|
Dates in History |
Timeline & History of
Diamonds |
|
800 BC |
Diamonds discovered in India |
|
327 BC |
Alexander the Great brings the
first diamonds to Europe from India. |
|
296 BC |
Sanskrit manuscript called the
'Arthasastra', or 'the Lesson of Profit' mentions a
diamond |
|
1074 |
One of the first examples of
diamond jewelry history when a Hungarian queen's crown,
is created. |
|
1150's |
The Briolette of India, is a
legendary diamond of 90.38 carats, which was believed to
have been brought to
England by Eleanor of Aquitaine |
|
1375 |
The Point Cut was developed
which follows the natural shape of a raw diamond,
reducing waste in the diamond cutting process. |
|
1382 |
A circlet crown was purchased
for Queen Anne of Bohemia, being set with a large
sapphire, a balas, and four large pearls with a diamond
in the centre |
|
Dates in History |
Timeline & History of
Diamonds - 1400's & 1500's |
|
1407 |
The earliest European records of
the history and art of cutting diamonds originate in
Paris where there was a flourishing guild, the
"Lapidaries, Jewel Cutters and Engravers of Cameos and
Hard Stones." Reference is made to a diamond-cutter
named Herman, in 1407. The diamond cutters of Paris were
quite numerous in that year, and lived in a special
district known as "la Courarie, where reside the workers
in diamonds and other stones." |
|
1423 |
It is documented that
the Chief Justice of England , Sir
William Hankford, gave his great-granddaughter a
baptismal gift of a gilt cup and a diamond ring |
|
1434 |
Johannes Guttenberg
(1398 – 1468) learnt gem cutting
and polishing from Andreas Drytzehen of Strasbourg. |
|
1458 |
Lodewyk (Louis) van Berquem of Brugge,
Belgium created the first cut diamonds when he discovered that
diamonds could be cut by their own dust. Louis van Berquem
invented a diamond polishing wheel called a scaif and
introduced the concept of using absolute symmetry in the
placement of facets on the diamond. |
|
1467 |
Louis van Berquem
designed the light yellow 137 carat Florentine Diamond for the
Valois Family commissioned by Duke of Burgundy |
|
1477 |
Mary of Burgundy became the
first known recipient of a diamond engagement ring given
to her by the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. The
history and tradition of the engagement ring begins |
|
1520 |
The Rose cut was created to resemble an opening
rose-bud. The two most famous diamond cutters of this
time were Giacomo Tagliacarne and Giovanni delle Corniole
who perfected the art of facetted gem cutting |
|
1526 |
The first Mogul emperor, Babur
(1483-1530) acquired the Pink Agra Diamond |
|
1570 |
The pale yellow Sancy Diamond was purchased in Constantinople by
the French Ambassador to Turkey, Nicholas Harlai, the
Seigneur de Sancy |
|
Dates in History |
Timeline & History of
Diamonds - 1600's & 1700's |
|
1631 |
Jean Baptist Tavernier made a
series of six voyages to India where he saw some of the
world’s most fabulous diamonds and gems. Tavernier
purchased the Koh-i-Noor and the Hope diamonds for his
patron King Louis XIV of France. He wrote the book "The
Six Voyages of John Baptiste Tavernier" which was
published in Paris, 1676) |
|
1643 |
The Grand Condé, a light pink
pear-shaped stone, was given to Louis de Bourbon, Prince
of Condé by King Louis XIII of France |
|
1650's |
Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602 –
1661) serving the French King Louis XIV, collected
diamonds from Catherine the Great and is credited with
the first 'Brilliant cut' diamonds, which were called
Mazarins Double-Cut Brilliants |
|
1664 |
The Wittelsbach diamond formed
a gift from King Philip IV of Spain to his 15-year-old
daughter, the Infanta Margareta Teresa to celebrate her
betrothal to the Emperor Leopold I of Austria in 1664.
It was a a rare dark blue color. |
|
1669 |
The Spoonmaker's Diamond (aka
the Kasikci diamond) was found on a rubbish heap at
Egrikapi in Istanbul |
|
1681 |
Vincent Peruzzi, a Venetian
diamond polisher, introduced the "Triple-Cut Brilliant"
or "Peruzzi Cut" diamonds by doubling the number of
crown facets from 17 to 33. These are also referred to
as 'Old Mine cuts' or Cushion cuts |
|
1691 |
The Hortensia diamond, a pale
orangey-pink diamond, was added to the Crown Jewels of
France by King Louis XIV |
|
1701 |
The colorless Regent diamond discovered
by a slave in the Parteal Mines on the Kistna River |
|
1726 |
The Dresden Green diamond,
named after the capital of Saxony, was sold to King
Frederic August I by Marcus Moses who acquired the stone
in India. It has a fancy green color, weighs almost 41
carats, has 58 facets and has a pear shaped cut |
|
1760's |
The Orlov (aka Orloff) Diamond was mounted
in the Russian Imperial Sceptre, during the reign of
Catherine the Great (1762-1796). It has a bluish-green
tint |
|
1762 |
The Shah Diamond,an
88.70-carat, was found in Golconda, India. It was
included in the Great Imperial Crown for Catherine the
Great which was made by a jeweller called Jeremia Posier |
|
1792 |
The French Blue Diamond, later
to become the Hope Diamond, was stolen from the French
Crown Jewels during the French Revolution |
|
Dates in History |
Timeline & History of
Diamonds - 1800's & 1900's |
|
1837 |
The Tiffany Diamond Company was
founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany |
|
1839 |
A large
blue diamond, called the "Hope Diamond," appears in the
gem catalogue of Henry Philip Hope |
|
1850's |
The Black Orlov (aka Orloff) Diamond was
acquired by the Russian Princess Nadia Vyegin-Orlov (aka Orloff) |
|
1851 |
The Koh-i-Noor diamond was
re-cut to 105 carats for Queen Victoria (Empress of
India) by a stone-cutter from Amsterdam. This famous
diamond is part of the British Crown jewels |
|
1853 |
The Star of the South was found in
the Bagagem Diamond Mines in Brazil |
|
1854 |
Royal
Asscher Diamond Company was founded |
|
1866 |
The Eureka Diamond was cut from
the first diamond found in South Africa |
|
1869 |
The Star of South Africa, a
47.69-carat old style pear-shaped diamond, was found in
South Africa |
|
1877 |
The Tiffany Yellow was found in
South Africa |
|
1880 |
The colorless Porter Rhodes Diamond came
from the claim of Mr. Porter-Rhodes in the Kimberly Mine |
|
1889 |
The Iranian Yellows - African
diamonds acquired by Nasseridin Shah |
|
1895 |
The Jubilee Diamond, a
colorless, cushion-shaped diamond, was found in the
Jagersfontein Mine |
|
1902 |
The Cullinan (aka the Star of
Africa) was found by Frederick Wells, the superintendent
of the Premier Mine in South Africa, and named after Sir
Thomas Cullinan, who opened the mine and was visiting
that dayAbraham and
Joseph Asscher cut the enormous 3,106 carat Cullinan
diamond at the request of King Edward VII in 1902 when the Asscher cut
was patented. |
|
1900's |
The Archduke Joseph, a
colorless cushion shaped diamond, was found and named
after a Hungarian prince Archduke Joseph August
(1872-1962) |
|
1900's |
The Spirit of de Grisogono
at 312.24 carats was also found in the early 1900's and is the world's largest
cut black diamond |
|
1909 |
The Blue Heart diamond weighs 30.82 metric carats and
was cut by Atanik Ekyanan of Neuilly, Paris |
|
1916 |
The Tereschenko Diamond was
secretly taken out of Russia on the eve of the Russian
Revolution |
|
1924 |
Uncle Sam is the nickname for
the largest diamond discovered in the United States
which was discovered by W. O. Bassum at Crater of
Diamonds state park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
|
|
1933 |
La Favorite Diamond was mined
in South Africa and exhibited at the Chicago World's
Fair |
|
1934 |
The Jonker Diamond was found by
62-year-old Johannes Jacobus Jonker in South Africa |
|
1941 |
1941 The Walska Diamond, a
95-carat yellow briolette cut stone, was bought by Ganna
Walska (1887-1984) who was a Polish opera singer |
|
1950 |
The Allnatt Fancy Vivid Yellow
101.29 carat Diamond was found at the Premier Diamond
Mine in South Africa. It was named after its original
owner, Alfred Ernest Allnatt |
|
1957 |
The Nepal ("The Ageless
Diamond" ) was purchased by Harry Winston from an Indian
dealer |
|
1958 |
Nur-Ul-Ain Diamond was used as
a centrepiece of the tiara designed for the wedding of
Empress Farah to the the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad
Reza Shah Pahlavi. |
|
1967 |
The Earth Star Diamond was cut
from a rough gem weighing 248.9 carats which was found
in the Jagersfontein Mine |
|
1968 |
The Asscher cut Krupp Diamond,
originally named after Vera Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach,
was sold at Sothebys to Elizabeth Taylor. |
|
1969 |
The famous couple
purchased the Taylor-Burton pear-shaped diamond |
|
1969 |
The Zale Light of Peace Diamond
(blue-white) was purchased by the Zale Corporation of Dallas weighing
a total of 434.6 carats. It is believed to have come from Sierra
Leone, Africa |
|
1969 |
The Sultan of Morocco is a 35.27 carat cushion cut
grayish-blue diamond. Cartier lent this diamond to the
New York State Museum for their World of Gems Exposition |
|
1973 |
The black Amsterdam Diamond was
first exhibited at D. Drukker & Zn., Amsterdam |
|
1977 |
The Kahn Canary Diamond was
Discovered in the Crater of Diamonds State Park, near
Murfreesboro, Arkansas |
|
1997 |
The Pumpkin Diamond is a Fancy
Vivid Orange was found by a farmer on South Africa |
|
1997 |
The Golden Jubilee Diamond was
presented to the King of Thailand for his Golden Jubilee
and was designed by Gabi Tolkowsky |
|
1999 |
The American Star Diamond was
purchased by the EightStar company of California |
|
2002 |
The Beluga Diamond (a 41-carat
stone from the Golconda area of India): The Ashoka cut
diamond was developed by the William Goldberg firm |
|
Dates in History |
Timeline & History of
Diamonds |
