The Kohinoor Diamond Story

The theft of the French Crown Jewels from the Louvre this week is a reminder of how the story of a valuable object, whether art or jewelry, is an important part of it's value. The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world only because of the publicity around it being once stolen, and later recovered.

What France could do now is to commission replacement crown jewels. This isn't exactly the first time that crown jewels have been replaced, after being destroyed or stolen. With all of this publicity, the replacements might end up being more valuable than the originals.

It briefly crossed my mind that the theft of valuable objects might sometimes be staged, in order to increase their value.

The Kohinoor Diamond is likely the single most famous diamond in the world. It was mined in medieval times in India and has a storied history of changing hands through a number of rulers and empires, including the great Persian conqueror Nader Shah. The diamond has been part of Britain's Crown Jewels since imperial times.

There have been requests from India for the return of the diamond. Although the Indian Government has stated that the diamond does legitimately belong to Britain there are still requests that it should be returned.

Part of the value of an object like this diamond is the story behind it, and the Kohinoor Diamond certainly has a history that matches it's brilliance. The news around it greatly adds to it's value.

Britain is not the only country that has acquired a lot of diamonds. The real Queen of Diamonds is the widow of the late Shah of Iran, Empress Farah. In 1967 the Shah held a lavish ceremony to crown himself "King of Kings". There are photos and videos of it online. We have never seen so many diamonds. The diamonds are now held by Iran's national bank. Among those diamonds is the Dariainoor, with a history similar to that of the Kohinoor.

We saw this in "Remembering The Pahlavi Dynasty", October 2017.

I have an autographed portrait of Empress Farah on my wall.

At this point I think the Holy Crown of Hungary might be the most valuable portable object in the world, or maybe the Bust of Nefertiti or the Sarcophagus of King Tut. But if this return to India was added to the story of the Kohinoor Diamond it might surpass them all in value. The diamond is also claimed by Iran, Pakistan and, Afghanistan, but the politics of the diamond adds still more to it's value.