The Noor-ul-Ain ( fa, نور العين, lit=the light of the eye) is one of the largest pink

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s in the world, and the centre piece of the

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

of the same name.

History

The diamond is believed to have been recovered from the mines of Golconda, Hyderabad in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was first in possession with the nizam

Abul Hasan Qutb Shah Abul Hasan Qutb Shah, also known as Abul Hasan Tana Shah was the eighth and last ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, sovereign of the Kingdom of Golconda in South India. He ruled from 1672 to 1686. The last Sultan of this Shia Islamic dynasty, Tana ...

, later it was given as a peace offering to the Mughal emperor Aurangazeb when he defeated him in a siege. It was brought into the Iranian Imperial collection after the Persian king

Nader Shah Afshar Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian ...

looted

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in the 18th century. The Noor-ul-Ain is believed to have once formed part of an even larger gem called the

Great Table diamond The Great Table was a large pink diamond that had been studded in the throne of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It has been described in the book of the French jeweller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1642, who gave it its name ("Diamanta Grande Table ...

. That larger diamond is thought to have been cut in two, with one section becoming the Noor-ul-Ain and the other the

Daria-i-Noor The Daria-i-Noor ( fa, , lit=Sea of light), also spelled ''Darya-ye Noor'', is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing an estimated 182 carats (36 g). Its colour, pale pink, is one of the rarest to be found in diamonds. The diamond ...

diamond. Both of these pieces are currently part of the

Iranian Crown Jewels The Iranian National Jewels ( fa, جواهرات ملی ایران, ''Javāherāt-e Melli-ye Irān''), originally the Iranian Crown Jewels ( fa, جواهرات سلطنتی ایران, ''Javāherāt-e Saltanati-ye Irān''), include elaborate cro ...

History of the tiara

The Noor-ul-Ain is the principal diamond mounted in a tiara of the same name made for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian Empress Farah Pahlavi's wedding to

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1958. The tiara was designed by

Harry Winston Harry Winston (March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchan ...

. It is a modern design, featuring 324 pink, yellow, and white diamonds set in

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

. It is said to weigh around . The tiara forms part of the Iranian crown jewels, held at the

National Treasury of Iran The Iranian National Jewels ( fa, جواهرات ملی ایران, ''Javāherāt-e Melli-ye Irān''), originally the Iranian Crown Jewels ( fa, جواهرات سلطنتی ایران, ''Javāherāt-e Saltanati-ye Irān''), include elaborate cr ...

in the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. It is a Type IIa diamond.

References

{{Reflist Anna Malecka
"The Mystery of the Nur al-Ayn Diamond", Gems & Jewellery: The Gemmological Association of Great Britain
volume 23 (7), August/September 2014, pp. 20-22;

External links

Picture of Nur-Ul-Ain
Jewels of the Mughal Empire Iranian National Jewels Pink diamonds Golconda diamonds Wars involving Afsharid Iran

History

History of the tiara

See also

References

External links