The Black Orlov on view in the UK
A world-famous diamond «Black Orlov» is displayed in the UK for the first time, at the Natural History Museum's Diamonds exhibition, from September 21. A «cursed» black diamond also known as «The Eye of Brahma», the jewel's curse allegedly began when it was removed from a Hindu shrine in southern India and then claimed to be responsible for the violent deaths of two Russian princesses. Legend tells of a monk removing the original rough 195-carat diamond from the eye of the Idol of Brahma at a shrine near Pondicherry, India. This sacrilege allegedly cursed all future owners of the precious stone to a violent death.
In an attempt to break the curse, the diamond was re-cut into three separate gems and has since been owned by a succession of private owners, all of whom seem to have escaped the curse. The 67.5-carat «Black Orlov» is set in a 108-diamond brooch suspended from a 124-diamond necklace.
True black diamonds are incredibly rare. Only one in 10,000 diamonds mined are coloured. Most coloured diamonds get their colour from chemical impurities or defects in the stone itself. Black diamonds are different: their colour comes from the presence of tiny mineral inclusions. Recent studies have shown that these inclusions are predominantly the iron oxide minerals magnetite and haematite along with native iron itself. When these iron-rich inclusions occur in a high enough proportion they can even make diamonds magnetic.
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