The Hope Diamond is a 45.52 carats diamond that has been famed for its great size since the 18th century. Extracted in the 17th century from the Kollur Mine in Guntur, India, the Hope Diamond is a blue diamond. Its exceptional size has revealed new information about the formation of diamonds.
Cartier International SNC, or simply Cartier, is a French luxury-goods conglomerate that designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells jewellery, leather goods, watches, sunglasses and eyeglasses. Founded by Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) in Paris in 1847, the company remained under family control until 1964. The company is headquartered in Paris and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Richemont Group. Cartier operates more than 200 stores in 125 countries, with three Temples in Paris, London, and New York City.
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchange for 3,800 carats of small diamonds.
The Pink Panthers are an international jewel thief network responsible for a number of robberies and thefts described as some of the most audacious in the history of organized crime. The organization has roughly 800 core members, many of whom are ex-soldiers with extensive military and paramilitary backgrounds. Both women and men play an equal part in the structure of the organization. The organization's membership mostly consists of Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, who are believed to be Bosnian War veterans making use of their military experience for criminal activity. The organization was named by Interpol after The Pink Panther series of crime comedy films.
De Grisogono is a Swiss luxury jeweller founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1993 by Lebanese-Italian black diamond specialist Fawaz Gruosi. The Italian name Grisogono is derived from the Latin Chrysogonus which comes from the Greek Chrysogonos χρῡσό-γονος, meaning "begotten of gold". The company filed for bankruptcy on 29 January 2020. In 2022 it was bought by the Damac Group of Dubai.
Garrard & Co. Limited designs and manufactures luxury jewellery and silver. George Wickes founded Garrard in London in 1735 and the brand is headquartered at Albemarle Street in Mayfair, London. Garrard also has a presence in a number of other locations globally. Garrard was the first official and most notably important Crown Jeweller of the United Kingdom having supplied jewels for Queen Victoria, and was charged with the upkeep of the British Crown Jewels, from 1843 to 2007, and was responsible for the creation of many tiaras and jewels still worn by the British royal family today. As well as jewellery, Garrard is known for having created some of the world's most illustrious sporting trophies, including the America's Cup, the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy and a number of trophies for Royal Ascot in its role as Official Trophies and Silverware Supplier, which originally dates back to the first Gold Cup in 1842.
Heidi Horten was an Austrian billionaire and art collector. She was the widow of businessman Helmut Horten, whose wealth was famously rooted in Nazi profiteering. In May 2020 Forbes estimated her net worth at US$3.0 billion.
The Nassak Diamond 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. Found in the Golconda mine 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. 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. Rundell and Bridge recut the diamond in 1818, after which it made its way into the handle of the 1st Marquess of Westminster's dress sword.
The Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond is a 31.06-carat (6.212 g) deep-blue diamond with internally flawless clarity, originating in the Kollur Mine, India. Laurence Graff purchased the Wittelsbach Diamond in 2008 for £16.4 million. In 2010, Graff revealed he had had the diamond cut by three diamond cutters to remove flaws. The diamond was now more than 4 carats (800 mg) lighter and was renamed the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond. There is controversy, as critics claim the recutting has so altered the diamond as to make it unrecognisable, compromising its historical integrity.
The Graff Diamonds robbery took place on 6 August 2009 when two men posing as customers entered the premises of Graff Diamonds in New Bond Street, London and stole jewellery worth nearly £40 million. It was believed to be the largest ever gems heist in Britain at the time, and the second largest British robbery after the £53 million raid on a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006. The robbers' haul totalled 43 items of jewellery, consisting of rings, bracelets, necklaces and wristwatches. One necklace alone has been reported as being worth more than £3.5m. Britain's previous largest jewellery robbery also took place at Graff's, in 2003.
Graff is a British multinational jeweller based in London. It was founded by British jeweller Laurence Graff in 1960. A vertically integrated company, Graff operations comprise the design, manufacture and retail distribution of jewellery and watches.
"Australian Facetors Guild Limited - Did You Know. Amazing Record Breaking Gemstones". facetorsguild.com.au. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
The Beau Sancy is a 34.98-carat (6.996 g) diamond originally mined in India, which is cut in a modified pear double rose-cut shape. Since appearing in Europe in the 16th century, the Beau Sancy has been owned by a number of European royal houses, among them the House of Medici and the kings of England and Prussia. After more than 300 years in the possession of the House of Hohenzollern, the diamond was sold in 2012 at Sotheby's auction in Geneva for $9.57 million to an anonymous buyer.
The Princie Diamond is an approximately 34.65-carat cushion-cut fancy intense pink diamond discovered 300 years ago in the Golconda mines. Christie's say that the Princie Diamond is believed to be the fourth largest pink diamond in the world, after the Daria-i-Noor, the Noor-ol-Ain - which are both part of the Iranian Crown Jewels; both were cut, according to experts, from one single c. 242-carat pink diamond, - and the Pink Star, a diamond weighing 59.60 carats.
Lesedi La Rona, formerly known in media as Karowe AK6 or as Quad 1 by the personnel at the mine, is the fifth-largest diamond ever found, and the third-largest of gem quality. It was found in the Karowe mine, in Botswana on 16 November 2015.
Nirav Deepak Modi is an Indian-born Belgian businessman and criminal who was charged by Interpol and the Government of India for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property, corruption, money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and breach of contract in August 2018. Modi is being investigated as a part of the $2 billion fraud case of Punjab National Bank (PNB). In March 2018, Modi applied for bankruptcy protection in Manhattan, New York. In June 2018, Modi was reported to be in the UK applying for political asylum. In June 2019, Swiss authorities froze a total of US$6 million present in Nirav Modi's Swiss bank accounts along with the assets.
Golconda diamonds are mined in the Godavari-Krishna delta region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Golconda Fort in the western part of modern-day Hyderabad was a seat of the Golconda Sultanate and became an important centre for diamond enhancement, lapidary, and trading. Golconda diamonds are graded as Type IIa, are formed of pure carbon, are devoid of nitrogen, and are large with high clarity. They are often described as diamonds of the first water, making them among history's most-celebrated diamonds. The phrase "Golconda diamond" became synonymous with diamonds of incomparable quality.
The Three Brothers was a piece of jewellery created in the late 14th century, which consisted of three rectangular red spinels arranged around a central diamond. The jewel is known for having been owned by a number of important historical figures. After its commission by Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy, the jewel was part of the Burgundian crown jewels for almost 100 years, before passing into the possession of German banker Jakob Fugger.
Thomas Cletcher was a Dutch jeweller, goldsmith, and gem dealer from The Hague, who was involved in several transactions of jewels of historical significance, and also served as the city's mayor from 1652 to 1657.
