Origin of name
The Indore Pears refer to, two, almost identical
pear-shaped diamonds, that get their name from the Princely State of Indore,
that was situated in the Central Provinces of the Indian Sub-Continent, and
whose Maharajah was the one time owner of this beautiful pair of diamonds.
Characteristics of the
diamond
The Indore Pears, are pear-shaped, colorless diamonds,
with a color grading of E, and clarity of VVS-2, and having weights of 46.39
and 44.14 carats. Being colorless diamonds, they are most probably Type II a
diamonds, that are nitrogen free and with perfectly formed crystals. The
presence of nitrogen and malformed crystals can impart colors to diamonds.
History
The Indore Pears were two almost identical, pear-shaped
diamonds, originally weighing 46.95 carats and 46.70 carats, set as a pair
of earrings, belonging to the Maharajah of Indore and worn by his Queen
consort the Maharani. The early history of the two diamonds is unknown, but
the color and clarity of the diamonds appear to be characteristic of
the renowned Golconda diamonds, that were produced in the Kollur mines, near
Golconda, that were in active production in the 17th century. When Tavernier
visited Golconda in 1642, more than 20 mines were in active production,
employing more than 60,000 people.
Indore was one of the Princely States of the Maratha
Confederacy, ruled by the Holkar dynasty. The other three Maratha Princely
States, being Gwalior, Nagpur, and Baroda, ruled respectively by the
Sindhia, Bhonsle, and Gaekwar dynasties. The year of founding the four
dynasties were as follows :-
Holkar dynasty -1724 Sindhia Dynasty - 1726
Bhonsle dynasty -1730 Gaekwar dynasty -1740
Most of the Princely States existed as separate
entities until the time of the Indian Independence in 1947, when they were
absorbed into the Indian Republic. Indore and Gwalior were situated in the
present Madhya Pradesh State, Nagpur in Maharashtra State and Baroda
in Gujarat State of India. The Maratha speaking people constitute almost
65,000,000 of the current Indian population. The Marathi speaking region
extends from Bombay to Goa, along the west coast of India, and inland about
100 miles east of Nagpur. The Maratha people are famed in history as brave
warriors and champions of Hinduism. The British Colonial rulers recognized
the bravery and loyalty of the Maratha warriors and recruited them as
soldiers just as the Gurkhas of Nepal.
Tukoji Rao III, was the Maharajah of Indore at the
beginning of the 20th century. The Prince had many concubines in his palace
and one of his favorites was Mumtaz Begum, a Muslim dancing girl at his
court. the Prince gave special attention to Mumtaz Begum, but she did not
reciprocate his feelings. One day, while the entourage of the Maharajah was
traveling in his private train, the girl jumped off the train and escaped to
Amritsar. She eventually came back to Bombay, where she came under the
protection of a rich merchant, probably as his mistress.
While in Bombay, one evening in January of 1925, Mumtaz
Begum was in a car with a friend, driven by an official of the Bombay
Municipal Corporation. The car was moving along the ridge of the Malabar
Hill Hanging Gardens of Bombay, a famous leisure park, that was crowded with
people that evening. Suddenly a group of armed men attacked the car. The
official was killed and the other two occupants were seriously injured. Four
British officers who happened to pass by at that crucial moment,
rushed to the aid of the victims, and were able to detain one assailant. The
Indian Press gave wide coverage to the murder, and reported that evidence
gathered by the police, indicated that the motive for the crime was not
robbery, but rather revenge or an attempt at abduction. The Times of India
reported that the Bombay police were offering a cash reward of 10.000 rupees
for any information, that may lead to the arrest of the criminal gang, but
added that the organization behind the gang were so rich, powerful and
unscrupulous, that they could offer even greater inducements for potential
informants to remain silent.
Mumtaz Begum who recovered from her injuries, said in a
statement made to the Bombay Police, that she recognized one of the
assailants as an aide-de-camp of the Maharajah of Indore, and others as
members of the Indore army and mounted police. The British colonial
authorities took a serious view of the implication of the Maharajah in the
dastardly crime, and gave him two option; either to appear at the subsequent
official inquiry or abdicate in favor of his son. The Maharajah chose the
second option and abdicated in 1926.
After his abdication, Tukoji Rao, temporarily re-settled
in Europe, and one day as he was traveling in Switzerland, he met a rich
young American lady, by the name of Nancy Anne Miller. They fell in love and
got married in 1928. Much publicity was given to this marriage, by both the
Indian Press and the International Press. Nancy Anne embraced Hinduism, the
religion of the ex-Maharajah, and came to be known as Maharani Shamista Devi
Holkar. The Indore Pears diamonds were presented to Maharani Shamista Devi
by the ex-Maharajah, and she had worn the diamond on many occasions. However
in 1946, just one year before the abolition of the Princely States, the
ex-Maharajah decided to sell the famous diamonds, and was purchased by the
New York diamond dealer Mr. Harry Winston. The first thing Mr. Winston did,
was to get the stones re-cut, to bring out their brilliance, and the new
weights of the stones were 46.39 and 44.14 carats. The pair of diamonds were
later exhibited at the famous court of jewels exhibition, that toured the
United States, and organized by Mr. Harry Winston, which also featured
the Hope diamond. Mr. Winston sold the Indore Pears in 1953, to a customer
from Philadelphia, and re-purchased them five years later in 1958. He then
sold the Indore Pears to another customer from New York. He again re-
purchased the stone in 1976 and later sold them to a member of an
unspecified royal family. The stones later featured at two different
auctions conducted by Christie's of Geneva in November 1980 and later in
November 1987.
Present owners of the
diamond
The Indore Pears diamonds are presently owned by
Robert Mouawad, the head of the international jewelry empire Mouawad
Jewelers, a collector and connoisseur of diamonds, who has added them
to his rare and magnificent collection.
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