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| Marcos jewelry Pink diamond of Golconda, India origin.www.abs-cbnnews.com |
A recent catchy news on a big pink diamond drew the attention of diamond lovers world over. The London-based Christie’s auction house made an interesting announcement recently that a rare 25-carat pink diamond had been discovered in a vast jewelry collection once owned by the former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, wife of Late Ferdinand Marcos.
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Imelda Romuáldez Marcos (born July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician, the widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. She served as First Lady from 1965 to 1986. Upon the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. in 1983, there were riots and protests and the Marcos family was forced to go in to exile after his removal from power. The flamboyant dictator’s widow, now 86 and a member of Congress, was known more for her corrupt practises, illegal wheeling and dealing than for her excesses at a time when a large section of that country was reeling under abject poverty. She was a high profile lady, always wanted to hog the limelight. She was popular for a different reason - her excesses, symbolized by her huge shoe collection and staggering jewelry.
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| Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos gettyimages.com |
Above image: Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, adorned with ruby and diamond studded gold jewellery at her 70th birthday party at the luxury hotel in Manila ................
During her husband's power for two decades, the family amassed ill-gotten wealth worth billions of dollars. Recently the Philippine government made an assessment of the vast collections illegally earned three decade ago by the Marcos family. The hoard included vast jewelry collections and shoes, and the authorities were at their wit's end as to what to do with them. Surprisingly among the pieces of jewelry, there was a rare historical and interesting 25 carat pink diamond. Apparently the famous diamond, like other well-known diamonds such as Hope, came from Kollur mines of Golconda, near Hyderabad, in the newly formed state of Telengana, India. This pink diamond was seized when the family fled to Hawaii to escape arrest and possible death. The Briolette-cut ( elongated pear-shaped gemstone cut with facets, and it is often drilled to hang as a bead) pink diamond is very rare and is believed to be worth several million dollar. In 1988 and 1991. it was worth 5 to 7 million dollars. This 18 th century 25 carat diamond was apparently processed and cut in India. According to Christie’s pink diamonds are so rare, only 3 pink diamonds over 10 carats have been put on sale in the past 250 years. A large cushion-shaped, pink-hued diamond (16.8 carat) sold for $28.55 million at the Christie's semi-annual jewelry sale in Geneva on Nov. 10 this year. One Joseph Lau bought his huge pink diamond.
Ref:
http://www.idexonline.com/FullArticle?Id=41364
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