gemstones, myths and legends
About Green Diamond
As the legend says, Green
Diamond became known for the first time in small town of Chartres in France.
Here in Cartesian mon
astery French monks prepared a Chartreuse liquor.
One of the monks, a taster, had a simple silver ring with small diamond. He
tasted liquor by filling up the thimble but pretty soon he became drunk. So
he decided to drip green liquor on the diamond and then lick it off. Having
woken up next morning, the monk has looked at the diamond and has suddenly
seen that it shines with bright green fire. The monk tried to wash it clean
in sacred water, heated it on the candle, but nothing helped. Diamond has
remained green forever.
About Indigo Diamond
The legen
d
about the first indigo diamond is connected with a name of the Portuguese
seafarer Vasco da Gama, the first person to sail directly from Europe to
India. On his way back from India, walking on the deck, he admired his White
Diamond mounted in a heavy gold ring he bought recently. The ship cook
passed by, slipped and acciden
tally pushed the captain.
The ring slid off the finger, rolled on the deck and fell in the ocean. Four
years later, during his second travel to India, Vasco da Gama was passing
with his caravels by the same waters where the ring has been lost. While the
captain remembered with sadness his lost ring, in the cockpit the ship cook
suddenly could not believe his eyes: in the opened belly of the golden
mackerel caught by the sailors, he discovered the lost ring! Only the color
of the diamond has changed. It became indigo - dark blue, as gulf of Guinea
during dead calm before the storm.
About Red Diamond
The first Bright Red
Diamond belonged to Aurangzeb.
Aurangzeb was remarkably pious and zealous. He was the ruler of the Mughal
Empire from 16
58 until 1707. In 1657 Shah Jahan - then the ruler of Mughal
Empire - got very ill. Immediately a terrible struggle for the throne has
begun between his four sons. Guileful Aurangzeb together with his younger
brother Murad defeated two other brothers and executed them. The two winners
then started to quarrel over two famous Diamonds, that in future will be
called "Orlov" and "Shah". Aurangzeb suggested Murad to become the governor
of Punjab , Afghanistan and Kashmir, instead of having these jewels, but
Murad refused and began to plot a palace coup. Having le
arned about it,
Aurangzeb ordered to seize the brother and to execute him. Aurangzeb, at
last, had the power and the crown of his dethroned father all to himself. He
made an inventory of Shah’s riches, but could not find a 10-carat blue
diamond. He sent for Shah Jahan and demanded an explanation. Shah answered,
that the Diamond belongs to him, as it is his battle trophy, and Aurangzeb
will never see it. Enraged Aurangzeb threw his father in prison and let him
die there. As soon as the old Shah died, the chief of prison guards has
brought the ring with blue Diamond to the new ruler. Aurangzeb impatiently
grabbed the stone. But as he touched it, the Diamond immediately started to
sparkle as a blood-red fire.
