Famed Golconda diamond up for sale
08 Jun 2010
Bangalore: The famous 17th century 'Archduke Joseph' diamond, part of the jewellery collection of the famed Hapsburg dynasty for well over 200 years, is up for sale. According to its Indian concessionaire there is a fair chance of the famed 76-carat Golconda gem, valued at Rs250-300 crore, coming back home to India should enough funds be raised here.
The gem is one amongst many famed diamonds yielded by the legendary Golconda mines in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the Indian concessionaire, 140 year-old Bangalore-based jewellery house C Krishnaiah Chetty & Sons (CKC & Sons), the response to the announced sale has been very good. Keeping the high price of the gem in mind, the jewellery house has also been working on creating consortiums, trusts or the concept of shared ownership. They are hopeful that this may result in the diamond travelling back to its home country.
CKC & Sons is one of the three selected concessionaires with the other two being located in the US and Europe.
The diamond takes its name from Archduke Joseph August (1872-1962), a prince of the Hungarian line of the Hapsburg dynasty.
The other famed stone in the possession of the Hapsburgs, also a Golconda, was the Florentine diamond, which is light yellow in colour.
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