The story of Golconda Blue, and of India’s once-legendary diamonds in Golconda

News Snapshot:

Christie’s has pulled the 23.24 carat Golconda Blue, “the largest Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond ever to be offered at auction” after “the owners…made the decision to pursue a sale of the diamond to a family member”. The diamond, according to the British auction house “among the rarest and most important…ever discovered throughout history”, had been expected to fetch $35 million to $50 million at an auction in Geneva on May 14. Diamonds, the hardest of naturally occurring substances, are composed entirely of carbon, and formed under great heat and pressure below the Earth’s surface. Their rarity, difficulty in extracting them,...