Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond. Photo has been released into the public domain.
"This was one of the foremost historic diamonds, a state diamond, worn not just by women, but also men and by the sovereign," said historian Hans Ottomeyer, director of the German Historical Museum in Berlin. Now, Mr. Ottomeyer believes, "It is nothing." {cited}
Laurence Graff, who purchased the diamond in 2008 and turned it over to three stone cutters who shaved a scant few carats off the historic diamond in order to enhance its color and clarity, disagrees with his critic: "I decided that to create beauty, or acts of beauty, is not a sin. All we did was remove the blemishes, and now it's true perfection." {cited}
An Age-Old Tension
This debate highlights the age-old tension between history's keepers and history's makers. History's keepers staunchly believe that historical relics should be preserved, not altered. In counterpoint, history's makers believe that a stone's history belongs to the stone no matter what alterations are made along the way. They believe that to add to a stone's history only adds to its beauty and value. Whereas many history makers fail to preserve the trail of the stones they possess, Mr. Graff has proven to understand the importance of safeguard as much of the diamond's historical relevance as possible. He extensively documented the changes he made, ensuring that along the course of its history the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond will maintain its previous legends as the Wittelsbach Blue. Furthermore, by partnering with the National Museum of Natural History in New York during the fall of 2010, Mr. Graff also ensured that the continuity of the diamond's journey has been publicly preserved and documented after the changes he made to it. During its foray at the National Musuem, a team of specialists were able to examine and test the stone in extensive detail. Up close and personal with the beautiful diamond, this team was able to solve several mysteries and answer many questions surrounding the stone. In addition, by making such a public spectacle of the stone, Mr. Graff's purchase and risky decision has inspired substantial media representation and even inspired a critical assessment of the stone's actual history. This account, surveyed and reported by renowned historians, Rudolf Droschel, Jurgen Evers, and none other than Hans Ottomeyer, has proven to establish a clear documentation of nearly every step of the diamond's historic journey.The Last Thing On Their Minds
In the case of the Wittelsbach diamond, it is easy to understand why historians were up in arms about what they considered to be the defacement of a very important historical relic. As far as anyone knows, the Wittelsbach is one of the few stones with an extensive history that had not previously been altered by a history maker of old. While this may be true, that it had been cut only once since its initial cutting in the 1650s, it was certainly gouged and scraped time after time in order to remove it from one golden setting so it could be mounted into another. The stone had the scars and bruises to prove that, centuries ago, preserving history was the last thing on its owners's minds.True Honor
One could argue that a stone of such importance belongs in a museum, rather than in the vault of a man who, by all appearances, has tampered with history in order to make his asset more valuable. Conversely, one could argue, as Mr. Graff has, that using our modern advances in stone cutting to maximize its exquisite potential and beauty is the truest way to honor the stone and its history. Prior to selling it to Mr. Graff in 2008, Christie's auction house had it inspected and graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Every GIA grading report includes a detailed "map" of every facet, every flaw, every bruise, and every scratch. Countless photographs of the "original" diamond exist, likely many the public will never see. While it is true that much could be learned from the scars and bruises on the girdle of the stone, several museums had the opportunity to purchase the diamond, at which time they could have conducted such studies and documented them. The list of such museums and history keepers that were approached by one of the stone's previous owner, Jozef Komkommer (another diamantaire), includes the Treasury of the Munich Residence in Germany, the Wittelsbach Equity Fund (WAF), and the House of Wittelsbach.Sitting Unappreciated in the Dark
Actually, the WAF and the Treasury had possession of the diamond for over a century. The Treasury displayed the diamond to the public from 1806 until 1931, at which time they decided to sell it at auction to address the grave financial needs of the displaced Bavarian Crown Prince. When the diamond failed to sell at auction, the Treasury hid it away in the vault for another 20 years. Lost to historians and the public, the diamond sat unappreciated in the dark. There is no evidence that during its tenure in the Treasury it was ever coaxed into divulging the secrets of its scars and facets. The Treasury finally sold the diamond in 1951 to a diamond dealer, who appears to have secreted it away until after his death. His family sent the stone to Jozef Komkommer for--you guessed it--recutting. After discovering the diamond's true import, Jozef Komkommer convinced a group of dealers to purchase the diamond from the family. Shortly thereafter, Herr Komkommer approached the Treasury of the Munich Residence, the head of the House of Wittelsbach, and the head of the Wittelsbach Equity Fund (WAF), inquiring as to whether they were interested in repurchasing this important piece of their history. All three declined, and Baron Teuchert of the WAF declared the Wittelsbach Blue to be "an unproductive asset" {1}.Does History Stop Here?
It would appear that Mr. Graff, acting decisively in 2008, believed otherwise. Indeed, it could be argued that he, more than any of the stone's prior history keepers, understood the importance of this particular stone, having shelled out over $46 million to purchase it. Given his meticulous attention to detailed documentation, the evidence against Mr. Graff on the contention of destroying history appears to be largely subjective. In fact, it could be that he has only further ensured that the newly named Wittelsbach-Graff diamond will be harder to lose in obscurity, as it was when stashed away in the vault of the Treasury of the Munich Residence for all those years. Are the history keepers really justified in arguing that, by using modern technology to transform the stone into a more beautiful version of itself, Mr. Graff has destroyed the stone's provenance or historical value? Wouldn't that be like saying that history stops here, as if past kings, who routinely re-cut stones and mounted them in new settings, have more significance than modern ones? No one would debate such a decision had it been made by a King or Queen. In fact, one such brave and royal visionary took a similar monumental risk in an attempt to unleash the beauty of another historied stone, the Koh-i-Noor diamond.The Koh-i-Noor Under the Knife
In 1852, Prince Albert, king consort to Queen Victoria, enlisted the services of two gem cutters from Coster Diamonds in Amsterdam. The two experts put the Koh-i-Noor diamond under the knife, removing 43% of the stone's original weight, in a similar attempt to unleash its inner beauty. Despite this radical alteration to a stone with a history dating back to 3000 BC, very few today would possibly argue that this act in any way diminished the value of the famous diamond, despite the fact that the results were far less favorable. In all truth, the Koh-i-Noor has over and over proven to be a fairly lackluster stone whose resistance to shining cost a previous cutter his head. If anything, having been touched by England's fair Prince Albert, the Koh-i-Noor's rich history has only deepened.More Favorable Results
Mr. Graff attained far more favorable results. With a 12% loss of only 4.5 carats, Mr. Graff's cutters transformed an already stunning diamond, with VS2 clarity and a color grade of Fancy Deep Greyish Blue, into a perfect 31.06-carat diamond with a clarity grade of IF and a new color grade of Natural Fancy Deep Blue. "We have managed to bring out the true colour of the stone without changing the faceting or the shape," Mr. Graff told reporters {cited}. If Germany's history keepers had valued their historical relic as much as Mr. Graff does, the Wittelsbach diamond would now be sitting on display, untouched, in one of their museums. And as wonderful as that would be, the powers that be in Munich refused to cherish their relic. In light of this fact, we now have the opportunity to celebrate that in the private sector, the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond has a new opportunity to collect more stories, more lore, and thereby more value. Once it does finally come to rest in a museum, it will have an even greater tale to tell.Notes
1. Droschel, Rudolf and Jurgen Evers and Hans Ottomeyer. "The Wittelsbach Blue." Gems & Gemology, Winter 2008, pp. 348-363.11 years ago
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