Sumith Prasad
In the fourth episode of Paramount+’s crime drama series ‘Sexy Beast,’ protagonists Gal Dove and Don Logan are introduced to the Eye of Bombay, a massive diamond that becomes their next target. The mysterious Roger Riley lets them know that Sir Stephen Eaton garnered the diamond, which seemingly has roots in the Indian city of Bombay (presently known as Mumbai), from South Africa. Riley expects Eaton to keep the diamond in an English private residence, giving the robbers a chance to steal it. Although the diamond appears to be authentic, like the Laotian fighter statue, it doesn’t have a real-life counterpart!
The Eye of Bombay is a Fictional Diamond
The Eye of Bombay is not a real diamond. It was conceived by Michael Caleo and his team of writers for the series. Like the diamond, Sir Stephen Eaton, the owner of the priceless possession, is also fictional. Having said that, the diamond does remind us of the controversial and prestigious Koh-i-Noor, one of the largest cut diamonds in the world. Koh-i-Noor is a part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, the ceremonial objects that belong to the royal family of Britain. The roots of both the diamonds can be traced back to India while their present owners are English.
Koh-i-Noor is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. The Eye of Bombay also has a distant connection to British royalty. The place where it will be safeguarded, Kensington, is a region with royal status. The most interesting similarity between the two diamonds is their connection with India. Koh-i-Noor was given to Queen Victoria after the British East India Company’s victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, which marked the fall of the Sikh Empire. Duleep Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, then gave the diamond to the Queen reportedly under the influence of Gulab Singh, the first Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, who once possessed the stone.
Both Koh-i-Noor and the Eye of Bombay have an oval shape. The two diamonds carry an unignorable resemblance as well. Thus, it is possible that the writers of the show were inspired by Koh-i-Noor or any similar diamond from India to create the Eye of Bombay. The possible connection with reality may not be accidental considering the Laotian fighter statue’s resemblance with the iconic Buddhist statues in Laos.
Read More: Are Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast TV Show?
