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A Dazzling Fortune: The Spoonmaker\'s Diamond

A Dazzling Fortune: The Spoonmaker\'s Diamond

A Dazzling Fortune: The Spoonmaker\'s Diamond

A Dazzling Fortune: The Spoonmaker's Diamond

The Spoonmaker's Diamond, exhibited at the Topkapı Museum, resembles a full moon surrounded by stars, thanks to the 49 diamonds that surround it. Due to the oval cut of the diamond, it is called the Spoonmaker's Diamond because it resembles a spoon.

There are various rumors about the Spoonmaker's Diamond. According to the first of these legends, in 1774, a French officer called Pigot purchased the diamond from the Maharajah of Madaras and brought it to France. Napoleon's mother eventually purchased the diamond, which had been put up for sale again, and wore it on her chest for a long time. When Napoleon was exiled, however, his mother was forced to sell the diamond to rescue her son. A man of Ali Pasha, who was in France at that time, took the diamond instead of pasha. Ali Pasha was killed because he had rebelled against the state during the reign of Mahmut. The property of Tepedelenli Ali Pasha is confiscated. Thus, the "Spoonmaker's Diamond" enters the treasury.

Another legend claims that in 1699, a man roaming around Istanbul's Egrikapi rubbish dump discovers a circular stone. He visits the spoon master to have this stone, which he mistook for a glass, transformed into three wooden spoons. It is where the diamond's name originates. This stone is taken by Spoonman and sold to a jeweler for ten akches. When one of the jeweler's buddies sees the stone and realizes it is a valuable diamond, a fight ensues between them. The jeweler recognizes the stone's worth and offers them a bag of gold in exchange for the stone.

Finally, the sultan of the time learned about the incident and had the stone brought to the palace and had it run by a diamond specialist. When the stone from the Eğrikapı dump is processed, it yields an extraordinary 86-carat diamond.

It is sufficient to visit Topkapi Palace to see this gem, which is on the list of the world's most precious diamonds.