Fourth largest Jacob Diamond of Indian origin with no curses

The famous Jacob Diamond of Indian origin.www.glitteringstones.com


Diamonds, the nature's most interesting and dazzling wonder, always attract the attention of the rich and the famous and it is out of reach for other people. It was more of a symbol of pride and power of affluence than a mere possession of a valuable gem. One may call it either a symbol of status or of vanity. This famous stone 'the Jacob diamond has no exciting stories in its background except that it was once owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad, India who was one of the world's richest men during India's independence struggle-before1940s. 

The famous Jacob Diamond, ranked fifth in the world, is a large diamond once owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad, India  and currently owned by the Government of India.  It was valued at £100 Million in 2008. The Indian government became the owner when Hyderabad joined the Indian Union soon after India's independence in mid 1947.


The Nizam of Hyderabad,India.historyofournation.blogspot.com


Originally the uncut diamond weighing 400 carats,  was cut to  size subsequently in Europe. The Nizam of Hyderabad  Mahboob Ali Khan.



he famous Jacob Diamond of Indian origin.ww.glitteringstones.com


bought the diamond at an auction put up by Alexander Malcolm Jacob in 1891; hence the name ''Jacob Diamond.'' In order to go through the auction sale, the, Nizam was asked to pay an initial deposit on the diamond which he immediately  obliged, then not fully aware of the value of the diamond. Some legal problems cropped up as the Nizam's initial deposit towards sale, for some reason, got mixed up somewhere and the legal bottlenecks were finally resolved before the court. The Nizam was awarded the diamond for almost half of his original offer, 23 lakhs (2.2 million) Rupees (approx. $50,000 by 2005.


After the death of his father, the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, accidentally found the Jacob Diamond in the toe of his father’s shoe at Chowmahalla Palace. The Nizams never understood the value of Jacob diamond and the last Nizam himself  used it as a paper weight for a long time. When somebody drew the attention of the Nizam about the true  worth of the diamond, he subsequently kept it in the safe vault of Chowmahalla Palace  along with other valuable jewels as part of Nizam's treasures.Despite the litigation and the legal wrangles, the Indian government purchased the Jacob diamond for a sum of $13 million in 1995, along with other Jewels of the Nizams, and is held at the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai.

Incidentally, unlike many famous diamonds that have had violent background - murder, fluctuating fortunes, illness, etc of the owner, this diamond changed  hands a couple of times and had no sensational or mysterious stories in the backdrop. Nor did it carry  Hindu temple priest's curse or bad luck.

This diamond of Indian origin, first discovered in 1884, has a rectangular cushion-cut, colorless with 58 facets, and measures 39.5 mm long, 29.25 mm wide and 22.5 mm deep. Now it  weighs 184.5 carats (36.90 g).
Ref:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Diamond