corundum, sapphire, Kashmir.12, India.12, gems

Describes an unusual engraved Kashmir sapphire weighing 6.175 ct and measuring 12.19 × 10.04 × 5.32 mm. The antique-cut stone has 32 crown facets, a thin girdle and a pavilion arranged in four groups of 16 facets. Its characteristic silk and microscopic inclusions establish its Kashmir origin. The engraving depicts a lion seated upon a crown and was produced with fine diamond points using non-rotating tools. The complexity of the design would have made the seal difficult to counterfeit, and evidence indicates that the sapphire was repeatedly used as an official seal. Diehl and Meng suggest that it may have belonged to an Indian ruling family, possibly Sikh, although neither its precise provenance nor its age could be established.