In gemstone history, there may be only a few names that sparkle as much as the Star of Bombay. The Start of Bombay is a deep violet-blue sapphire mined from Sri Lanka. With a weight of almost 182 carats, this star sapphire was loved for its captivating brilliance, but also for its mystique from the East.
The prized possession
The stone came into the hands of the West in the early 1900s and eventually became a prized possession belonging to Mary Pickford, the Canadian-American silent film star.
It is believed to have been a gift from her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, possibly to invoke the romantic mystique of India, which would have lingered in the Western imagination.
After Mary Pickford passed away in 1979, she bequeathed the stone to the Smithsonian Institution, where it still resides.
From gem to gin!
When English wine-merchant International Distillers & Vintners launched Bombay Sapphire gin in 1986, it took the name and the packaging from the famous gem. Since, gin and tonic was popular among the Royal Indian Armed Forces during the British Colonial rule, the naming of the gin drew inspiration from India.
While the first part 'Bombay' in the names of the brand came from western Indian city of Bombay (now called Mumbai), the second part 'Sapphire' referred to the violet-blue sapphire from British Ceylon (non Sri Lanka).
Not only the name, the packaging of the gin also drew insipration from the spphire. The blue, translucent bottle and royal branding were meant to exude the jewel's beauty and the exotic, colonial aura of Bombay (now Mumbai). In this way, the Star of Bombay would achieve a different kind of immortality on a bartender's shelf.
Bombay Sapphire: The change of hands
Since its launch, the brand has changed hand a couple of times. Today, it is distilled by the Bombay Spirits Company at Laverstoke Mill in the English county of Hampshire. The Bombay Spirits Company is a subsidiary company of global aloc-bev giant, Bacardi. The Bermuda headquartred alco-bev giant bought Bombay Sapphire from Diageo in 1997.
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