OBJECT FILE
The Black Orlov ('Eye of Brahma')
FOLLOWWhereabouts unknown
THE OBJECT
A 67.50-carat black diamond, said to have been cut down from a 195-carat stone, set as the centre of a brooch of 108 diamonds on a necklace of 124. It was owned by the jeweller Charles F. Winson, who had it cut, and was shown at the American Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum in London. Dennis Petimezas, a jeweller of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, bought it in 2004; it sold at Christie's New York on 11 October 2006 for $352,000 to a buyer who was not named.
REPORTED ACTIVITY
The legend: a monk stole it from the eye of a statue of Brahma at Pondicherry; the New York dealer J. W. Paris jumped to his death in 1932 soon after bringing it to America; two Russian princesses, Leonila Galitsine-Bariatinsky and Nadia Vygin-Orlov, killed themselves in the 1940s; Winson had it cut in three to break the curse. No contemporary record of any of these deaths has been produced; even Wikipedia gives them only as 'reportedly' and 'allegedly'. Petimezas said he was 'pretty confident that the curse is broken' before selling it.
WHERE IT IS NOW
Private collection — kept by Undisclosed private buyer (Christie's, 2006).
PROVENANCE · 3 ENTRIES
TRACE ON THE MAP →1932 — CURRENT LOCATION
POSSIBLE LOCATIONJ. W. Paris, diamond dealer (per the legend)
New York, NY, United States · not placed on the map
Legend only. No record of Paris's death has been found; kept here because the sale story depends on it.
Source: Wikipedia, Black Orlov ('reportedly took the diamond to the United States' in 1932)
2004 – 2006
Dennis Petimezas
Johnstown, PA, United States · not placed on the map
Source: Wikipedia, Black Orlov (bought by Petimezas in 2004); JCK, 2006
2006 — CURRENT LOCATION
Undisclosed buyer
Christie's New York, Magnificent Jewels, lot 433, New York, NY, United States · not placed on the map
Where it has gone since is not public.
Source: JCK, 2006 ('sold for $352,000 on October 11, 2006'); Jeweller Magazine (lot 433, US$352,000)
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS · 0
REPORT AN EXPERIENCE →Nobody has filed an encounter with this object yet.
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