Owning some diamonds can be deadly
Since 1968 Copeton’s main claim to fame has been the dam which is said to be three times the size of Sydney Harbour when full. However, back in 1875, diamonds were found there in the alluvium of Copes Creek close to its junction with the Gwydir River, leading to the discovery in 1883 of the most productive field in NSW.
On the edge of the waters of Copeton Dam, near Inverell, also at nearby Bingara, commercial quantities were mined. A big strike was also made near Gulgong in 1867 during work on a deep lead for gold, more than 3,000 diamonds being recovered. There have been finds of diamonds also at Mt Airly, near Lithgow and during the years of World War II, Tom Heath, the only full-time diamond miner in Australia at that time, kept the Lithgow small arms factory supplied with industrial diamonds. The first discovery of diamonds in Western Australia was in 1895 when a digger from Nullagine brought five small diamonds which he had found in the stamper box after crushing, into Roebourne. Since then there have been many finds of diamonds in the west with excitement generated by the discovery of a huge deposit of commercial gems at Smoke Creek, near Lake Argyle in northern WA. These massive deposits exceeded any previous diamond discoveries although diamonds had been found in other states including Corinna in Tasmania, and near Stanthorpe in Queensland.
The word ‘diamond’ comes from the Creek word ‘adamas’ meaning ‘invincible’. This description seems fitting for the diamond, which is unsurpassed for its hardness, brilliance and fire. They can vary in Nature from colourless to black and the stones can be transparent, translucent or opaque. The colourless or pale blue stones are most valued although much rarer than those tinged with yellow. The diamond is composed of pure carbon and formed deep within the earth under enormous pressure and temperatures.
The 45.52-carat Hope diamond
There is more than one type of diamond and they are found in three types of deposits – alluvial gravels, glacial tills and kimberlite pipes. Australian diamonds have been found in ‘pipes’ of rock which were once the craters of old volcanoes, although the first diamonds were recovered at Argyle from where they had washed into the gravel along Limestone Creek.
Diamonds, supposedly a girl’s best friend, have been associated with their fair share of disasters, though. A scandal which rocked the court of France’s King Louis XVI centred on a diamond necklace and it so gravely weakened the position of the French monarchy on the eve of the revolution that Napoleon later cited it as one of the causes of the revolution.
It began in 1772 when Madame du Barry, mistress of the ageing Louis XV, demanded that he buy her the most expensive diamond necklace in the world. Her doting lover (who could refuse her nothing) commissioned Bohmer, the court jeweller, to create the necklace and for this he bought 600 of the best stones in Europe, stringing them together in a necklace worth however many millions today.
Confidently expecting payment, Bohmer was shocked to hear that the king had died during a smallpox epidemic, and he now faced ruin. Neither the new king, Louis XVI, or his queen, Marie Antoinette, wanted the necklace. Marie Antoinette’s dislike of the necklace was only exceeded by her dislike of Cardinal de Rohan, bishop of Strasbourg and member of a noble family, who had once been French ambassador to the court of the Empress of Austria. His affairs were well known throughout Europe, as was the fortune he had amassed in bribes. He was aware that the queen despised him and wanted very much to be back in royal favour.
In this way he fell victim to the schemes of the Comtesse de la Motte who very much desired the necklace herself. With forged letters from the Comtesse and an interview with a prostitute who was disguised as the queen, in a dark grove in the grounds of Versailles, the Cardinal bought the necklace (which was handed to the Comtesse) on behalf of, so he thought, the queen. When he failed to make the first payment the jewellers approached the queen and the whole business was exposed. Meanwhile the necklace had been carried off to London and the stones sold to several Bond Street jewellers. The cardinal was arrested, imprisoned in the Bastille and tried before the Parliament of Paris. Queen Marie Antoinette, already unpopular with the people (who imagined the cardinal to be her lover, giving her fabulous presents while they were left to starve) was judged harshly for her apparent frivolity and laxliving. The whole scandal weakened the position of the monarchy, ultimately leading to its removal.
The Koh-i-Noor diamond is also one with a very chequered history. Originally a lumpy Mughal-cut stone which lacked fire, it was recut to enhance its brilliance. According to legend, Sultan Ala-ud Din Khalji is believed to have taken the diamond in 1304 from the Raja of Malwa, India, whose family had held it for many generations. The name Koh-i-Noor means ‘mountain of light’ and it is the central diamond of the crown made for Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother), to wear at her coronation in 1937 during the reign of her husband, King George VI. It is held with the crown jewels in the Tower of London.
One legend has it that it was cut from the Great Mogul diamond but this seems unlikely. It most likely formed part of the loot of Nader Shah of Iran when he sacked Delhi in 1739. After his death it came into the hands of his general, Ahmad Shah, founder of the Durrani dynasty of Afghans, and a descendant, Shah Shoja, was forced to surrender the stone to Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler. Upon the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, it came into British hands and was placed amongst the crown jewels of Queen Victoria. Two myths surround the diamond – that its owners will rule the world and that it must never be worn by a male as it will bring death.
More than 20 deaths have been blamed, similarly, on the Hope Diamond, held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. A Hindu priest is believed to have stolen it from the forehead of an idol in an Indian temple. For his trouble he was caught and put to death. In 1642 it turned up in the hands of jewel trader Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and was purchased by Louis XIV in 1668 as part of the crown jewels. To do this the sapphire-blue diamond had to be cut from its original 112.5 carats down to 67.
Disaster seemed to follow everyone who had it – Nicolas Fouquet, a government official who borrowed it for a state ball, was imprisoned in 1665 after accusations of embezzlement and spent the rest of his life in prison, and Louis XIV died a broken man. The Princess de Lamballe who wore it many times was beaten to death by a mob; and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who inherited it, died on the guillotine.
In 1792, in the crown jewel robbery which followed in the wake of the Revolution, the diamond vanished. During this time it is thought to have been in the hands of the French jeweller Jacques Celot (who killed himself after going insane); and the Russian Prince Ivan Kanitovski who allegedly gave it to his French mistress before shooting her and later being murdered himself. Even Catherine the Great is believed to have worn the diamond before dying of apoplexy.
The stone was later cut down to 44.5 carats by a Dutch diamond cutter and passed through many hands before being purchased in 1830 by Thomas Hope, after whom it was named, who bought it for £30,000. Later Harry Winston bought the stone and presented it to the Smithsonian Institution.