Orlov (diamond)

The Orlov diamond ( also Orloff Diamond of Empress Catherine II called ) is a 189.62 - carat ( 37.924 g) diamond. The stone is one of the most famous diamonds in the world, together with the Florence of the Medici, the blue Hope Diamond, the Sancy and the Dresden Green Diamond.

Legend

According to legend, the bluish -green diamond belonged to the statue of the Indian deity Brahma. The eyes of the gods statue in the temple of Mysore graced two large diamonds of great value. A French mercenary, who was allegedly converted to Hindu faith to be admitted to the temple is said to have broken out and stole the stone from the left eye; in 1750 he is said to have then sold him to Madras to a British trading captain. The stone came to Antwerp, where he was the Prince Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who together with his brother Alexei instrumental in the overthrow of the Tsar Peter III. was involved, and bought it in 1776 the Empress Catherine II, who gave Great. The favor of the Empress, which he had lost, but he did not recover it and beat his rival, Prince Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin which, of all the left eye. Czarina Catherine left the Orlov Diamond, as he was henceforth called, incorporated into the tip of the golden scepter of the Russian Tsars.

Since 1967, the Orlov Diamond is on display in the permanent collection of the Diamond Fund in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin.

Worth mentioning

  • As the Indian deity Brahma whose left eye was stolen, is said to have prophesied the future owners misfortune divinity. The numerous assassinations of the Russian Tsar house therefore be attributed to the wedge on the stone curse.
  • The Mughal emperor, one described by Jean -Baptiste Tavernier diamond of 280 carats, was allegedly found in 1650 in the Kollur mine on Kistnah in India. At the court of Aurangzeb had him in hand Tavernier. He describes him as a round, polished in the shape of a rose stone. The current whereabouts are unknown and it is believed variously, the Mughal emperor is identical with the Orlov diamond.
Carat (mass) Florentine Diamond France Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov Peter III of Russia Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
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