In 1922 this collection was officially named the RSFSR Diamond Fund, and in 1924, after the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, it was renamed the USSR Diamond Fund.
New uses for diamonds were found in the 20th century, the century of swift industrial development and scientific and technological progress. These super-hard stones have become vital for intricate technical problems, the diamond becoming a symbol of technical progress and a major means of increasing labour productivity.
The development of most branches of modern industry, including metal-working, machine-building, mining and precision mechanics, is inconceivable without the use of diamonds. To a large extent this explains the desire of all industrially developed countries to enlarge their stocks of diamonds. At one time diamonds were on the list of strategic goods whose sale to the USSR was prohibited. This was an attempt to induce a diamond shortage in the Soviet Union and hinder its technical progress. As in many other cases, this attemt of the imperialist monopolies to hold up Soviet economic development fell flat.
The constant concern of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government to promote the rapid industrial growth of the Soviet Union made possible to tap its mineral wealth.
In face of extremely difficult natural conditions Soviet geologists discovered diamond deposits in Siberia, thus making the Soviet Union a diamond producer.
The whole world has heard of the discovery of the Mir, Udachnaya and Aikhal diamond pipes in Yakutia, and of the appearance of the town of Mirny, capital of the Soviet Union's diamond-bearing region.
The output of diamonds in the Soviet Union has made it possible to increase the output and utilization of diamond-tipped instruments. Soviet industry stopped being dependent on the import of diamonds.
Today large numbers of big and unique diamonds found in the Soviet Union are flowing steadily into the USSR Diamond Fund. Some of the diamonds on display at the Exhibition have been given names that tell the history of their discovery.
The diamonds Voskhod (Sunrise) and Valentina Tereshkova were found during the days when Soviet cosmonauts were accomplishing breath-taking flights in outer space. Two other diamonds, called Oktyabrsky and Komsomolsky were found by Komsomol members. The diamond Zlata Praha was found on the anniversary of Prague's liberation from the nazi invaders. Pokorenny (Harnessed) Vilyui was named after a Russian river and those who tamed its cold waters. Sulus in Yakutian means a star, while Luchezarny (Radiant) mirrors the bright Siberia sun.
Soviet scientists are in the forefront in evolving the science treating of diamonds. The Soviet theory of the origin of diamonds has been confirmed by geological work in the field. The Siberian deposits were the first to be discovered not accidentally but on the basis of a scientific forecast with the utilization of new geological methods. Moreover, Soviet scientists have resolved the problem of producing superior synthetic diamonds, which are being used in industry on a growing scale.
A scientific system of grading has been developed to make it possible correctly to assess diamonds and determine the sphere where they can be used with the greatest effect, and an industry of preliminary processing of diamonds has been built to improve the quality of low-grade diamonds and utilize them more effectively.
An up-to-date diamond industry resting on extensive resources has been built in the Soviet Union within an exceedingly short span of time. Soviet jewellers are able to give diamonds the most diverse shapes and types of facets. Soviet brilliants satisfy the highest modern requirements and are in great demand in the Soviet Union and abroad. Soviet-made jewelry is represented in this album by reproductions of objects of precious metals inlaid with gems.
Besides, the album contains reproductions of exhibits from the world's rarest collection of gold and platinum nuggets.
This collection is of exceptional scientific interest because it consists of nuggets found in the Soviet Union over a period of many decades. With the exception of a small number, they were found after the Revolution. They include the famous Big Triangle (36 kilos - the largest in the world), the Big Tyelginsky (14 kilos) and the curiously-shaped Camel, Rabbit's Ears and Mephistopheles, in which nature vies in expression with works of art.
It will be no exaggeration to say that no national collection of gold nuggets has such a rich diversity of structural and crystalline formations as the Soviet State Collection.
Large platinum nuggets, which occur very rarely, are shown in the album. During the early years after the Revolution, the Western press, whiteguard newspapers in particular, began spreading the rumour that the Bolsheviks were plundering Russian crown jewels. The purpose of this rumour was to make people throughout the world believe that the Bolsheviks were barbarians and that the Revolution was wreaking havoc in the country. But led by the Bolshevik Party, the people, who overthrew the capitalists and landlords and took power into their own hands, not only safeguarded historic treasures but also created other, more valuable treasures despite the economic dislocation caused by the Civil War and the foreign intervention.
In reply to anti-Soviet propaganda, the crown jewels of the former Russian tsars were, on instruction from Lenin personally, put on public display in the Hall of Columns at the House of Trade Unions in Moscow in 1924. In the fifties when the discovery of diamonds in Siberia was reported, the foreign press wrote that Russian diamonds would appear in the world market not earlier than in the 21st century, because these diamond deposits were situated in remote uninhabited places thousands of kilometres distant from industrial centres and railways.
But what had seemed to be unrealistic was translated into reality: Led by the Communist Party and the Soviet Government the Soviet people scored yet another victory, creating a modern diamond-mining industry on the Pole of Cold. The development of these deposits is a major scientific victory and a great achievement, which put an end to the diamond monopoly of the capitalist countries. The Soviet Union began mining diamonds and selling them in the world market not in the 21st century but only a few years after the bucket of an excavator scooped up its first load of virgin land in Siberia. The land gave its wealth to the people, to its real master. The infinite number of sparkling crystals in the USSR Diamond Fund, like the other achievements of the Soviet Union, reflect the dedicated labour of Soviet people and their constant striving to do everything in their power to promote the happiness and prosperity of their country.
LE FONDS DIAMANTAIRE DE L'URSSse classe parmi les plus importantes collections de pierres precieuses et d'articles de joaillerie du monde. La plupart de ses pieces sont uniques en leur genre et ont done une immense valeur historique, artistique et materielle.
L'Exposition du Fonds diamantaire de l'URSS, qui tut ouverte a l'occasion du cinquantieme anniversaire du pouvoir des Soviets, presente celles de ses pieces qui sont les plus remarquables au point de vue historique et artistique, et qui rendent particulierement bien le caractere et la variete etonnante de cette collection.
Le Fonds diamantaire de l'URSS rassemble des pieces a valeur historique: pierres precieuses, articles de pierrerie, objets de ceremonie des tsars, qui, apres la Revolution d'Octobre 1917, sont devenus a juste titre la propriete du peuple sovietique.
Dans les annees qui suivirent l'instauration du pouvoir des Soviets, le Fonds diamantaire s'est non seulement conserve, mais s'est merae enrichi de fagon sensible. II a acquis des pieces particulierement remarquables en metaux precieux et pierreries, ainsi qu'un grand nombre de diamants uniques provenant de gisements sovietiques.