Priceless Nizam jewels to be exhibited

new delhi: government has decided to exhibit the priceless jewels of nizam of hyderabad in the capital on august 29, official sources said on monday. the rare exhibition of the jewels, which arrived here amidst heavy security in the last week of june, is likely to be inaugurated by prime minister atal bihari vajpayee. the first visual presentation of the rare treasure to media will be made by minister for tourism and culture ananth kumar at a five star hotel here, the sources said.the jewels, brought on june 30 by a special indian air force flight and kept in the strongest vault of the reserve bank of india, will later be thrown open for public view, they said. the fabulous jewellery of the erstwhile nizam of hyderabad, acquired by the government from nizam jewellery trust for rs 2.18 billion in 1995, consists of 173 items, including 37 pieces of priceless value and antiquity. the collection has been rated by various international auctioneers as among the finest collections in the world. a decision on displaying the jewels to the public was taken by the cultural ministry after which the security agencies inspected the proposed venue of the exhibition, the sources said. the worth of the nizam's jewellery was estimated between rs 10 billion and rs 12 billion by some international auctioneers a decade ago. their present worth can be anywhere between $400-500 million. the collection includes jewelleries of rare beauty and quality like columbian emeralds of unique size and weight, jewellery which once formed part of the russian treasury, necklaces of emeralds, pearls, turban ornaments in emeralds and diamonds, gold belts with diamond-studded buckles, diamond studded sword sheaths, gold rings, nose rings, brooches, buttons, cuff-links, watches and gold bangles, they said. the priceless collection also includes the 184.75 carat uncut jacob's diamond, which is the third largest in the world, 22 partially cut unmounted emeralds, the diamond-set belt made in france by oscar massin pieres, the seven-stand necklace made up of 150 large and 230 small pearls with a two-diamond centrepiece and a pair of diamond and gold bracelets weighing 150 grams and studded with 270 villandi diamonds.