Diamonds, referred to as "Adamas" from the Greek word for unconquerable, appeared in stories from the Bible to Buddhism. Scientist and philospher Pliny said a diamond could neutralize poison if eaten and, if worn, could dispel insanity. No one knows where the first diamonds came from. It is known they were traded in the East in Golconda, the sole source of diamonds for twelve centuries. From Madras to Europe diamonds arrived on boats coming through the Persian Gulf. After transport by ships manned by galley slaves, the diamonds, along with spices like cinnamon and ginger were unloaded then packed onto camels to travel the desert to the Mediterranean or Ethiopia.
India was a source of fabulous diamond specimens of grand size such as the 280-carat stone known as the Great Mogul from which the Koh-i-Noor was cut. The Great Mogul was only part of a greater jewel which had once weighed 900 carats! But by the time the Koh-i-noor was presented to Queen Victoria it weighed only 187 carats. The Queen decided to have it cut. It lost 78 carats; the cutting was botched. As it gained almost nothing in brilliance there was no desire to put it in the crown until 1911, when for use as a power symbol, it was placed onto the crown of Queen Mary.
More on queens and diamonds. Queen Catherine the Great of Russia established her own cutting mills near the gem mines of the Ural Mountains and was said to have worn 2,536 diamonds in one crown! The famed Hope Diamond with its violet blue color was purchased by Louis XIV of France. It was 112.50 carats. It was first cut Indian style but five years later Louis had it cut into the form of a heart. In 1774 Louis XVI inherited it and Marie Antoinette wore it. When the revolution broke out the Blue heart was never seen again.
The story goes the French Blue was sold in Spain, cut there into three smaller stones, then offered for sale in London in 1830 - now 44.50 carats of rounded oval. There banker Henry Philip Hope bought the diamond for $90,000 and it stayed in the Hope family until the turn of the century. Exile, death by small pox, or death by execution followed the former owners of the French Blue. Then the Hope family added to the tale: Henry Hope died without marrying, his nephew's heir then lost his wife as she ran off with another man. Finally the last of the Hopes went bankrupt. The stone was sold to a jeweler. Next a Folies' dancer who wore it was killed by her lover, a Greek broker who bought it fell off a cliff with his wife and children. Then the Sultan of Turkey faced a revolution and was forced to sell it. Pierre Cartier the French jeweler bought it only to sell it to a Mrs McLean who inherited its terrible legend. Her son was killed in an automobile accident, her daughter died of an overdose, her husband suffered a nervous breakdown and died in a mental hospital. At Mrs McLean's death, the Hope Diamond was bought by the famed Harry Winston who displayed it in his Fifth Avenue salon, then about the country, then in 1958 he donated it to the Smithsonian Institution.
The first commoner in history to ever wear diamonds was a Parisian beauty, Agnes Sorel. The diamond merchant was Jacques Coeur already famous for his fleet of 14 far flung merchant ships aiding his trade throughout the Meditteranean. Coeur became the King of France's financial advisor. Coeur's ships meanwhile sailed constantly to the Orient to pick up goods Paris would become known for. For the first time the ladies of France had linens, sables, silks, pearls. Men as well as women purchased pearls from Japan and ivory from Africa, perfumes from Arabia, for the rich rubies and DIAMONDS! Fur lined shoes, silk robes lined with with sable, bodices lined with rubies - all these brought fashion and profit to the needy capital of France. Jacques adorned Agnes with the first diamond necklace in history and together they launched Paris as the center of the world's fashion scene and today still the world capital of luxury goods.
