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Michael
and Lita Asscher
Royal Asscher Diamond Company Ltd.
Tolstraat 127
1074 VJ Amsterdam
These folks were outstanding in providing background information
concerning the Cullinan diamonds.
David V.
Thomas - Director, Crown Jeweler
Sophie Gordon, Curator, The Royal Photograph Collection
Royal Collection Picture Library
Stable Yard House
St James's Palace
London SW1A 1JR
Both Sophie and David provided fascinating details concerning the
Cullinan diamonds.
Jeff
Kaufman, Producer, Discovery Channel
Jeff was the
producer that gave me a call to enlist my services in making the
Discovery Channel program. He coordinated with the Smithsonian to
have the Hope unset, gave us the opportunity to perform real science to
research the Hope's origin, and provided new opportunities to expand my
research. I cannot thank him enough in opening many doors for me.
I am deeply indebted to him.
Jeff
Post, Curator, National Gem and Mineral Collection
Russell Feather, Manager, National Gem and Mineral Collection
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
How can you possibly acknowledge someone that has allowed you to handle
the unset Hope diamond? Without him and the backing of the Smithsonian,
the research into the Hope, French Blue, and Tavernier Blue, could not
have been as scientifically rigorous as it was. Russell assisted in not
just this particular project, but also in other administrative and
technical details related to it.
John Hatleberg
John provided some valuable insights during my initial research into the
Koh-I-Noor.
Michael
Hing
Mike works for the Diamond Trading Corporation in London. He has
actually handled the Sancy, and provided some valuable technical inputs
concerning the Sancy, Cullinan’s, and the Koh-I-Noor.
Royal
Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 2C6
Canada
The Museum staff was instrumental in providing information concerning
the Great Table, Darya-I-Nur, and Nur-Al-Ain diamonds
Pam de
Jong and the management of Coster Diamonds
Coster Diamonds B.V.
Paulus Potterstraat 2-8
1071 CZ Amsterdam
Over a period of two weeks, Pam coordinated the loaning of one of their
two glass models made around 1851 of the Koh-I-Noor diamond for study.
She also obtained permission from their management that this information
could be released.
Her
Majesty Shahbanou farah Pahlavi, Empress of Iran
Her Majesty sent her regrets concerning not having personal photos of
the Nur-al-Ain which was set in her wedding tiara, but she did provide
helpful suggestions for further contacts within Iran.
Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth of England
I
was pleasantly surprised by a response from Buckingham Palace concerning
a question of the Queen's Cullinan diamonds. The Palace Press Secretary
stated that the Queen had seen my request, but was unfortunately unable
to provide the needed information. I was further directed to the Crown
Jeweler. I thought that it was quite nice of the Queen to have read my
letter and provided a response through her staff.
Alan Hart, Collections Leader
and Curator, Mineralogy Department
Magdalena Witczyk, Customer Services
Natural
History Museum
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 5BD
UK
Magdalena was instrumental in assisting me in contacting Mr. Hart. It
was due to his efforts that the museum loaned one of their two original
copies of the plaster mold of the 186 carat version of the Koh-I-Noor for
study.
Dennis
Petimezas
Mr. Petimezas was
extremely helpful in providing information concerning his Black Orlov
diamond. We corresponded rather regularly over the course of a few
weeks, and he was a real pleasure to work with.
Museums and government organizations that I have contacted for current
projects:
Topkapi Sarayi
Sultanahmet, Eminonu
Istanbul, Turkey
This is the mailing address to the Topkapi Palace. I have been trying
to contact the curator there concerning important details about the
Spoonmaker’s diamond.
Kultur Bakanligi Anitlar ve Muzeler Genel Mudurlugu, II.
Meclis Binasi, 06100,
Ulus, Ankara, Turkey
This is the mailing address for researchers concerning Turkish
cultural research, being used as a method to contact the curator at the
Topkapi Palace.
Irina Polynina, Director
Almaznii Fond Rossiskoi Federatsii
Oruzheinaya Palata
Sadovaya Ploshchad
Moskovskii Kremlin
Moscow, Russia
This is the address for the Russian Diamond Fund. Contact is being
attempted to get high-quality photographs of the Orlov and Shah diamonds
for modeling.
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