This Indian expat bagged a cash prize worth $2.7 mn at Big Ticket, Abu Dhabi

The Belle Époque diamond jigha was made in 1907 and remodelled around 1935. The ornament is set with old baguette and pear-shaped diamonds. It is made of white gold. On the reverse is a plume holder. The lower part of the ornament is detachable and can be worn as a brooch, according to the Christie’s website. The total weight of the diamonds in this turban ornament is approximately 152.60 carats.

The Mirror of Paradise is a D-colour internally flawless diamond of 52.58 carats. The diamond was found in the Golconda region in South India.

Until the 1730s, India was known to be the world’s supplier of diamonds. Many of the world’s famous diamonds — the Koh-i-Noor, the Regent and the Hope diamonds — were found in the riverbeds of the Deccan region.

The Nizam of Hyderabad necklace is a magnificent piece from the late 19th century. It is made of gold with seven large foiled triangular diamonds, each framed in an openwork panel of kundan-set diamond leaves, says Christie’s. At front centre is a triangular diamond pendant surrounded by 12 diamond leaves, mounted on an inner edge with a melon-cut emerald bead.

This piece of jewellery is a magnificent example of the fusion between the East and the West. The necklace was commissioned by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. It was created by Cartier in 1931. This ruby, pearl and diamond necklace is just one example of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh’s long relationship with the house of Cartier. It has 292 ruby beads weighing 356.56 carats, interspersed with panels of 132 threaded pearls, caught at each side with clasps of 120 diamonds and rubies set in platinum, each clasp formed of a cluster of six cabochon claw-set rubies. The necklace was restored and restrung by Cartier Tradition in 2012.

The ornate jade-hilted dagger was commissioned by Jahangir, the fourth Mughal Emperor of India, in the early 17th century. The carved youth’s head on the hilt is speculated to be based on an ivory representation of Jesus.

Upon Jahangir’s death in 1627, the blade passed on to his son and successor, Shah Jahan, who reworked the blade and added two Mughal inscriptions to it — a royal umbrella and a fish. In the 1850s the dagger was also owned by Samuel FB Morse, the creator of the eponymous code and inventor of the telegraph, who was also an art collector.

(All images: christies.com)