The sapphires of Kashmir documentary of Patrick Voillot

in the high Himalayas legend has it that at the dawn of time this land was people with Giants one misty day they brazenly stole from the gods a piece of the velvety blue sky enraged the gods turned the Giants into mountains the highest in the world but in a very piece they forgot to reclaim their stolen possession thus were born the blue sapphires of Kashmir [Music] [Music] [Music] Driss Rajesh - I've been hired for just over 30 years in the early got started to fatherhood himself vampire in Boucheron for over 50 years mr. horner buyers rollers above all the world to find the finest precious stones that exist on the different world markets pastor the difficulty is that you should be finding the really high quality stones they're very confident what we call gemstones check and when I'm lucky enough to find the ones that we need to find jewelry pieces leaps yeah I get a feeling of satisfaction to focus more where DS in okay and I can say that I've had the opportunity to view the finest stones are from the Harris market for fine jewelry making you look at yo the Russell would Liberty a key on purpose is Phillip a safari follow-up organization [Music] we've always been attracted by the Indian season and particularly at the beginning of the last century only an LOI bucheron visited Jaipur met different Maharaja who then honored him with a visit to Bhushan in Paris the Paris treaty Sofia Vizier I arrived in with casket full of precious stones instructing us to make them the finest jewelry pieces possible a new shot round along edges a poorly prevail power your capacities dues I vote we've always had a fondness for sapphires if you squeeze a compromise it's blue is one of GU Shiraz represents the others but I have to admit that my own special favorite is the cashmere blue cashmere economic a doctor [Music] cashmere which produces the world's finest sapphires is the center of acute blood filaments when indo-pakistani armed conflicts render the mining of its gemstones extremely difficult an information about the mines nonexistent the inhabitants of Kashmir are predominantly Muslim while Hinduism is the main religion of India was 700 million followers that is 80 percent of the population [Music] after the first armed conflict a ceasefire was arranged on January 1st 1949 following which the region is divided into two a third was allocated to Pakistan as I and 2/3 to India Jammu and Kashmir since then kashmiris remains a source of antagonism between these two countries up until India's independence the regions were under the rule of the Maharajah's it's in Rajasthan in the seat of the Indian Prince's that a great number of stones arrived from Kashmir and other parts of the world great collectors of precious stones the Maharajah's will sumptuous palaces in which to house their treasures my name is Sanjay well as you can see I'm a jeweler and it was something that my father my grandfather all my ancestors were doing in India sometimes the men wore more jewelry than the women that's why there was a lot of jewelry here the Indians even today don't wear that many sapphires unless they're astrologer ask them but I do happen to have a nice collection of old sapphires which these days most of the mines in Kashmir are closed if some stones do come out by private mining somewhere in the mountains there are only small stones I don't think there are many big stones left in those mines there are only two access routes to the mines that produce the world's finest sapphires by at least one is no longer possible at the moment as the region has been sealed off by the army due to the presence of Muslim guerrilla activity after a 13 hour journey between leh and Kargil we reached the one remaining access the valley of Zen scar which stretches over 320 kilometres at an average altitude of 4,000 metres the only stop off point between padam the ancient capital of Zanskar is the small town of and you have to go there from here this I think maybe one in Hope days I think how many days yeah one in Hope one enough that it is not the dryer you know so because you have you have to go you know my food yeah yeah but some people find suffer in this place now maybe maybe it's possible yeah continues ascension through arid rocky hillside Tappan Zee La Paz situated in about two to four thousand four hundred meters this pass is the real game of disaster we wait Himalayas is the highest inhabited region the valley is cut off by snow for people once of the year in January the frozen river enables a passage through to the top numerous and Ascari's undertake a perilous six-day journey over the ice in order to sell their butter and [Music] [Music] I know the one mama who already been switch out many times so I maybe if he was doing this was asleep he want to go to sunshine somebody save me you know very well is this place you can nail free to go in such a manner of Kashmir the Buddhist monks of this region the lamas know these mountains very well they come here to collect votive offerings for Buddha and these include sapphires I will do something and he will pay a visit to suffer taking a hundred and twenty kilometer trek across the great hannelius braving the cold the altitude to the toilets in order to reach the hamlet of some Chow and Kashmir as a tough journey even for the most experienced Mountain dwellers I go in communist elite 29-yard before I make mama sister my eyes in element now is 14 and to go we in this way how many days we can arrive in 40 the lamas and traders assisted by yaks set off in small expedition groups to brave the dangers of the mountain crossing this monastery name is dong geul monastery the foundation is not openness torino yeah it's 7:27 center area during the winter it's very cold there yeah very cold very soon knowing and very windy here or money the money during the journey the llama tsunami weather changes very quickly and this is one of the worst danger he's made this course in the freezing sheltering behind a rock when you ask him if he thought his last ever sitcom he replies it's my car [Music] sometime people begin to suffer and after change result in the scar yeah sardine suffered same standard st. yeah but simple olive oil yeah my grandfather his father also his Noah Satori he tell me his temp change in Safari insult but salt is very expensive he decides not son mrs. Holley's come to jump down [Music] after an arduous 3 day trek there now remains the formidable uma sila passed across situated at an altitude of 5,000 300 metres it's one of the most difficult in the entire and Leia's the only way to get to it is by crossing several glaciers in the 19th century general zoravar singh was sent out by the raja of the Jamuna blood to subdue her as and scar he and his men had to cross the pass 25 of them perish from a Nicole and 10 others lost their hands and feet at the summit is a small shrine decorated with prayer flags called wind horses tradition requires that when crossing the pass for the first time the traveler must make a small symbol [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the trek isn't over yet the most dangerous part is still to come to other particularly formidable glaciers filled with crevasses dozens of meters deep and still to be crossed invisible under the snow they become lethal tracks the men don't rope up as Buddhists they consider that if they fall in one of these crevasses it's once again their Karma finally after kilometres of squeeze and descents into the glacial moraines the Green Valley of samyama appears within view the contrast between the desert like landscapes the Zanskar Valley and the fertile soils of Kashmir is striking [Music] the village of boots Waze is a few kilometers away from the mines the inhabitants are Buddhists like the majority of people in this region they make their living wearing shrimp boats and yaks exchanging highlights world and butter lovers for serious spices sugar tea as word is scarce in this region and is often used for fuel and can be seen drawing on the rules of the houses whenever sapphires are mentioned the villagers have weak embarrassed up there there are only Muslims including the police who supervise the mines [Music] the village of zoom charm is at an altitude of 3,200 meters the mines overlook it they are guarded by a police post stationed halfway up the slope these men live in harsh conditions in order to prevent entry to the mine [Music] and how many time do stain into my six months and how many people work in this my company 111 and this is a work for company company Oh for me yeah open for the gym company constricted Indian earring Steadman an hour's climb further up other policemen chilled to the bone by the cold and the altitude guard the Sapphire mines lost in the clouds the mining team is made up of 12 miners to geologists and a foreman all effectively Muslim at an altitude of 4,500 meters these only at a slow down pace [Music] [Music] when a us beginning of words or walk this mind before independence before independence the British people have altered all of this idea and after that the left yeah and they find a lot of stone and you do not know in my file which is already collapsing now we are operating that about seven - seven - eight - already these have already been work with but is where we know we are representing here in this area now ya know it is this my number for this area what is the last big storm you find and good quality as per the record it has been perhaps 20 grams to 22 grams now you don't find good stone no still notebooks this is the pocket at van and which you confront crystals of term turn Melinda's black it's an 1881 that the existence of sapphires in this region was first reported the story goes that in ancient times a group of men with red beards found some blue gemstones exposed by a landslide in the hills of Kashmir these men had come from Afghanistan as part of a mule caravan on its way to Delhi he's converted into the Porter has got to convert it into the portal and crystals are formed in this oxygen and titanium give it its blue color several million years ago the liquid surge ended between a pegmatite and a rock derived from the Earth's mantle it altered them to finally obtain a white clay like rock Kyla night during its passage the liquid became enriched with aluminum iron and titanium these different elements combined and deposited to form sapphires the oxygen difficult work in these mines well compressor blasting blasting after blasting we make a raid like they like and off the debt whenever we found this order choline we brought it outside and wash it after washing we found some crystals in it do television gets deflect off washing it gets reflected and we pick up these crystals like in winter the people can easily walk on ice you cannot see lips he doesn't get slip it's made of grass they can easily walk with this it doesn't get we understand the discretion of the local villagers who come here to search for sapphires in the winter by paying a bribe of 100 rupees per man per day to the policemen who guard the snow-covered mine during that English people time working inside and they're brought for persons and they are brought full of full vessels of this sapphire and during that way some rock falls and persons Keplerian inside I ran inside and one came alive with crystal full vessel full of acid and three are still inside and still we are not knowing the direction in a direction they are still we are prospecting this mine and hope but the company J&K minerals works these mines for the government of Kashmir unfortunately very few stones reach their official destination the Indian managers think that these mines are exhausted and aren't producing anymore while the registers record the discovery of dozens of grams per day some of them tell us that in order to mine and transport the stones and total safety a commission is made to the local guerrillas great many of the stones are believed to disappear the outside the official circuit by Baker yes because along with Scottie is the most long way by food such one mine yes yes I'm here mines up Bradley yes because I suppose a little dangerous to me very scary guy Nelson never you have some problem with this transport no nobody [Music] the Lama sanam that keeps a low profile on the mine site he's come here to find sapphires for votive offerings but up at the mine open selling isn't done and the Muslims don't make offerings to Buddhists sanam goes to the local villagers who gather their stock of sapphires in the winter months in the greatest secrecy as these practices are punishable by law Judy Fatiha yeah some sapphires are white as they are covered with kayo tonight the Lama takes out like a precious treasure the different stones that have been given to him is offerings for Buddha yeah [Music] the Lama takes out like a precious treasure the different stones that have been given to him is offerings for Buddha he knows this region very well as part of his family used to live here it's time to go back design scar as the zone isn't safe it's dangerous to remain too long in the same place it's for this reason that for both the outward and return journey the group walks for 15 to 16 hours a day the porters are exhausted to transport his stones every two weeks the mine policeman across the valley that leads to cached water in the severest Silver's they walk a distance of around 60 kilometers and safety alongside the rivers with Nala then Sheena a vehicle will finally transport the studies of the official state production - running the torrents crossed on foot arrived directly from glaciers the water is freezing and the men whose feet are numb from the cold and unsteady on the stones risk being swept away by the current these Hardy mountain people can carry up to 50 kilos on their backs at breathtaking altitudes directly exposed to the sun's rays their skin is 10 almost dark brown to avoid sunburn and they smear butter on their faces which they then cover with soil the border system is still very widely used in this region of the world sure what's just a fireman so you want to see them yes we want to see them what do you think of my sapphires give any money if it's facility give me a yak for this one we don't have much money yeah well give me some yaks for that one of the money for the other one Thank You axe for that one that's not right why not yaks were 30,000 Jack's were 30,000 rupees Kondo many year before maybe 1,500 a year before some people bring to suffer and donation to monastery and every monastery casa burdens and register to moving inside foot in safar correct also in tsofen in PA put inside sometimes in Safari make bottle then after making [Music] [Music] these and scary families save up their rupees to send a member of the family to buy a Buddhist statue it will only become venerable and sacred after having undergone a consecration ceremony performed by the monks the lamas place an offering inside it which can be a sapphire the elaborate head where called a purakh that the Buddha's women wear can contain up to two hundred turquoise stones from China these stones are much less rare than the Sapphire the purakh weighs around three kilos and is passed down by the mother to her eldest daughter on her wedding day each generation one or more stones are added to it depending on the family's wealth the purakh is believed group and introduced by the wife of a king princess of a neighboring state where this form of headwear was in fashioned at the monastery the most frequently organised ceremonies for the filling of the Buddha statue this monastery houses a hundred and seventy monks who belong to the Lama istic order galoot parkour yellow caps because of their headwear Yogi's up but these ceremony last several days the month the right man comes and strips of paper which they then rowlocks they make around 500 of these mantra robes good from angry the hamlet which are called zoom [Applause] they fill the Buddha statue with juniper then had cloves cinnamon saffron and quartz they then add white and black sandal and finally the Sapphire wrapped in a piece of orange cloth [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] in Rajasthan the maze of small streets of the ancient time enjoyed pool our fabulous country [Music] some of them offer stones of a blue color similar to that of the Sapphire but in reality it's cyanide a natural gem but of little value and with very weak hardness its color when inclusions can take in the most experience the most ancient and busy market of the pink city is also an international trade center for precious stones stones and jewellery are one of India's main export products [Music] because in the Kashmir sapphire you'll find more indigo more bluish unit but which is the one which is from Thailand you find more green in it but the cash payment you will find like totally a blue shade in it 50 was the price proposed by t2 in his gem store Vishnu gems at Jaipur is ridiculously low given that a Kashmir sapphire can be worth tens of thousands of dollars the carat it's extremely difficult to find a real Kashmir sapphire at the Indian gem stores the dealers sometimes give this appellation to artificially enhanced sapphires originating from a completely different locale the pear-shaped stone has been heat treated at 1700 degrees centigrade iron and titanium are added to coloreds faces placed in glycerin the pear-shaped stone reveals its dark blue contours a sign of heat treatment the round stone on the other hand has lighter blue contours it hasn't been heat treated it's in Delhi what about the gem stores of the sundar Nagar market that the rough Kashmir gemstones have been arriving for generations because if there is a point one color rest is all white what red colour will spare another one donkey to people are you with this type of and they say we are coming from Jammu Kashmir and this is precious stones nobody believed my great father given whether he understand he is just immediately saw and he think that this is a sapphire all jewelers so they will know that why he's taking so he say that I have a basement in my house and there are so many mosquitoes so one thing is coming like this type if you put it in here the mosquitoes the mosquitoes will go so he say I am taking for this season you didn't say that this is sapphire there is Elgin everybody will come but that broker under strain he say is not going to pay for mosquitoes and then we cut it from this workman the same workman which is know is an old one and then when the stones coming so nice one one stone is coming forty thousand rupees you know Delhi Shapira has been cutting Kashmir sapphires for fifty years he explains that it's the most difficult stone to cut the color has to be localized then the stone faceted in such a way is to bring out the velvety blue luster his grandfather cut some exceptional stones in the last century some rough stones were as big as ten centimeters in size and weight dozens of grams in 15 Spanish and from the beginning he bought with his father and after the death of his father he independently work which is also involved in this work perfectly in this suffice his perfection suffice but she can cut and it Albert Ramsey recounts in 1934 in India my eyes have been dazzled by such jewels as never have been seen in the Western world when I was last in the Srinagar Palace of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir 30 trays were brought before me and I can say that any one tray sent to market would fetch a million dollars in the afternoon he had shown me his sapphires and told me the story they were doctor Karan Singh is the descendant of this Maharaja and he was Maharaja and they were worked and some of the best sapphires of the world came from Kashmir there was a very special there a lighter color than the than the other sapphires you know they are very beautiful but for some reason in our family we didn't really use my father did have some sapphires but he never wore a sefar there is I think a superstition if you like or a belief that unless your stars are suited to a sapphire it can have a negative effect and so a lot of people don't wear sapphires stars and planets have an influence on a person's life the child's birth it's important to see what which I know who anyone yeah as well as the planets the stars also there were nine cosmic deities Sun the moon Rahu Ketu me mercury Jupiter Venus and each one has its corresponding in order to appease these deities determine which is Saturn in particular represents its influence lasts years or cinnamon this time the person has the oppression Saturn is unsettling him that's why there's a specific remedy from this period of T half years seven and a half years you have to wear a precious stone sapphire [Music] first you have to wrap it in a blue cloth or preschool and wrapping it in the crop either cloth around your arm or your wrist burn incense and your watch if the precious stone is beneficial to you then will rapidly notice a positive [Music] [Music] five and a quarter right teeth yes saw a bunch of Athena five and a quarter RT how much is that it's 200 rupees or at T never wear it directly against your skin it can cause a lot of harm if it suits the person it would be perfect for him pantheon of Hindu deities precious stones obviously have their place all are born from the unique God who at the beginning of time rule over the universe vanquished by the evil spirit the God who was nameless died in combat in order to disperse his power the spirits cut up his body and threw the pieces to the four corners his blood gave birth to the Ruby his teeth became pearls his eyes are the ancestors of sapphires and emeralds and his skin cut up into thousands of strips became the origin of the diamond thanks to this divine ancestry each precious stone has magical properties some gives strength and power like the diamonds with mothers who can have a bad influence but like the Sapphire which in India is considered a sorrowing stone India has always imported enormous quantities of gold this medal is sacred for the Hindus who traditionally refused to set precious stones in another less noble metal precious stones are considered to be a gift from the gods for 5,000 years the Indians have had a passion for jewels today some jewelers like amrapali collect ancient jewels to resell them to a new aristocracy India is believed to possess the largest unofficial gold reserve in the world it is comprised for the most part of the yellow gold jewels of 22 and 24 [Music] this is sapphire yo you suppose that's but Lucifer I'm not sure because I think it might not be good for me it's beautiful it's very nice ID to check with my horse over vigil suit that's beautiful sapphire [Music] you have a picnic for your sister in the beginning as fetishes and it was a secondary factor in the choice of precious stones stones are considered as powerful agents capable of diffusing [Music] Sanjay Kozlov on Venus two brothers are the descendants of three generations of jewelers for the Maharajah's today it's Sanjay who buys their jewels and luxury possessions it's just my hobby tomorrow's worth the biggest buyers for cars in 1920 1930 in 1940 that card is from 1933 this is a Cadillac from 56 this is Packard the very first air-conditioned cars made in the world in 1941 [Music] when they come from the lines this is the shape they are in [Music] the RUF is on selected according to quality and shape and then from here it goes professor Sanjay's store the gem palace has been in existence since 1852 since this date a great number of important personalities have come here Sanjay doesn't only sell collection jewelry pieces his gem cutters also cut gems that come from all over the world they will be set in modern jewelry pieces of his own creation today the stones that arrived in Jaipur are far from being of the same quality as those that used to be bought in great quantities by the maharaja sanjay owns several kilos of Kashmir sapphires they are ancient stones that used to belong to the Maharajah's very often these princes on the advice of their astrologers procured stones for themselves that would be beneficial to them to find the right stones they would sometimes by over a thousand these are some old cash many sapphires this stone is a very nice stone but it is an old cut so it is very irregular now what I will do is I will make the shape mode regular losing some weight of course but the value of the stone will increase [Music] was the pieces made in gold then you set the stops jeweler's to the Maharaja of Jaipur and other aristocracy of India and in the olden days they were the main clients and they were you know in 1947 1947 India became independent and then it was made at a public and the Maharaja has lost all their power so before they were collecting taxes and then they had to pay taxes so the story changed that's when they started selling especially in the last few years I've been able to get a lot of nice old Indian pieces some of them were made by my family quite a few generations ago and now I keep buying from them whenever I see something interesting is for example this is a gold plate this is all solid gold as you can see and this side was all enamel which were all natural colors sometimes made with crushed stones and they were all set with diamonds [Music] nowadays we say you know you are born with a silver spoon the marathas were born with a golden spoon there is one particular sapphire that I'd like to show you which is this Kashmir sapphire which is 43 carats now that for a Kashmir sapphire is a very rare size there are two old sapphires from two different mines this one is from the Burmese mines and this is from the Kashmir mines and as you can see both being beautiful stones the one from the Kashmir mine has a more pleasant blue color it has what we call the cornflower blue which is what we are looking for in a sapphire most of the managers they were collecting for many many generations you know some families have been there from 900 AD there are some families which is the like the family of Ruth Apple which is one of the oldest they say they have been in power for the last twelve hundred years and and they always collected so it only increased it's only in the last thirty years that they started selling and as I said they have they have bags and bags of stones most of the time they don't even know you know what's in all the bags that they have today Kashmir is once again closing its door on the most beautiful sapphires in the world a curse or simply fate [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Voillot Patrick

Views: 369,313

Rating: 4.7722721 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, gemmologist, sapphire, diamonds, diamond, saphir, saphirs, gemstone, precious stones, gemmology, patrick voillot, pierre précieuse, pierres précieuses, jewelry, stone, movie, tv, frenchtv, jeweler, prices, million dollars, Jammu Kashmir, dangerous regions, India, Pakistan, high mountains, velvet color, expedition, mine, mining, High Himalayas, yaks, Zanskar Valley, Cashmere, Padder, Sumchan, geologist, guerrillas, Buddhist, temple of Karsha, cutting, Maharajas, Gem Palace, Place Vendôme, Boucheron

Id: JWVgWxltAxQ

Length: 52min 23sec (3143 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 11 2019