
the Turkish Crown Jewels until 1923 when the first President of the Turkish
Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1923-1938) decided to sell the diamond to a
wealthy Turkish family, who later in 1962, disposed of the diamond in London
at an auction, to the Australian jewelry firm Dunklings, based in Melbourne,
Australia. Dunklings put the magnificent golden yellow diamond on permanent
display at their stores in Melbourne, and the diamond came to be identified
with the exceptional quality jewelry produced by the firm, and became one of
its symbols. This was similar to the Tiffany Yellow diamond which has become
a symbol of Tiffany's the household name in jewelry around the world.
The daring daylight theft
of the Golconda d'or diamond
The diamond was on display at Dunklins Melbourne until
October 1980, when it was taken to Sydney for an exhibition. The diamond was
displayed inside a locked glass case at the Sydney Town Hall, and became a
popular exhibit attracting the attention of numerous visitors during the
exhibition. Then one unfortunate day when the exhibition was still on,
around 60 visitors were gathered around the $ 2 million exhibit waiting to
have a closer look at the exhibit, and suddenly it was discovered that the
priceless exhibit had vanished from inside the locked glass case. This
was a daring daylight robbery that took place right in front of about 60
visitors, and added another thrilling chapter to the history of unsolved
mysteries. How the diamond was spirited away from the locked glass case
right in front of so many visitors defies ones imagination.
Within days of the robbery the police in Sydney arrested
two suspects, the underworld leader of Sydney, Michael Hurley and his
brother Jeffrey, both of whom were at the scene of the crime at the time of
the diamonds disappearance. But subsequently the police dismissed the case
against them and they were released, as witnesses could not make a positive
identification as their was confusion over Hurley's identity because he and
his brother looked strikingly alike, like twins. Hurley however did not deny
his presence at the scene of the crime. The theft of the Golconda d'or
diamond remains a mystery up to this day, and the diamond has been added to
the list of other missing diamonds, which suffered a similar fate.
Profile of Michael Hurley
the chief suspect in the theft
Michael Hurley was one of eight children from a poor
Australian family, who grew up in a single bedroom Pyrmont terrace. He
dropped out of school at the age of 14 years, after repeating third class
three times. The very next year Hurley took up his first job at Swift and
More Distilleries, putting labels on bottles. Three years later at the age
of 18 he took up a job at the wharves of Sydney port, where he eventually
earned the infamous reputation as the "king of waterfront crime."
Hurley's criminal history dates from 1965, and in 1976 he
served a jail term for theft. In 1977 he was again sentenced to four years
imprisonment for another case of break in and theft. After the waterfront
job, he got another job as a Municipal garbage collector, and came into
contact with members of organized crime in the Sidney underworld, and his
criminal acts and methods became more sophisticated. Eventually Michael
Hurley earns the infamous title as the "Head Honcho of organized crime" in
Sidney, a city of four million people.
Some of the organized crime in which Michael Hurley and
his underground criminal gang was involved included the smuggling and
trafficking of drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy, money
laundering , robbery at the Sydney wharves, falsification of passports etc.
The gang is said to have smuggled three tons of marijuana into the country,
and in the year 2001, 34 Kg of ecstasy from Malaysia.
Shayne Hatfield was said to be alleged head of this drug
syndicate, and Michael Hurley and Les Mara are the other ring leaders. The
source of the drugs like cocaine was South America, and the modus operandi
of the syndicate was to recruit baggage handlers at the airport, and key
security officials working for the national airline Quantas, to help in the
smuggling of the drugs by Quantas Airlines operating between airports in
Australia and countries of South America. The syndicate also got the
assistance of corrupt officials in NSW police, in going about their
nefarious activities. The drug syndicate successfully smuggled 10 kg.
of Cocaine into Australia in October 2004, and were then planning to bring
in another 20 kg.
Police were alerted of the imminent attempt to smuggle a
second quantity of cocaine by double agent RI 719. Police also learnt about
the activities of the gang by planting listening devices in their homes and
cars. But these devices were subsequently detected and removed, possibly
after tip offs by corrupt police officers. They were even tipped off about
RI 719, who was later confronted by Hurley and Mara when they met RI 719 and
Hatield, at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where Hurley was receiving
treatment for Cancer of the spine. Hurley said that a person who goes by the
name of RI 719 was leaking information to the crime commission.
The Joint Task Force comprising members of the Australian
Federal police, the NSW police and the Crime Commission, acted swiftly and
conducted dawn raids throughout Sydney in May 2005, that led to the arrest
of 12 suspects allegedly involved in the Cocaine smuggling racket, but two
of the ring leaders Hurley and Mara had escaped arrest. They were possibly
tipped off about the impending raid or intelligent enough to correctly guess
the next move of the police.
A massive international manhunt was launched to
apprehend the two ring leaders of the drug syndicate, and stretched from
Europe and South America to Canada. The police were convinced that both
Hurley and Mara had skipped the country using false passports. Police also
had information that they were planning to leave the country by a merchant
ship.
However, it eventually turned out that Hurley who was
suffering from cancer had not left the country after all. Hurley was
arrested in Sydney in February 2006, after almost nine months on the run.
Hurley's partner Les Maras on the other hand had managed to escape from the
country and spent sometime in Rio de Janeiro and later in Ireland. He later
returned to Australia where he took up residence with a long time associate
Mark John Coughlan in the sleepy seaside town of Callala Bay on the NSW
south coast. Australian Federal Police were tipped off of his presence in
this little town, and they swooped on him and arrested him in November 2006.
Michael Hurley died of cancer in a Sydney hospital in
January 2007, less than a month before his scheduled trial. On August 1st,
2007, Les Maras pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a commercial quantity
of a prohibited drug. The judge remanded Mara in custody, for sentence on
September 21, 2007.
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