From Kollur mines. Queen of Holland diamond. spendlikeaking.blogspot.com/ |
Queen Wilhelmina of Holland. en. wikipedia org. |
F. Freidman & Co. fashioned it into a cushion-cut and named for Queen Wihelmina of Holland, a famous much-loved queen who reigned from 1890 to 1948
Maharajah Ranjit Singhji. www.quora.com |
This famous blue-tinted diamond was purchased in 1930 by none other than Maharajah of Nawanagar. Ranjit Singh was a legend in the world of cricket, and he played for the English Cricket team. At this time Albert Monnickendam, who wrote “The Magic of Diamonds''. mentioned that in terms of quality and shine this Queen of Holland diamond is on par with that of the famous Regent diamond (yet another diamond from Kollur mines). Classified as one of the finest diamonds, it is considered the 10th largest ‘D’ color diamonds in the world. Once the French President Doumergue of France 1924-1931 was on a visit to see the Queen of Holland. Her diamond was shown first to him, however, his resentment subsided when he saw the queen later. As he took a look at the stone leisurely he was told the value of the diamond was roughly 1 to 1.5 million dollars.
The Maharajah of Navnagar (now in Gujarat) Kumar Ranjitsinghji Vibhaji, upon its ownership, handed over the diamond to the well-known jeweler Cartier, with the responsibility of setting it in a beautiful piece of jewellery. Cartier, as wished by the Indian ruler, set the diamond as the center piece of a pendant, in a fine-looking necklace. The ruler of Navanagar had the Queen of Holland diamond in his possession for his life. After his death in 1933, the diamond remained with his family until 1960 when Cartier purchased it from them. Cartier displayed it for sale in their London store where it was eventually purchased by one William Goldberg. After a minor re-cut to its current weight - its original 136.25 carat weight reduced to its current weight of 135.92 carats, Goldberg, in turn, sold it to Robert Mouawad, his partner. Robert Mouawad, a Lebanese diamond investor and collector, bought it for $7 million, a big money in those days.
https://www.langantiques.com/university/queen-of-holland/
https://www.indianetzone.com/6/queen_holland.html