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| Marylin Monroe and Baroda moon diamond scmp.com |
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| Baroda Moon diamond of India origin. etoolsage.com image |
Above images: The Moon of Baroda 24.04 ct, canary yellow in color cut to pear shape, It originally weighed 25.95 before cutting........
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| Gaekwad royal family (right), Ms. Monroemages.herzindagi.info/ |
With some exceptions dazzling diamonds of Kollur origin, in the state of Andhra (once in the kingdom of Golconda) were ''never free from the myth that they are cursed or jinxed''. Part of the reason is either they were stolen or looted from the Hindu idols in the historical temples where it had been a tradition to adorn the main deity in he sanctum with gem-crusted expensive gold jewelry during regular worship. The tradition continues even today across India. Presently, the Padmanaba Swamy
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| Richest Hindu temple, Kerala.eligionworld.s3.amazonaws.com |
temple (dedicated to God Vishnu) of Thiruvanathapuram city, Kerala state is the richest temple in the world. Sacks of gold jewelry, etc were discovered in 2011 from the hidden underground vaults below the temple. Rough estimate of the value of the treasures is about 100 to 200 billion dollars, exclusive of the most valuable and largest vault B which is not yet opened for certain temple Agama reasons. The erstwhile Travancore Maharajah's family who had ruled the kingdom fop centuries in the name of the lord carefully kept them in the UG vaults to prevent looting or raids centuries ago. There are many temples across India having vast collection of gold, silver jewelry, etc.
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| 3.amazonaws.com |
The Moon of Baroda was originally owned by the Maharajas of Baroda for almost 500 years. In the mid 19th century Maharajah Sayajirao Gaekwad sent to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the only female monarch of the Habsburg dynasty. After her unexpected mysterious death, the diamond was sent back to the Indian ruler. Upon its return in 1860, the rich ruler had a necklace made with the diamond.
For unknown reasons, the Baroda ruler sold it to a buyer in 1920. Subsequent buyers included Meyer Rosenbaum of Detroit, USA, President of the Meyer Jewelry Company. In 1944 the Baroda Moon was displayed publicly for promotion. In 1953 Meyer gave it to actress Marilyn Monroe to be worn by her during the shooting of the famous song "diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", and also in the classic comedy film ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''(1953). In 2008, the Moon of Baroda was next displayed publicly at the exhibition 'Diamond Divas', organized by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
Monroe's close association with the diamond not only earned the stone Marilyn Monroe's diamond but also unprecedented publicity in the media. in the early 1950s. For the owner of the stone, this gimmick worked well to boost its price on the market. This legendary stone, with such a provenance. mined from the present Indian state of Andhra Pradesh seems to carry the so called curse. The sudden death of the empress of Austria after she had received it from the Baroda Maharajah and the dwindling fortunes of Ms. Monroe and her addiction to drugs and suicide after she wore the precious stone made the fortune tellers to tag it as ''Jinxed. Baroda Moon Diamond. .
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| Baroda Moon Diamond. ndpaedia.com |
But, the classic stone at November 27, 2008 auction - Christie’s Magnificent Jewels Hong Kong Sale drew the attention of the Connoisseurs and got the highest bidder - a whopping sum of over $1.3 million.
https://www.artandobject.com/press-release/best-friend-or-bad-luck-moon-baroda-diamond-sells-auction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_of_Baroda
