On March 13, 1920, a customs officer in Helsinki discovered a mysterious man hiding in the coal bunker of a Swedish cargo ship. The man, claiming to be “Jim Gormley,” spoke no Finnish or Swedish and carried multiple passports, cash in various currencies, and over 100 hidden diamonds. He turned out to be none other than John Reed, the American journalist famous for Ten Days That Shook the World, and a close friend of Lenin and Trotsky.
🔒 Reed was arrested, but after political pressure from Russia threatening Finnish citizens, he was let off with a fine for smuggling and returned to Petrograd. The diamonds were confiscated — their original owner never identified.
🇷🇺 Before the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, Russia was a major consumer and an even bigger producer of jewelry, home to legendary houses like Fabergé and Grachev Brothers. Dozens of firms held royal warrants, showcasing their dominance in global luxury.
But the revolution changed everything. Under Lenin’s slogan “Loot the loot!” the Communists confiscated jewelry from aristocrats, churches, even scholars like Nobel laureate Ivan Pavlov — whose Nobel medal was stolen. Many treasures went to private pockets, while others funded the revolution or were set aside for leaders’ "insurance" abroad.
💼 According to Jacob Reich (aka “Comrade Thomas”), Lenin personally ordered him to “take as much as needed.” Reich received a suitcase full of diamonds and used them to acquire estates across Europe and travel by private plane — unimaginable wealth for the average 1920s European.
🧳 These jewels came from the Cheka’s secret stockpile and were used by many Communist elites. Zinoviev, Sverdlov, and Trotsky all smuggled out treasures. Trotsky even funded the Fourth International with looted gems. Lenin himself had foreign bank accounts managed by Krasin.
💥 The diamond flood devastated global markets. In 1917, world production was 3.7 million carats. By 1922, it had dropped to 1.4 million — a 38% crash. De Beers accused the Comintern of collapsing the market and begged for a syndicate to stabilize prices.
Eventually, through ARCOS (London), over 11 million carats of diamonds were sold — a staggering volume compared to global output. Even De Beers’ Ernest Oppenheimer visited Moscow to buy directly from Soviet officials.
This massive theft wasn't just about jewels — it was a dark turning point. Bankers, auction houses, writers, and elites all joined the secret trade, blinded by the sparkle from "Ilyich’s pantry" — the Soviet diamond stash.
📜 In one telling note, a Comintern manager wrote to Elena Stasova:
“We need leather for linings to hide valuables, mainly diamonds. We now have a reliable courier.”
That courier? None other than Harvard-educated John Reed. And the diamonds? Gone, glittering into history’s shadows.