The Nur-ul-ain is a brilliant-cut oval diamond of around 60 carats. Its name means “light of the eye” in Persian and Arabic.
Fact Sheet
• Weight: 60 carats
• Dimensions: 30mm x 25.81mm x 11mm (approximately)
• Colour: pale pink
• Rough weight: cut from Great Table diamond
• Origin: Great Table diamond
• Date found: cut in the early 1800s
• Current Location: Iranian Crown Jewels, Tehran
Discovered at Golconda in India during the 17th century, it is fancy pink in colour and one of the largest diamonds of its kind.
Together with the even larger Darya-i-noor diamond, it is considered one of the two most-celebrated gems among the Iranian crown jewels, where it remains to this day.
The Nur-ul-ain is the centrepiece of an exquisite Harry Winston tiara created in 1958 for the Empress Farah’s wedding to the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
The tiara contains 324 diamonds in all, but the Nur-ul-ain is the jewel in the crown.
Since the Nur-ul-ain disappeared into Iran, authorities have declined to release any information concerning its weight and measurements.
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ABOUT SCOTT SUCHER
When one thinks of diamonds, Tijeras, New Mexico is not the first place that springs to mind, but it’s home to Scott Sucher, the Master behind the research and replicas that form the World Famous Diamonds.
Scott Sucher’s lifelong interest in geology commenced when a local museum hosted an exhibition of famous diamonds made of quartz when he was just a young boy. Whenever he could find time in his busy life, he published a collection of internet articles and lectures.
After retirement, Sucher returned to stone cutting with renewed vigour when a Discovery Channel producer requested help for a program on famous diamonds. The 14-month collaboration resulted in Unsolved History: the Hope Diamond, which first aired in February 2005.
The program gave Sucher the chance to handle the unset Hope diamond, the 31-carat Blue Heart diamond and Napoleon’s necklace – a 234-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave to his second wife Marie-Louise.
Sucher then worked with the Natural History Museum in London to recreate a replica of the historic Koh-i-noor. The entire process took 12 months – photo analysis took four months alone – and concluded in July 2007. The cutting alone took 46 hours, and Sucher likened it to “brain surgery, as one mistake can be non-recoverable.”
Sucher continues his work in partnership with many other experts and museums in the field. If anyone knows anything about the world’s most famous diamonds, it’s Scott Sucher.
To follow his ongoing works click here.
