The Jagersfontein Mine, located in South Africa, has been of the great
diamond mines of the world. Discovered in 1870, it has yielded over 9.6
million carats of beautiful diamonds over its lifetime. Yet the unique
stone that was discovered here in 1895 was particularly special, in more
ways than one.
First and foremost, this magnificent large diamond, weighing 245.35 carats,
turned out to be the sixth largest diamond in the world. This means it was
twice as large as the legendary Kohinoor. Second, it was a diamond of
exceptional purity and sparkle, and often described as the most perfectly
cut of all large diamonds. But most importantly, as this interesting story
will soon reveal to you, it went on to play a very important role for the
Tata Group, well beyond the normal remit of diamonds and jewellery.
The large rough stone was sent to Amsterdam in 1896 for polishing, where it
became clear that it was yielding a superb, colourless, cushion-cut
diamond. A stone so perfect in cut, that it could be balanced on its narrow
culet, less than 2 mm across. In 1897, it was named the "Jubilee" Diamond,
to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. Here is a rare
instance of a diamond being named for a diamond jubilee, quite a literal
commemoration ! Indeed, the consortium of three London merchants who owned
it then may have even thought that this diamond would be best placed in Her
Majesty's royal crown.
However, destiny had other plans in store for the Jubilee Diamond. In 1900,
it was displayed at the Paris Exposition, which was held to celebrate the
achievements of the past hundred years, and also to welcome the new
century. The diamond was a centre of attraction at this global fair, and
received a lot of praise from experts. At that time, it must have caught
the imagination of Sir Dorabji Tata, the elder son of Jamsetji Tata,
founder of the Tata Group. Two years earlier - on Valentine's Day of 1898 -
Dorabji Tata had been married to Meherbai, and he was deeply in love with
her. He now decided to gift her the Jubilee Diamond.
Dorabji bought the diamond from the London merchants for around UK
£100,000. Lady Meherbai Tata had it set on a platinum claw, and it was then
hung on a platinum chain which she could wear around her neck. She would
wear it for special occasions, and it is quite possible that she may even
have worn it while meeting the then US President Calvin Coolidge, or the
King and Queen of England.
Lady Meherbai Tata was a pioneer of the women's movement in India, and she
was also very proud of her Indian roots, so she inevitably wore a saree to
celebrate her Indian heritage, even while travelling abroad. The Jubilee
Diamond must have been a perfect accessory, complementing her beautiful
Parsee sarees. However, this was a very valuable diamond, and heavily
insured too. Dinsi Gazdar, who was a well known jeweler of those days at
the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, remembered Sir Dorabji Tata stating that every
time his wife took the diamond out of their safe deposit vault in London,
he was "fined" £200 by the insurance company.
In the meanwhile, Sir Dorabji Tata had succeeded his father as Chairman of
the Tata Group, and was busy managing the affairs of Tata Steel, Taj Mahal
Hotel and other business ventures of the Group. Tata Steel, based in
Jamshedpur, had undertaken an expansion programme, post the first World
War, and the Company, which was still in its early years, now ran into a
host of difficulties, ranging from price inflation to labour issues. Demand
in Japan, a large market, came spiraling downwards because of an earthquake
there. By 1923, there was a shortage of cash and liquidity, and the Tatas
grasped for breath, making valiant efforts to raise funds.
In 1924, a telegram arrived from Jamshedpur, and it was bad news. It simply
said that there was not enough money to pay wages to the employees of Tata
Steel. Would the fledgling Company survive, or would it be forced to shut
down ? Would the dreams and visions that guided the establishment of
India's first integrated steel plant come tumbling down ?
Sir Dorabji Tata did not hesitate for a moment. He had to save the Company,
so that it could survive during these difficult times. His wife Meherbai
and he decided to pledge their entire personal wealth, which came to around
Rs. 1 crore (a huge amount in those days), to a bank, to raise funds for
Tata Steel. Sir Dorabji pledged his family wealth to the Imperial Bank.
This included all the jewellery owned by his wife, including the Jubilee
Diamond.
The Imperial Bank provided the Tatas a loan of Rs. 1 crore, against this
personal pledge. The money was used to fund Tata Steel. Soon, the Company's
expanded production facilities began producing returns, and the situation
took a turn for the better. Not a single worker was retrenched during this
period of intense struggle, though shareholders were not paid dividends for
the next several years. The Company returned to profitability within a few
years, and the pledge was repaid. By the late 1930s, Tata Steel began
hugely prospering once again. By then, Sir Dorabji Tata had passed away,
but the personal sacrifice made by his wife and by himself, in pledging
their wealth and jewellery, had saved Tata Steel from extinction.
Lady Meherbai Tata died of leukemia, at the relatively young age of 50
years, in 1931. Sir Dorabji Tata passed away just a year later, in 1932. He
willed his entire fortune to the Sir Dorabji Tata charitable Trust -
including, of course, the Jubilee Diamond. The Jubilee Diamond was sold
through Cartier in the year 1937, and the funds from this sale went to the
Trust.
The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust used these funds that it was endowed with, to
establish the Tata Memorial Hospital and many other Institutions, including
the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research. This surely makes the Jubilee Diamond unique – it is perhaps the
only diamond in the history of mankind that has saved a steel company from
collapse, and hence saved several livelihoods from being lost, and has then
gone on to create a cancer hospital as well. No diamond has served worthier
causes, and this was only possible because of two wonderful hearts of gold.
What happened to the Jubilee Diamond, thereafter ? It was acquired from
Cartier by M. Paul-Louis Weiller, a French industrialist. It has since been
bought by Robert Mouwad, of the House of Mouwad, reputed jewelers and
watchmakers since 1890. There it rests today, its brilliance as splendid as
ever, on the back of its eventful history. A beautiful, magnificent diamond
with a Tata history.
When Sir Dorabji Tata died, the Times of India wrote, on 4th June 1932 –
"Sir Dorabji's fame, however, will not rest on his great (industrial)
achievements, splendid as they were, or on his wealth, but it will rest
solidly on the use he has made of his possessions."
Truly, what use we put our possessions to, is the real value that they
serve. The story of the Jubilee Diamond stands testimony to this truth.
(Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian, Tata Sons)
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