Banjarmasin Diamond: War Booty from Borneo in Amsterdam.

The 38.23 ct Banjarmasin diamond in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam plays a questionable role in the history of the Dutch occupation of southern Borneo. Confiscated from the Sultanate of Banjarmasin, the original 70+ ct rough diamond arrived in the Netherlands in 1862. This marked the beginning of a 40-year-long political debate on the fate of this former piece of state regalia, as well as consideration of whether or not to cut and sell it. It was eventually faceted in 1870, but efforts to sell it were unsuccessful, and in 1902 it was finally transferred to the Rijksmuseum as a permanent loan from the Ministry of Colonies. Past publications have focused mainly on the colonial history of the diamond, and its properties have not been studied in detail until now. As one of the few large diamonds found in the alluvial deposits of Kalimantan, the results of this study contribute to the recognition of Borneo as an historically small but important diamond source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]