Thursday, November 1st, marked the 40th anniversary of the Russian Diamond Fund. Komsomolskaya Pravda journalists thrust themselves upon a visit to Russia’s main treasure house on the eve of the anniversary so that the Russia people can learn more of the public property kept there.
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| The largest gold nugget ever found (Photo by Komsomolskaya Pravda) |
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 BREAKING NEWS |
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Head of the State Repository for Precious Metals of the Russian Federation Vladimir Rybkin decided to join our small team for a trip to the Diamond Fund. Perhaps he wanted to ensure that everything would go smoothly during our look-see at a “secret facility” that is usually out of reach for journalists, not to mention photographers. Evgeny Gapanyuk, a chief curator of the Russian Diamond Fund, kindly agreed to be our guide.
We step into a relatively small room painted black. Every part of it is black – its walls, ceiling and floor. The lights are dimmed. Only the exhibits are illuminated. The Great Imperial Crown is one of the most dazzling exhibits on display. It shines a rainbow of colors.
“The crown was made for the 1762 coronation of Catherine the Great,” Gapanyuk told us. Actually, he was speaking in whispers. “Can you hear it? Can you hear how sweet the diamonds ‘sound’? The crown boasts 4,936 diamonds, 75 pearls and a large diamond weighing 56 carats,” Gapanyuk added ecstatically.
“26th Congress of the CPSU” is larger than “Pushkin”
“You can take a look at the largest stones of our collection over there,” Rybkin said and waved toward a nearby room. There was an air of nonchalance about the way he mentioned the “stones” lying inside a case made of bulletproof glass. The gems looked like assorted pebbles shimmering in the distance. “There’s the famed 26th Congress of the CPSU (the acronym stands for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – ed. note) diamond, the largest of all at the Fund. The stone was found in 1980. The Alexander Pushkin diamond was found in 1989, it’s a runner-up in terms of size. The Creator diamond is the latest entry in the Fund. In fact, we put it on display a few days ago. We got it from Yakutia last year,” Rybkin said.
“How much could it cost – one million dollars or maybe tens of millions?” was the question I couldn’t help asking.
“You can come up with any figure. The diamond has a value beyond all price,” Rybkin answered.
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