English: youtu.be/xIX46lc7qMA
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The large red stones found on the crowns of the Christian kings are spinels. This gem has long been confused with the ruby. ‘Balas Ruby’ is an old name used for the rose-tinted variety, originating from a distortion in linguistics from the region in which it comes from, «Badakhshan.» This region lies in the current Republic of Tajikistan, close to the Islamic republic of Afghanistan.

This film takes you into Central Asia; into a country not very well known, and you will live an extraordinary adventure!

After crossing through the countries’ rutted trails, the most poor and barren on the continent; after traveling through grandiose scenery, you arrive at the foot of a mine with a mythical name, «Kuh I Lal.»

No Westerner has ever penetrated this territory; long exploited by the Soviets, production was secretly transported to Moscow.

The galleries are excavated at a very high altitude here, so it is only possible for minors to work in the summer. These men live simply and harshly, in lower lying villages. They remain there all winter; snowed in, with watch dogs to protect them from the wolves’ attacks.

Since the fifth century, from generation to generation, miners have dug tunnels to find this gem, ranging in shades of pink to red. They use very old materials left by the Soviets when the Eastern bloc broke and they abandoned the country.

This mine has always been coveted by the powerful, already the forerunner of the great Mughals Timur, the lame also called Tamerlane in Samarkand burial (you can see the exhumation dating back from the year 40) had sent an army to protect “I Kuh Lal.”

Spinals found in Dushanbe are conveyed by road, under heavy protection. They actually go into a state bank to increase the Treasure of Tajikistan.

Over the centuries, they have enriched the treasury of the Shahs of Iran, the imperial crown of the Tsars, and the Queen of England; we also find the famous Treasury in France, called the «Côte de Bretagne».

Then, the jeweler Van Cleef opens the doors of their workshop to design, manufacture and to achieve a gorgeous pendant adorned with rose colored spinels.