Famous diamonds & some of their history

Idol's Eye

Blue Heart | Blue Hope | Centenary | Chrysanthemum | Cullinan's | De Beers | De Beers Millennium Star | Dresden Green | Great Star of Africa | Hortensia | Idol's Eye | Koh-i-Noor | Orloff | Portuguese | Premier Rose | Regent | Sancy | Taylor-Burton | Tiffany | Vargas |

A flattened pear shaped stone the size of a bantam's egg, its polished size is 70.20 carats.

Another famous diamond that was once set in the eye of an idol before it was stolen.

Legend also holds that it was given as a ransom for Princess Rasheetah by the Sheik of Kashmir to the Sultan of Turkey, who had abducted her.

Despite abundant unproven accounts of its early origins, the first authenticated facts of this diamond's history were associated with its appearance at a Christie's sale in London in 1865. At the sale, it was sold to a mysterious buyer later identified as the 34th Ottomon Sultan, Abd al-Hamid II.

Hamid II was ultimately defeated by opposition that became known as the Young Turks. One version of events holds that in exile, he entrusted his jewels to a servant who betrayed him and sold them in Paris, including the large diamond known as the "Idol's Eye."

The Idol's Eye re-emerged at the end of World War II, when it was acquired by a Dutch dealer, and subsequently by Harry Winston in 1946.

Winston sold it to Mrs. May Bonfils Stanton, the daughter of the publisher and co-founder of the Denver Post. It was reported that Mrs. Stanton lived in isolation in a palatial mansion and wore the Idol's Eye to her solitary breakfast every morning.

After her death, the diamond went through a succession of owners, until it was sold with two other important stones to a private buyer.

Stock Diamond Search
80 000 Diamonds online
Negotiable prices Just Ask!