A FAMOUS GEM

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20110, 31 March 1928, Page 14 (Supplement)

A FAMOUS GEM

THE NASSAK DIAMOND I understand that the Nassak diamond has been bought from ttie Duke of Westminster by M. Mauboussin. a well-known Parisian collector of precious stones (says the Paris correspondent of the London Daily Teiegraph). This stone is on c of the world’s most famous gems, for its history can be traced back as far as th e sixth or seventh century, and, apart from its historical associations, it is one of the finest specimens ever found in India. It is a stone of nearly 80 carats of the bluey white tint which characterises all gems found in the Goleonda mines. Its value was evidently fully realised by its discoverers, for it was selected as the gem which formed the Cyclopean eye of the image of Shiva in the Temple of Nassak, where for a thousand years it was worshipped by Hindus, who saw in its brilliant fires the. light of a divine eye. It was taken from its place in the idol’s forehead in 1818, when Nassak was occupied by the British forces, and shortly afterwards was sent to London by the East India Company. It was then purchased by the Marquis of Westminster, ancestor of the present Duke of Westminster. He wore it in his swordhilt at the first birthday reception given by Queen Victoria after her Coronation. '

Its present owner has not as yet put a price upon the stone, but its worth may be judged by the fact that long before the war it was valued at nearly 1.000,000 francs —that is, gold francs (£40,000).