At over 187 carats, the rectangular cushion-cut Jacob Diamond is said to be either the fifth or seventh largest polished diamond in the world, and it is believed to be worth over $150 million. Other names for the stone include the Victoria Diamond, the Imperial Diamond and the Great White Diamond. The history of the gem is a short one – it was only sold twice in its existence – but it is filled with interesting characters.
Its first owner was the gem dealer Alexander Malcolm Jacob, who gave the diamond its current name. In 1891 he sold the stone to the uber-rich Nizam of Hyderabad at a great loss. The Nizam had only paid a small fee as a deposit, a fraction of the stone’s worth, but Jacob somehow lost the sum, and unable to return the funds, he was forced to grant the Nizam ownership rights over the stone. The debacle ruined Jacob, but owning the stone did not seem to matter much to the Nizam, who apparently stored it in one of his slippers.
In 1995, the Indian Government purchased the diamond from the Nizam’s trust for the sum of $13 million. Today the gem is held at the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai.
