4 Stories About Fake Jewelry That Shook The World

STORY ONE: LOVE

At first glance, the biography of businessman Nirava Modi seemed impeccable: he created a jewelry brand from scratch, made it international, switched to you (as far as is possible in the English-speaking world) with Hollywood stars. But in 2018, it turned out that Modi became a star by the standards of Interpol: he was put on the international wanted list as the main suspect in the largest banking fraud in the history of India. The amount of the scam is two billion dollars, which Nirav obtained through an ingenious credit way from the National Bank of Punjab. However, we are more interested in another accusation brought against Modi in the fall of 2018 - for a smaller amount, but it really hurt the honor of the jeweler.

Among the characters is a Canadian businessman Paul Alfonso, who decided to propose to his girlfriend. Where to order a ring for such an occasion? Of course at Modi's! Paul was personally acquainted with Nirav, dined with him several times, and, being 10 years younger, treated the jeweler with some reverence. And really, how not to admire the person in whose jewelry Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley float along the red carpet? In general, Alfonso without a doubt turned to the master with a request to pick up "something special." Then the jeweler had already been put on the international wanted list, but unofficially, so that our groom was in blissful ignorance. Modi quickly found what Paul was looking for - a clear diamond with an impeccable reputation and an impressive 3.2 carats. According to Nirav,the ring was definitely worth the $ 120,000 he asked for. Since Paul's love at that time had reached universal proportions, he agreed and even decided to order a second ring - with a 2.5 carat stone, worth 80 thousand dollars. Modi hastened to fulfill both orders. True, the products did not come with a mandatory certificate of the purity of the stones, but Nirav promised to send it later. As soon as she saw the decoration, Alfonso's girl roared: "Yes!" - and having discovered the second, she completely lost the ability to speak. Happiness was overshadowed by only one circumstance: the days passed, but the certificate did not come. After a month of anxious waiting, the newly-made bride decided to independently verify the authenticity of the stones. It was then that it turned out that both diamonds were fake. The news surprisingly coincided with the disappearance of the girl's feelings: she announced,which ends the engagement. And now the groom, abandoned with a broken heart and two fake stones, demands satisfaction through the California state court. He estimates his moral damage at $ 4.3 million - although he could have thanked Modi for saving him from a selfish bride. Even for a lot of money.

THE SECOND STORY: EDUCATIONAL

How to get the King of Great Britain's sympathy? Any self-respecting Margrave will sooner or later ask this question. The Margrave of Bayreuth also asked himself at the beginning of the 18th century. He decided that the surest way was to send George II the Order of the Red Eagle, the German equivalent of the George Cross. And not ordinary, but inlaid with diamonds. The margrave isolated the stones from his personal collection and gave them to the court jeweler Sperlung. It is not known what exactly prompted him to think of a fake - a banal greed or lack of thrill - but the Red Eagle flew to England with fake diamonds. There the substitution was immediately recognized, reported to Bayreuth, and the margrave summoned Sperlung to his place. Without giving that time to justify himself, he ordered to tie the deceiver to a chair and chop off his head. However, at the final stage, something went wrong:the jeweler jumped up and began to rush about the hall with a chair on his back. The comical look of the unfortunate man so amused the margrave that he laughed, according to his contemporaries, almost to the point of losing consciousness. This suggests a happy ending to the story: Sperlung was pardoned and everyone lived happily ever after. But no, the jeweler was still executed. But George II lived happily ever after, to whom a new order with real stones was sent. Later in Bayreuth, a legend appeared: allegedly the diamonds turned red from the cruelty of the margrave when he touched the new version of the order. But, judging by modern photographs of the historical jewel, over the past centuries, the stones have turned pale back. This suggests a happy ending to the story: Sperlung was pardoned and everyone lived happily ever after. But no, the jeweler was still executed. But George II lived happily ever after, to whom a new order with real stones was sent. Later in Bayreuth, a legend appeared: allegedly the diamonds turned red from the cruelty of the margrave when he touched the new version of the order. But, judging by modern photographs of the historical jewel, over the past centuries, the stones have turned pale back. This suggests a happy ending to the story: Sperlung was pardoned and everyone lived happily ever after. But no, the jeweler was still executed. But George II lived happily ever after, to whom a new order with real stones was sent. Later in Bayreuth, a legend appeared: allegedly the diamonds turned red from the cruelty of the margrave when he touched the new version of the order. But, judging by modern photographs of the historical jewel, over the past centuries, the stones have turned pale back.over the centuries the stones have turned pale back.over the centuries the stones have turned pale back.

STORY THREE: HAPPY

The career of Georg Friedrich Strass is an example of rare professional luck, contrary to common sense. After all, the Alsatian jeweler was not just not punished for counterfeiting - he was awarded! (His contemporary Sperlung would certainly not have been in the way of 0.25 carats of such fabulous luck.) According to Strass's romantic biography, at the dawn of his career, he found a special type of crystal with a high lead content in the Rhine. These crystals seemed to have been created by nature itself to imitate diamonds, and the jeweler immediately responded to her call. In order to give the glass the final resemblance to precious stones, he applied a special metal coating on them - a mixture of bismuth and thallium. But his most strategically competent decision was not to pass off fakes as originals, but to immediately recognize a fake in the "diamonds". They cost, of course,cheaper and widely used in decorating the costumes of courtiers. Even Louis XV resorted to the services of Strass, and in 1734 the craftsmen were awarded the honorary title "Royal Jeweler". Well, as a bonus to a happy life, the Alsatian got eternal glory: we still call crystals that imitate diamonds, his last name is rhinestones.

STORY FOUR: COURSE

If the curator of the British Museum comes to your museum and says that the exhibit on display is a shameful fake, all you have to do is nod your head in agreement and urgently remove the fake away from the eyes of visitors. Exactly such a story happened at the beginning of the 20th century with the staff of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archeology in Oxford, who included an old Anglo-Saxon brooch in the exhibition. Sir Charles Hercules Reed, who came to visit his colleagues, authoritatively urged them not to disgrace themselves. Obviously, they were foisted on a fake: well, the Anglo-Saxon silver of the 9th century cannot survive so well! How not to listen to the London luminary? The brooch would have been gathering dust in the storerooms if it had not been bought at the price of ordinary silver by the anthropologist and collector of antiquities Captain Alfred Fuller. His foresight (and the authenticity of the item) was only proved many years later - after the Strickland brooch was sold at Sotheby's in 1949, a similar piece of jewelry with undeniable provenance. In 1952, Fuller agreed to donate his long-standing acquisition to the British Museum with one immodest condition: let it go into catalogs and history under his name. So the exhibit took its rightful place in the collection - however, Sir Charles Reed, alas, did not live up to the moment of rehabilitation of the brooch he had humiliated. So the exhibit took its rightful place in the collection - however, Sir Charles Reed, alas, did not live up to the moment of rehabilitation of the brooch he had humiliated. So the exhibit took its rightful place in the collection - however, Sir Charles Reed, alas, did not live up to the moment of rehabilitation of the brooch he had humiliated.

Text: MARIA MIKULINA

Photo: GETTYIMAGES. COM; VOSTOCK PHOTO; NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON