5 Gemstones Worn by Royal Indian Personalities
You may have read about the gemstones worn by famous Bollywood celebrities. But if you looked at the gemstones owned by some esteemed Indian royals, you’d know who the real afficionados were.
Gemstones are precious. The day you possess one might go down as a significant day in your memoir. If you nurture a lasting affection for gemstones, at some point in your life, you’d flaunt an incredible collection of your own. Your fondness for gemstones would often be regarded as a royal trait. Innumerable royal personalities across the globe prided their heaps of precious gemstones.
Semi-precious gemstones have been popular among masses from different periods of history. They have traditionally been regarded as bringers of luck and good fortune. Many cultures know them for their healing powers. Even today, precious as well as semi-precious gemstones are easy to buy online, and are often sought by people for various astrological as well as aesthetic reasons.
Â
Rubies
Made of a deep-red translucent mineral corundum, a composition of aluminum and oxygen, rubies seem to radiate a light of their own. Their beauty is loved and valued universally. The colour red is symbolic of love. Ruby jewellery has long been exchanged among lovers as gift. The famous Patiala Ruby Choker owned by Maharani Sri Bhaktawar kaur Sahiba was gifted to her by husband Maharaja Bhupinder Singh.
The multi-layered Ruby choker is a magnificent ornament created it 1931 by Cartier, the international jeweller widely preferred by the then Indian Royals. Just the upper part of the choker has six layers of ruby strands along with diamonds and pearls. The lower part has a well-structured arrangement of rubies. The lowest part with a large ruby pendant at the center was the heaviest as it was accompanied by a neat layer of pearls and diamonds.
Emeralds
Columbian emeralds of refined quality, color and clarity adorned the famous art deco necklace created by Jacques Cartier for his friend Maharaja Jamsahib of Nawanagar, Shri Kumar Ranjithsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja. The necklace has 17 medium-to-large pieces of emeralds weighing 277 carats. The three large pendants in the center alone weighed 70 carats.
The pendant has three large emerald-cut emeralds arranged in the shape of a pyramid. A square emerald-cut emerald is at the junction between the necklace and the pendant. It is surrounded by row of smaller diamonds. The necklace further has two rectangular emeralds placed symmetrically. The emerald triads that come next have a central large square-shaped emeralds flanked on either side by two smaller rectangular shaped emeralds. The necklace has two more square emeralds, and a triad at the position where the necklace is expected to have a locking device.
Spinel
Traditionally Spinel has enjoyed the glory on par with ruby due to its stark resemblance, and also due to being found in the same mine as rubies. It was later found that the two stone differ in their mineral content. The high refractive index of spinel ensures excellent brilliance and fire is a well-cut and polished stone. Spinel was chosen by the famous Mughal ruler Shahjahan for his seal that read ‘Sahib-Qiran-I-Thani,’ i.e., the second lord of the auspicious conjunction.
The seal ring of the famous emperor who gave the world Taj Mahal has a half-bead fluted spinel with engraving reported to be his personal seal dating back to 1643. The ring also has blue enamel and gold. The cost of the ring is estimated to be $700,000 to $1,000,000 since the early 20th century.
Jade
Jade is a semi-precious stone with a translucent and waxy luster, and is found in a range of colours. It is rarely made into ornaments until for its spiritual significance. In Asia, the Chinese recognize it as a stone associated with the heaven. Two ornaments from history are known to draw on the brilliance of jade. An ibex-headed jade cup dating back to the period between 1660 to 1680 is a decorative piece from north India. It is so realistically carved that it compelled the Chinese emperor Qianlong compose a poem in its honour.
Another ornament is Tipu Sultan’s gem-set jade pendant, an ornament carved out from a natural white jade. It was found to be a possession of Tipu Sultan in 1799, and was said to be an ornament that probably decorated the belt loop of his dagger. It was converted into a brooch in the 19th century. Its cost is estimated to be between $30,000-50,000.
Diamonds
Diamond is a one-of-a-kind gemstone that stands apart from the rest in quality as well as class. It has been the most favourite possession of the Indian Royals. Two of the ornaments used by Indian Kings and Queens have remarkable diamonds that are highly valued even in the present day. The Star of the South Diamond necklace of Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda is a 3-tiered diamond necklace holding an impressive 128 carat star of the south diamond, and also a 78.5 carat English Dresden diamond.
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala owned the outstanding Patiala Necklace that had a total of 2.930 diamonds. As its center the astonishing necklace had the world’s 7th largest diamond, a 234-carat yellow ‘De Beers’. Besides the diamonds, the necklace also had other gemstones like topazes, citrine, zirconia and smoky quartz.
Gemstones have been an inseparable part of the attires of royals all over the world. One of the world’s largest cut diamonds, Koh-I-Noor is a well-known gem mined from Indian soil. The incredible crystal which is presently a part of the British Crown Jewels, was once owned by Maharaja Duleep Singh of Punjab.
Koh-I-Noor however is not the only Indian precious stone recorded by history for its magnificence. Here’s an account of some distinguished crystal-embedded ornaments from India’s royal heritage.
Add comment