Black Legend returns to Moscow

The world's biggest diamond Karloff Noir is coming to Moscow for a one-day visit from France. The diamond will arrive for a special opening ceremony of Karloff Paris boutique on December 18th, 2003. The ceremony will be held in one of Moscow's most prestigious trade centers "Crocus City Mall." The diamond is insured for $37 million. It will be presented by Russia’s famous figure skater Marina Anisina, the official face of the Korloff Company.
  Karloff Noir is world's unique precious stone which according to the Guinness book of records is the biggest black diamond in the world. Its weight is 88 carats. It used to weight 421 carats before the cut. There do exist big black stones but of poorer quality and uncut. Their owners are simply too afraid to touch them and leave them as they are. The process of cutting can actually be rather risky. Black diamonds in particular are at high risk of breaking due to their complicated crystal grate structure. Jewelers claim that such diamonds can lose up to 90% of their original weight as a result of cutting.
 The sparkling Karloff Noir with 57 perfect edges constitutes Nature's greatest creation. This diamond serves as a special talisman for the Korloff Company.
In the 19th century, this precious stone belonged to several generations of the Russian family of Karloff-Sapozhnikov. In 1978, one famous French jeweler Daniel Pailacer became the diamond's owner. Today, this magnificent stone serves as an inexhaustible creative stimulus for creating various unique pieces for the Korloff collection. 

According to a legend, Karloff Noir brings luck and prosperity to whoever touches it. Not so many people managed to touch the diamond. Among the lucky ones are such famous people as composer and cello player Mstislav Rostropovich, tennis player Pete Sampras, chess players Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. Russian figure skater Alexey Yagudin has touched the diamond right before the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and won. Marina Anisina is also among the lucky ones to touch the diamond. She is the official face of the Karloff company. The famous figure skater will be an honorable guest at the opening ceremony of a new Korloff boutique. The opening ceremony is scheduled for December 18th, 2003. 
 
The diamond is insured for $37 million. As for the actual diamond’s price, Korloff considers it priceless. Tough security measures will be taken when transporting the stone from France to Russia. Korloff Noir will be transported on a special airplane accompanied by guards and several representatives of the Korloff Company. Afterward, the diamond will be delivered to Moscow's Crocus City Mall on a special bulletproof car. The entire ride will be observed from a helicopter.

During the actual exhibition, Korloff Noir will appear behind a bulletproof glass under a constant supervision of armed security guards.
The new owner of Koroloff boutique in Moscow Sergey Komarov states that despite the fact that the diamond will be protected by a bulletproof glass, people will be lucky to touch the stone with their eyes.  

Source: Cleo