Origin of name
The name Idol's Eye seems to indicate the origin of the
diamond, which is believed to have been stolen from the eye of a Hindu idol
belonging to a sacred Hindu temple in India. Other diamonds which were
believed to have had similar origins were the Orlov and the Hope diamonds.
The latter diamond particularly became not only famous but also notorious as
it was believed that a curse was placed on the diamond by the priests of the
Hindu Temple, from where the diamond was stolen.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Idol's Eye diamond is a 70.21-carat, colorless
diamond with a slightly bluish tinge, characteristic of diamonds originating
from the Golconda Mines in Southern India. The cut of the diamond is
somewhere between an old-mine cut and a triangular brilliant.
The diamond being colorless is most probably a Type IIa
diamond, which is nitrogen free and have perfectly formed crystals. The
bluish tinge is obviously caused by fluorescence, which is more prominent in
bright light rich in ultra-violet rays.
History
The Idol's eye is either a 16th or 17th century diamond.
The Kollur Mines near Golconda were discovered in the mid 16th century, and
had peak production outputs in the mid 17th century, when over 20 mines
employing around 60,000 people were being worked.
The Idol's Eye Diamond as the name indicates seems to
have had an infamous beginning, being stolen from the eye of the statute of
a Hindu deity in India, like the Hope diamond and the Orlov diamond. But,
fortunately no curse had been placed on this diamond, like the Hope diamond.
Yet the history of this diamond is no less exciting than that of the
notorious Hope diamond.
The shape of the diamond, could appropriately fit the eye
of an idol, and compares favorably with other diamonds deemed to have been
set in this manner, giving credence to the story that the diamond may
possibly have originated from the eye of an idol.
Nothing is known about the history of the journey of the
diamond from India to the West, and the first authenticated fact about the
history of the diamond is, that it was put up for sale on July 14th 1865, at
a Christie's auction in London. The stone was described as a "splendid large
diamond, known as the Idol's Eye, set round with 18 smaller brilliants and a
framework of small brilliants.' The successful bidder at this auction was an
unknown buyer, just referred to as "B.B."
However there are many interesting legends associated
with the early history of the Idol's Eye diamond. According to one such
legend the Idol's eye was given as a ransom for Princess Rasheedah, by the
Sheik of Kashmir, to the Sultan of Turkey, who had abducted her. Another
legend says that the Idol's Eye was seized from the Persian Prince Rahab, in
the early 17th century by the East India Company, as compensation for debts
owed by him to the company. But the history of Persia does not record
the existence of such a prince and the East India Company was created much
later than the said period of time. The most incredible account of the
origin of the Idol's Eye , was that the diamond was set in the eye of an
idol at a temple in Benghazi, Libya. This is preposterous, as Libya had
converted to the Islamic faith in he 8th century A.D. and idol worship had
been abolished in that country ever since.
After the first appearance of the diamond and it's
sale on July 14th , 1865, we next hear of the diamond, as part of the
collection of jewels, belonging to Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909), of
Turkey, the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II, ascended the throne on August
31st, 1876. He dismissed parliament in 1877 and suspended the constitution
in 1878, and imposed autocratic rule on Turkey for the next 33 years. Abdul
Hamid adopted a policy of pan-Islamism to get the support of other Muslim
nations, against the Western Powers. During his long period of autocratic
rule, Abdul Hamid II, was assisted by a nationwide secret police network,
and an army, that was fiercely loyal to him, and the imposition of severe
press censorship.
However discontent with Abdul Hamid's despotic rule and
resentment against European intervention in the Balkans, led to the military
revolution of 1908, organized by a group of disgruntled military officers
belonging to the 3rd Army Corps, based in Macedonia, calling themselves as
the Young Turks, and on April 24, 1909 a force from Macedonia known as the
Action Army led by Mahmud Sevket Pasha, marched on Istanbul and occupied the
city. Abdul Hamid was deposed and his brother was proclaimed Sultan as
Mehmed V. Abdul Hamid lived in exile in Salonika in Northern Greece after
his deposition in 1909. Later he came to Istanbul, where he died in
1918.
The experienced ruler and manipulator that he had been,
Abdul Hamid, was intelligent enough to predict the dramatic political
changes that were about to take place in his Kingdom, and accordingly made
provisions for his future enforced retirement. He dispatched most of his
valuable jewels to Paris, through a trusted agent, which included the Hope
diamond and the Idol's Eye. The jewels were probably sold to the Paris based
gem dealer Salomon Habib, but the proceeds of the sale never reached the
deposed Sultan. Instead they were seized by Abdul Hamid's successors in the
Government.
The Idol's Eye together with several other large diamonds
belonging to Salomon Habib was put up for auction in Paris, on June 24th
1909. A Spanish nobleman seems to have purchased the diamond, which was
later kept in a bank vault in London for several years.
The next time the Idol's Eye re-surfaced was immediately
after World War II, when it was acquired by a Dutch diamond dealer, who sold
it in 1946 to the New York diamond dealer Harry Winston. One year after this
in 1947, Harry Winston successfully negotiated the sale of the diamond to
Mrs. May Bonfils Stanton, daughter of Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, the
publisher and co-founder of the Denver Post in 1895, a crusading newspaper
that exposed crime and corruption in the United States. Mrs. May Bonfils who
was once renowned for her exceptional beauty, eventually became a legendary
figure in American life. She was a distinguished philanthropist and
supported many worthy causes and charities in the United States, and
particularly in her native state of Colorado. Mrs. May had displayed a keen
interest in jewels and jewelry since early childhood and initiated a
collection of these items which in her later life became one of the most
famous collections of jewelry, that included the Idol's Eye, the Liberator
diamond, and a unique diamond necklace that was once owned by the Maharajah
of Indore, that was studded with twelve emeralds weighing 107 carats. Mrs.
May Bonfils lived in isolation in a luxurious, palatial mansion, built in
the 18th century architectural style of the Petit Trianon, situated within
the palace complex at Versailles, France, that was meant to be private residences
for the royal family and special guests. It was reported that she wore a
diamond necklace with the Idol's Eye set as a pendant to it, every morning,
when she appeared for her solitary breakfast. The diamond necklace consisted
of 41 round brilliants with a total weight of 22.50 carats, and 45 diamond
baguettes weighing approximately 12 carats. When she died in March 1962, in
her eighties, her famous collection of jewelry was auctioned by Park-Bernet
Galleries Inc. of New York, in November of the same year. The proceeds of
this auction were distributed among various charities , in accordance with
directions, specified in her last will.
the Idol's Eye was purchased at this auction by the
Chicago Jeweler Harry Levinson for a sum of $ 375,000, which he presented to
his wife Marilyn. The diamond was then taken to Johannesburg, South Africa,
in 1967, by the De Beers Company, to be displayed at an exhibition held at
the diamond pavilion. Subsequently the diamond was put up for sale at an
auction in New York, by Levinson, with a reserve value of $ 1.10 million
being placed on it, but had to be withdrawn from the sale, when the maximum
bid fell far short of this value. Again the diamond was displayed at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in connection with the 50th
anniversary celebrations of Harry Winston Inc. Eventually in 1979, Mr. Harry
Winston was able to dispose of the Idol's Eye to Mr. Laurence Graff, the
head of the world renowned Graff Diamonds of London, in a privately
negotiated deal.
Last transaction and
present owners of the diamond
In January 1983, Mr. Laurence Graff was able to put
together a lucrative deal that saw the disposal of three famous diamonds,
the 70.21-carat Idol's Eye, the 41.94-carat Emperor Maximilian, and the
70.54-carat Sultan Abdul Hamid II, to the same anonymous buyer, for an
undisclosed sum, considered to be one of the highly priced diamond
transactions ever known. The Idol's Eye is still believed to be owned by
this anonymous buyer.
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!!!
