The Great Table Diamond: Darya-i-Noor and Noor-ul-Ain
/Replica of the Great Table Diamond and subsequent cuttings by Scott Sucher
A large pink diamond is believed to have decorated the throne of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The original large stone was described by French jeweler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1642. He called it the Great Table diamond. The theory is that the large diamond was cut into two pieces with the larger part being the Darya-i Noor and the smaller part being the 60-carat Noor-ul-Ain. Both are part of the Iranian Imperial collection.
The top stone in the above image is a replica of the Great Table. It is believed that it measured 56.3 x 29.5 x 12.15 mm. Below the Great Table are replicas of the stones that are believed to have been cut from it. On the left is the Noor-ul-Ain (60 carats oval shaped). On the right is the previously mentioned Darya-i Noor (182 carats rectangular shaped/table cut).
Darya-i-Noor Diamond:
The pale-pink colored diamond, weighs 182 carats and is part of the Iranian crown jewels. The name, “Darya-i Noor” is Persian and means “The Sea of Light”.
Noor-ul-Ain Diamond:
The 60 carat pale pink diamond’s name means “the light of the eye”. The diamond resides in the Iranian tiara of the same name.
The tiara was made for Iranian Empress Farah Pahlavi’s wedding to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1958. The tiara was designed by Harry Winston and features 324 pink, yellow, and white diamonds set in platinum.
