Rare Golconda diamond ring sold for $1.5 million
HYDERABAD: Yet another piece of Indian heritage has passed through many hands for huge sums of money. This time, it is a spectacular marquise-cut diamond ring mined in the famed Golconda mines, which was recently auctioned in the US for over $1.5 million (approximately Rs 11 crore).
ring of 8.03 carats was auctioned at
New Orleans, Los Angeles
The rare 20th-century diamond ring was sold in New Orleans, Los Angeles. It is certified by the Gemological Institute of America to be Type Ila, which is an indicator of its purity, reads the auction catalogue. “... meaning it is pure and lacking any trace of nitrogen, the element that gives a diamond its colour. This lack of nitrogen makes this diamond a full two shades whiter than the whitest diamond,” it says.
The catalogue describes the diamond as cut in marquise, which makes it glow further. “This breathtaking gemstone is flanked by tapered white diamond baguettes totalling .72 carats graded D colour and set in platinum,” it adds.
The seller has praised the diamonds that originate from the Golconda region and termed these as the “purest of all diamonds, possessing a level of clarity, purity and transparency unrivalled by any other diamond”.
The seller further said: “The diamonds are universally accepted as the finest in the world... as they hailed from a single mine in the ancient region of Golconda, which ceased production hundreds of years ago,” it added.
The same seller is also offering several other rings studded with Golconda diamonds. As of now, the New Orleans-based unidentified seller is auctioning off a 3.02 carat pear-cut Golconda diamond platinum ring at a starting price of around $350,000.
Another Golconda diamond ring, designed by famed jeweller Harry Winston, is for sale for $600,000. Meanwhile, a heritage enthusiast said these diamonds belong to India and that the Central government should intervene, bring them back home and house them in the National Museum in Delhi.