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HERITAGE: NIZAM'S JEWELS
Meticulous Display
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FEATHER IN THE CROWN: Mid-19th century
sarpech with bird motif; portrait of the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan
(below)
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Arranged in 29 glass
showcases, the 173 items (comprising 347 individual pieces) include finger,
toe and ear rings, sarpeches (turban ornaments), arm bands, belts, buckles,
bracelets, necklaces and unset gemstones. In the display, the first showcase
will have regalia ornaments, while the 13th will hold watch chains, including
a Cooke and Kelvey pocket watch studded with diamonds. The last showcase
will be the exhibition's piece d'resistance, cradling the 184.75 carat,
white, flawless, oval Jacob diamond, reputed to be the fifth-largest diamond
in the world and said to be worth over Rs 400 crore in the international
market. Legend has it that the last Nizam, who was more of a collector
than a wearer of jewels, used the Jacob diamond as a paperweight. The
diamond (originally called the Imperial diamond) belonged to the sixth
Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Pasha, who bought it in 1891 from Alexander Malcon
Jacob, a notorious gem dealer in Shimla. It was cut in 1885 in Amsterdam
from a rough stone found in the Jagersfontein mine in South Africa.
The collection also includes early 18th to early
20th century masterpieces: a seven-strand necklace beaded with pearls
from Basra called satlada, a set of 22 unset Colombian emeralds from Czar
Nicholas' collection, Burmese rubies, a diamond-encrusted gold belt with
buckle called Baglus Almas, an ornate emerald serpech, an emerald necklace
called the Chintak Zamarrud, and much more. "It was difficult to
keep count," recalls Ashok Vajpeyi, then joint secretary in the Department
of Culture, who was present when the jewels changed hands in 1995. "The
exhibition will be unique in that it will bring together one single, large
collection of rare jewels which are also examples of fine Indian craftsmanship."
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CAN'T TIGHTEN THIS BELT: This diamond-encrusted
belt, called Baglus Almas, was worn by the sixth Nizam. With more
than 245 diamonds, it weighs over 640 carats
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The majority of pieces in the collection show
the aesthetic vestiges of the Mughal legacy. The exhibition catalogue
says that "the jewels are, however, only a mere fraction of the Hyderabad
treasury believed to have once been worth over US $500 million (over Rs
2,000 crore). Says Ananth Kumar, Union minister of tourism and culture:
"The Nizam's treasury was unfathomable. What you'll see is but a
small sample of it." Usha Bala Krishnan, a jewellery historian, brought
out the exhibition catalogue and has also been commissioned by the Government
to write the book, Jewels of the Nizams. She spent six months collecting
primary data from the Nizam's descendants and in the dark chambers of
the RBI in Mumbai where the jewels were locked up. She recalls experiencing
"various levels of excitement" as she spent four days in the
vault weighing, measuring and documenting the jewels. "The Nizams
led a simple, cloistered existence and there was no documentation to start
with," says Krishnan. "Many items, like the Jacob diamond, are
invaluable. You can't put a price tag to them."
Perhaps not. The collection has not been freshly
valued for this exhibition, but the Nizam's heirs had got it valued earlier
by the international auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's. In an article
published in Indian and World Arts and Crafts in August 1991, Sihare mentions
that Christie's and Sotheby's valued the 173 items at "US $135-150
million and US $162 million respectively"(around Rs 432 crore to
Rs 518 crore at 1991 rates).
The jewels will be on show in Delhi till October
15. In November, they will be exhibited at the Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad.
After all, the former Nizam's subjects, who paid for such dazzling excess,
would want to see them too.
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