Syllabus:

GS 1: Indian Culture - Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times; Distribution of Key Natural Resources across the world. 

Context: 

The highly anticipated "Golconda Blue" diamond has beenwas withdrawn from British auction house Christie’s upcoming planned Magnificent Jewels sale, originally scheduled for May 14. 

About Golconda Blue Diamond

Diamonds, the hardest of naturally occurring substances, are composed entirely of carbon, and formed under great heat and pressure below the Earth’s surface.

• Their rarity, difficulty in extracting them, and the skill required to cut and polish them for jewellery, have historically made diamonds exclusive and expensive.

Diamonds are renowned for their exceptional hardness as the preeminent naturally occurring material. These are monocrystalline allotropes of carbon, forged deep within the Earth's mantle under conditions of intense thermobaric stress. 

The Golconda Blue Diamond is a 23.24-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, a legendary gemological specimen, that possesses remarkable clarity, intensely saturated blue coloration, and a distinguished royal lineage.

Historical Background

• The blue diamond was once owned by Yeshwant Rao Holkar (1908–1962), the Maharaja of Indore., who, along with his wife Sanyogitabai Devi, was known for acquiring paintings, jewellery, and other fine artefacts during their visits to Europe.
• In 1923, the father of Yeshwant Rao Holkar approached the French luxury jeweller Chaumet to commission a diamond bracelet featuring the 23-carat, pear-shaped Golconda Blueblue diamond. 
• Approximately a decade laterAfterwards, Yeshwant Rao engaged the French jewellery house Mauboussin to redesign the gem into a necklace, which was subsequently worn by his wife, Sanyogitabai Devi.
• In 1947, the renowned American jeweller Harry Winston acquired the blue diamond. It was briefly sold to the Maharaja of Baroda, later reacquired by Winston, and eventually transferred to its current owner, whose identity remains undisclosed by Christie’s.

Account of Foreigner Travellers: 

• The Venetian Marco Polo wrote in 1292: “No country but India produces diamonds. Those which are brought to our part of the world are only the refuse, as it were, of the finer and larger stone truth they (India) possess all the treasures of the world.”
• The French merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-89) wrote that diamond mining in the Golconda district grew at an explosive rate in the mid-17th century. At the Kollur mine, 60,000 diggers and washers were employed.

India’s Diamond Industry 

• India’s natural diamond market has today expanded to USD 3.5-4 billion, growing up to 20% annually.
• Indian Major diamond markets included Surat, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Goa, while key mining areas include the Panna diamond belt in Madhya Pradesh and Golconda (Telangana). and although the stone was also mined in places such as the Panna diamond belt in Madhya Pradesh, Golconda remained the major trading centre, mentioned by travellers throughout history.
• Some of the world’s most famous diamonds, such as the Koh-i-Noor and the pale pink Darya-i-Nur, were mined in Golconda.