Cullinan, the largest diamond in the world, was found on January 26, 1905 in South Africa, at the Premier Mine, located 40 kilometers east of Pretoria. It weighed 3,106 carats (621.2 grams), which is twice the weight of any previously found diamonds. The gem is named after the owner of the diamond mine, Sir Thomas Cullinan.
Mine history
The kimberlite pipe was discovered by Thomas Cullinan in 1902 after years of unsuccessful search. Its development began in the next 1903.
The Cullinan diamond brought world fame to the mine. But in addition to it, 750 diamonds weighing over 100 carats and a quarter of all diamonds in the world weighing more than 400 carats were mined here.
Among those found at Premier Mine are famous gems such as Premier Rose (353 carats), Niarchos (426 carats), De Beers Centenary (599 carats) and Golden Jubilee Diamond (755 carats). The last stone was used to make the largest diamond to date, which adorns the crown of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.
The mine is still operating today. To celebrate its centenary, in November 2003, the mine was renamed the Cullinan Diamond Mine. The mine is now owned by the Petra Diamonds diamond mining group.
Currently, the mine is hardly the only significant source of rare and highly valuable blue diamonds in the world. Large stones continue to be found here. So in September 2009, a 507 carat white diamond was discovered, named "The Cullinann Heir".
The fate of the Cullinan diamond
The largest diamond found in November 1907 was presented as a birthday present to King Edward VII of England. According to legend, the king was not happy with the stone. I found it nondescript.
Soon the diamond was transferred for processing to a Dutch company headed by the famous jeweler Josef Asscher. It was not possible to turn it into one big diamond. There were barely noticeable cracks on the diamond.
They decided to split the stone. On the second attempt, the diamond was broken into two large parts and several small ones. The first part was used to make a teardrop-shaped diamond called "Cullinan I" or "Big Star of Africa". The diamond weighs 530.2 carats. This jewel was adorned with the royal scepter.
A quadrangular diamond weighing 317.4 carats was made from the second part. "Cullinan II" or as it is called in another way "The Second Star of Africa" is on the crown of British monarchs.
From the remaining parts, two more large diamonds were made, weighing 94, 4 and 63, 65 carats, respectively. Five medium and 96 small diamonds.
