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Nassak Diamond

Nassak Diamond
Blue, translucent diamond, shaped roughly like a pyramid
Munich, Germany's Reich der Kristalle museum replica of the 1820s Rundell and Bridge recut of the Nassak Diamond. In reality the diamond was nowhere near this blue, being a white Type IIa classic Golconda diamond. The term "blue-white" is often used to describe these diamonds but in reality alongside a modern D-color diamond it would have had an extremely faint blue cast. Its cut was also more complex (see below images).
Weight43.38 carats (8.676 g)
Dimensions23.35 x 21.73 x 11.51 mm (estimate)[1]
ColorBlue-white
CutEmerald
Country of originIndia India
Mine of originKollur Mine Golconda Diamonds
Discovered15th century
Cut byHarry Winston
Original ownerTrimbakeshwar Shiva Temple
OwnerEdward J. Hand
Estimated value$3.92 million (inflation adjusted 1970 value)

The Nassak Diamond (also known as the Nassac Diamond[2] and the Eye of the Idol[3]) is a large, 43.38 carats (8.676 g) Golconda Diamond that originated as a larger 89 carat diamond in the 15th century in India.[4] Found in Golconda mines of Kollur and originally cut in India, the diamond was the adornment in the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple, near Nashik, in the state of Maharashtra, India from at least 1500 to 1817.[4] The British East India Company captured the diamond through the Third Anglo-Maratha War and sold it to British jewellers Rundell and Bridge in 1818.[4] Rundell and Bridge recut the diamond in 1818,[5] after which it made its way into the handle of the 1st Marquess of Westminster's dress sword.[4]

The Nassak Diamond was imported into the United States in 1927, and was considered one of the first 24 great diamonds of the world by 1930.[4] American jeweller Harry Winston acquired the Nassak Diamond in 1940 in Paris, France and recut it to its present flawless 43.38 carats (8.676 g) emerald cut shape.[6] Winston sold the diamond to a New York jewellery firm in 1942. Mrs. William B. Leeds of New York received the gem in 1944 as a sixth anniversary present and wore it in a ring.[6] The Nassak Diamond was last sold at an auction in New York in 1970 to Edward J. Hand, a 48-year-old trucking firm executive from Greenwich, Connecticut.[7] Currently the diamond is held at a private museum in Lebanon, though there are calls for its return and restoration to the Indian temple.[8]

  1. ^ Sucher, Scott (2006). "Nassak". museumdiamonds.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2008. The dimension estimate was derived from GemCad modelling.
  2. ^ CCPA 2003: p. 118.
  3. ^ Oldershaw, Cally (2004). Firefly Guide to Gems. Firefly Books. pp. 33. ISBN 1-55297-814-1. Retrieved 15 November 2008. Nassak Diamond.
  4. ^ a b c d e CCPA 2003: p. 121.
  5. ^ CCPA 2003: p. 117.
  6. ^ a b Dickinson, Joan Y. (2001). The Book of Diamonds: Their History and Romance from Ancient India to Modern Times. Courier Dover Publications. p. 215. ISBN 0-486-41816-2. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
  7. ^ "43 carats (8.6 g) Diamond, Once an Idol's Eye, Sold for $500,000". New York Times. 17 April 1970. p. 32. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  8. ^ "'Bring back India's Nassak diamond from Lebanon'". The Hindu. 25 March 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.