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DIAMONDS

Thursday October 24, 2019 to Saturday November 9, 2019

Les Enluminures 23 East 73rd Street, 7th floor, Penthouse New York, NY 10021 Les Enluminures announces an exhibition and sale of the extraordinary collection of diamonds - the king of gems - of Benjamin Zucker, one of New York's leading dealers in diamonds and precious stones. Benjamin Zucker's remarkable story unfolds over three generations of dia­ mond dealers. Arriving in New York in 1941, he had the benefit of the training of his grandfather, a leading expert in uncut diamonds in Antwerp, and his uncle, one of the foremost dealers of diamonds in the Far East. Some of the world's most famous diamonds, such as the Wittelsbach Diamond, passed through the hands of the Zucker family . Armed with the family "know-how," Benjamin Zucker formed a collection that "has taken a lifetime of patience, money, and unquenchable enthusiasm," according to Diana Scarisbrick. As Mr. Zucker himself says "diamonds will always be a magical window facing the invisible world ."

Put together over more than forty-five years, this hugely rare and immensely valuable collection includes approximately thirty-five precious jewels mostly made for European patrons - rings, brooches, hairpins, earrings. It tells the story of the Indian diamond over a period of nearly 600 years, ending before the discovery of mines in Brazil, a source that displaced India and inaugurated a new age of diamonds. Starting with the octahedral diamond, the collection includes outstanding examples of world-class importance showing how jewelers gradually captured more and more of the allure of these indomitable gems evolving from point to table to rose to brilliant cuts . The success of the brilliant cut (close to our cuts today) eclipsed the earlier shapes, many of which were recut to "modernize" them, with the result that earlier cuts of "old mine" diamonds included here are exceedingly rare.

Most of these jewels are published . Many of them have been exhibited in prestigious museums, The Walters Art Museum, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, the Houston Museum of Art, and most recently the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have never been offered for sale.

A lavish publication by leading scholars accompanies the exhibition . It is written by Diana Scarisbrick, celebrated jewelry historian and author of Diamond Jewelry: Seven Hundred Years of Glory and Glamour (September 2019) .

The collection is for sale in its entirely. PRICE ON REQUEST

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1. OCTAHEDRAL Sultan Muhammad of Ghor's Diamond Ring Afghanistan or Pakistan, 13 th century

Set with three point cut diamonds on a substantial hoop, this Islamic ring can be regard­ ed as a trophy of conquest. It belonged to the famous Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghor, or Muhammad of Ghor, who in 1173 departed from Ghur in central Afghanistan to invade India .

2. POINT The Spitzer Renaissance Point Cut Diamond Italy, Venice (?), 16th century

Of spectacular effect and important provenance, this ring has been traditionally associat­ ed with Venice at the apogee of its power and wealth . Its high bezel displays five point cut diamonds arranged like a star, with table cut diamonds and rubies on the hoop. The striking ring epitomizes the grandeur of the best Renaissance jewelry and was likely made for a princely patron who wished to be associated with the properties of invincibil­ ity, fortitude, and dignity signified by diamonds.

3. TABLE The Guilhou Renaissance Table Cut Diamond Western Europe, 16th century

The prestigious combination of a diamond with rubies, forming the raised quatrefoil bezel, unites two powerful talismans, and their protective powers or virtue are referred to by John Lyly, The Anatomy of Wit (1578): "is not the diamond of more valew than the Rubie because he is of more virtue?" It was treasured by two of the most important collectors of rings in the 19th and 20th centuries .

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OCTAHEDRAL

SULTAN MUHAMMAD OF GHOR 1 S DIAMOND RING

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POINT

THE SPITZER RENAISSANCE POINT CUT DIAMOND

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TABLE

THE GUILHOU RENAISSANCE TABLE CUT DIAMOND

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ROSE

"THE DUTCH ROSE JEWEL"

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BRILLIANT

THE ST. ALBAN 1 S BODKIN

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