Golconda Blue Diamond

• 19 Apr 2025

Source: TOI 

A rare 23.24-carat Golconda Blue diamond, with deep roots in India’s royal history, is set to be auctioned. 

• About: The Golconda Blue is a rich blue diamond, a colour grading which indicates high purity and saturation. 
  • Modern diamonds are optically translucent and fairly common. 
• Origin: It originated from the famous Golconda diamond mines in present-day Telangana, known for yielding iconic diamonds such as the Koh-i-Noor, Hope Diamond, and Darya-i-Noor. 
• Royal Lineage: It was once owned by Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar II of Indore, then bought by an American jeweler, who later re-sold it to the Maharaja of Baroda. 
  • Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (17th-century French gem merchant and traveller) elaborately discussed the diamonds and diamond mines of India. He also visited the Mughal court before arriving in the Kingdom of Golconda.

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