The Diamond Fund () is a unique collection of gems, jewelry and natural nuggets, which are stored and exhibited in the

Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin ArmouryOfficially called the "Armoury Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armoury Palace", the "Moscow Armoury", the "Armoury Museum", and the "Moscow Armoury Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. () is one of ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The Fund was opened in 1967 and its collection dates back to the Russian Crown treasury instituted by Emperor

Peter I of Russia Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, ...

in 1719.

History

Imperial treasury

The gem collection of Peter I, established in 1719, was later stored in the Diamond Chamber (Бриллиантовая комната) in the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

. All succeeding monarchs added their contributions to the Chamber. A 1922 study by

Alexander Fersman Alexander Evgenyevich Fersman (; 8 November 1883 – 20 May 1945) was a prominent Soviet Union, Soviet Russian geochemist and mineralogist, and a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1919–1945). Early life and education Fersman was bor ...

identified 85% of all exhibits to be from 1719 to 1855, to emperors Peter I through Nicholas I, and only 15% attributed from the last three emperors.

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

exhibited a particular interest for expensive rocks, even naming her stallion "Diamond." The Diamond Fund received more contributions from her than any other monarch.

Soviet Union

Preservation, sales and looting of Imperial treasures after the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

are a matter of controversy and speculation. The Imperial collection was moved from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; the Soviet Diamond Fund was officially established in 1922. The treasure was first exhibited to the public in November 1967. Originally a short-term show, it became a permanent exhibition in 1968. During the late Soviet period, the value of the Fund's collection was estimated to be $7 billion.

Russian Federation

The Russian State retains the

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

for mining and distribution of gemstones, as set by the 1998 law ''"On precious metals and precious stones"''. Diamond Fund operations are regulated by the 1999 presidential decree
official text
. The Diamond Fund is part of a larger State Fund of Precious Stones, managed by the Ministry of Finance, and accumulates the most valuable items, in particular *All raw diamonds exceeding 50 carats (10 g) *All cut diamonds exceeding 20 carats (4 g), cut diamonds of exceptional quality exceeding 6 carats (1.2 g) *All raw emeralds, rubies, sapphires exceeding 30 carats (6 g) raw or 20 carats (4 g) cut *Unique nuggets,

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

and jewellery

Recent additions

*2006 – " The Creator" (Творец), mined in

Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

in 2004. Third largest raw diamond in the Fund, 298.48 carats (59.696 g) *2003 – golden nugget, 33 kg *1989 – "

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

", second-largest raw diamond, 320.65 carats (64.130 g) *1980 – " XXVI Congress of CPSU", largest raw diamond, 342.57 carats (68.514 g)

Major exhibits

Seven Historical Gems

* Orlov diamond, 189.62 carats (37.924 g) *

Shah diamond The Shah Diamond was found at the Golconda mines in what is now Telangana, South India, probably in 1450, and it is currently held in the Diamond Fund collection of Moscow's Kremlin Armoury. Physical description The Shah Diamond is not of the ...

, 88.7 carats (17.7 g), first inscription dated 1591, a gift from the Shah of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1829 *Flat portrait diamond, 25 carats (5 g) *Red

spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , a diminutive form of ''spine,'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Prop ...

, set in the

Imperial Crown of Russia The Imperial crown of Russia (), also known as the Great Imperial Crown of Russian Empire (), was used for the Coronation of the Russian monarch, coronation of the List of Russian rulers, monarchs of Russia from 1762 until the Russian Empire, Rus ...

, 398.72 carats (79.744 g), purchased in China in 1676 *

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

, 260.37 carats (52.074 g) *

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

, 136.25 carats (27.250 g) *Olive-green chrysolite, 192.6 carats (38.52 g)

Crowns of Russia

made for

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

, 1762

Jewellery

The Daffodil BouquetThe Blue Fountain

Nuggets

*"The Great Triangle", gold, 36.2 kg (mined in 1842 in

Miass Miass (, ) is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located west of Chelyabinsk, on the eastern slope of the Southern Ural Mountains, on the bank of the river Miass. Population: Name The name Miass is taken from the Bashkirs (), the indige ...

) *"The Camel", gold, 9.28 kg *"Mephisto", gold, 20.25 g (mined in 1944 in

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

)

Public access

The Diamond Fund is exhibited in the Kremlin Armoury building. For visitors, it is accessible only through tours of fixed duration due to the limited space inside the Fund. Tours in Russian are organized daily, at twenty-minute intervals. Foreign visitors can receive an audioguide in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese or Japanese.

References

External links

Official website of the Diamond FundInformation for visitors
from the

Alexander Palace The Alexander Palace (, ''Alexandrovskiy dvorets'', ) is a former imperial residence near the town of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, on a plateau about south of Saint Petersburg. The Palace was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1792. Due t ...

website
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