India’s Idol’s Eye Diamond — Does it carry curse?
This Indian diamond stolen from the Hindu temple is nor only famous for its size but also for its dazzling beauty. Many people say it carries a curse as it was stolen from a place of worship.
Most of the diamonds — famous ones — are shrouded in mysteries and enigma that remain unanswered due to lack of strong and conclusive evidence. As a result logical inferences in many cases remain matters of subjectivity. Yet another diamond called ‘’Idol’s Eye’’ is not an exception to this puzzle. Originally, it was thought this diamond came from Benghazi, Africa where the state’s religion was Islam and, it is well known that followers of this faith don’t worship idols. From mineral composition and the high grade quality of this diamond, the general consensus has been this one came from Golconda mines in the state of Telengana (previously Andhra), southern India in the 1600s and probably stolen from a Hindu temple. Hence the name Idol’s Eye.
This beautiful diamond from no where came up at Christie’s sale in London on July 14th, 1865, and then it was described as “a splendid large diamond known as the Idol’s Eye set round with 18 smaller brilliants and a frame work of small brilliants. The 34th Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842–1918) became the first authentic owner after Christie’s sale. Further, a reexamination of the cut of the diamond — a fine combination of old Golconda cut and triangular brilliant cut, its slight bluish tinge and the records of prevalence of some old Hindu Gods’ idols with odd-eye configuration in the temples of southern India, it was concluded that this diamond was of Golconda origin and was most probably taken off the eye of a Hindu God.
The owner of this 70.21 carats “blue white Golconda diamond”, Abdul Hamid II headed the autocratic Ottoman Empire. Being a ruthless ruler, during a violent coup, he was thrown out of power and forced to live in exile. The Sultan died in 1918 having lost his kingdom and at last his life savings — valuable jewelry along with this diamond to his servant who became his traitor.
Later this diamond saw a few owners, none of them kept it for long duration. At last it came to the hands of Mrs. May Bonfils Stanton, a recluse and daughter of Frederick G. Bonfils, millionaire, publisher and co-founder of the Denver Post. Her passion was collection of glorious jewels from all over the world. A woman of charitable disposition and beauty, after her death at a ripe age, as per will, the proceeds through sale were dispersed among various charities. From Chicago Jeweler Harry Leveinson (1967), it changed hand to Lawrence Graff of London (1979) for a reasonable sum. Levin paid $375000 for that diamond and he bought for his wife.
Graff, in 1983 along with a couple of other diamonds, sold it to an unidentified man for a breath-taking, record breaking sum. The diamond is actually something of a triangular Old Mine cut, but rather than having 8 main facets it has 9, along with 9 pavilion main facets corresponding. The other diamonds were the Emperor Maximilian Diamond and a 70.54 fancy yellow diamond called the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, in one of the biggest single transactions in the history of diamond sales. The secret buyer, it is believed, was none other than controversial President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines who was removed from his office in 1986. He and his arrogant and highly fashion-conscious wife embezzled public money that ran into several billion dollars. They faced court cases and hefty fines.
A note on the Idol Eye’s curse: In this particular case, apparently the idol eye’s curse, if it were on it, forced President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife — the most corrupt couple in the world ever surfaced- to lose every thing they had earned illegally. The idol’s curse pushed them from sublime to disgrace. This was also true of Sultan Hamid II of Ottoman Empire who ruled his land with an iron hand and earned the ire of his poor subjects. He too ultimately died unsung in exile. A big push from the summit to the abyss.Perhaps one may be tempted to ask,” How come, other owners of Idol’s Eye diamond were sparred from the curse? Set aside the rationality factor. The simple answer has two probabilities -As for Mrs Bonfils, who used to wear the Idol’s Eye diamond as a pendent in her necklace every day during her breakfast time, though rich and recluse, she was a good woman with no ulterior motives and ill-feelings. In the twilight of her eventful, luxurious life she, long before her death, for some time had decided to sell all her jewelry collections for the purpose of charity.
Most of the owners did not want to keep the diamond for a long time, and perhaps, would not have worn it for longer duration. The other logical conclusion is the owners, most probably would have earned their fortune in an honorable way. May be they might have committed some wheeling and dealings that may be of minor in nature and can be excused.
If a person has a big heart and cares for other human beings, irrespective of caste, color, creed and faith , he is blessed by the almighty, be it Lord Krishna or Christ or Holy Spirit and no curse will haunt and hurt him. Mrs. Stanton,daughter of Frederick G. Bonfils (of Denver Post) who died in 1962, is a good example. The idol’eye’s curse did not bother her. The Hindu God would have blessed her for her integrity and honesty. The conclusion regarding idol’s curse drawn above is based on logic and the age old Hindu ‘’Dharma.’’
http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/idolseyediamond.html
https://www.info-diamond.com/polished/40-Idols-Eye-famous-diamond.html
Originally published at http://navrangindia.blogspot.com. (revised: 20 June 2020)
