[2] According to one legend, a French soldier who had deserted during the Carnatic wars in Srirangam disguised himself as a Hindu convert in order to steal it in 1747, when it served as the eye of a temple deity Sriranganathar.

[5] Shaffrass, an Iranian millionaire who then owned the diamond,[6] found an eager buyer in Hovhannes Lazarian who acted on behalf of Count Grigory Grigorievich Orlov.

Their relationship carried on for many years and produced an illegitimate child, but Catherine eventually forsook Count Orlov for Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin.

Count Orlov was said to have tried to rekindle their romance by offering her the diamond, as it is said he knew she had wished for it.

[citation needed]Lord Twining's book A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe mentions how once, during a circa 1913 inspection of the crown jewels by the curator, the stone accidentally fell out of its sceptre.