- Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan Diamond is still the largest diamond of all time. Which weighed 3,106.75 carats. It was discovered on January 23, 1905 at the Premier No. 2 mine in Cullinan, South Africa. It was named after Thomas Cullinan, the mine’s chairman. In 1907, Cullinan was purchased by the Transvaal colony government, and presented by Prime Minister Louis Botha to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who cut it by Joseph Ascher & Co. of Amsterdam.
Cullinan produced stones of various cuts and sizes named by Cullinan I, Cullinan II, Cullinan III, Cullinan IV, Cullinan V, Cullinan VI, Cullinan VII, Cullinan VIII and Cullinan IX.
Cullinan I : It is largest piece of main Cullinan, weighing 530.2 carats (106.04 g) and has 74 facets. It is is still the largest clear cut diamond in the world. It is positioned at the summit of the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross which had to be rebuilt in 1910 to accommodate it.
St Edward’s Crown, and the sovereign’s orb, sceptres and ring , Owner –Elizabeth II in right of the Crown
Queen Mary wearing Cullinans I and II as a brooch on her chest, III as a pendant on the Coronation Necklace, and IV in the base of her crown,
Cullinan II : It is a cushion-cut brilliant with 66 facets weighing 317.4 carats (63.48 g) set in the front of the Imperial State Crown,[33] below the Black Prince’s Ruby (a large spinel). Like Cullinan I, it is held in place by a yellow gold enclosure on which the crown is attached. Sometimes It is called the Second Star of Africa.
The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the monarch.
Cullinan III : It is pear-cut weighing 94.4 carats (18.88 g). In 1911, on her coronation day, Queen Mary had it placed in a crown she bought for herself. Cullinans III and IV donned the Delhi Durbar Tiara in 1912, which Mary had worn in lieu of a crown at the Delhi Durbar, when her husband wore the Imperial Crown of India, the year before. A crystal replica of Cullinan III was put permanently on the crown in 1914. Elizabeth II wears Cullinan IV most often as a brooch. 6.5 cm (2.6 in) long and 2.4 cm (0.94 in) broad, the brooch measures in total 6. [43] As a pendant, Cullinan III has also been used on the Coronation Necklace, where it has periodically replaced the Lahore Diamond of 22,4 carats (4.48 g).
Queen Mary wearing Cullinans I and II as a brooch on her chest, III as a pendant on the Coronation Necklace, and IV in the base of her crown
Cullinan IV : Cullinans I and II are brooches on Queen Mary’s breast, III is a pendant on the Coronation Necklace, and IV is at the base of her crown, below the Koh-i-Noor. Cullinan IV, commonly known as a Lesser Star of Africa, is a square-cut diamond with a total weight of 63.6 carats (12.72 g). It was also placed in the base of Queen Mary’s Crown until 1914, when it was removed. While on a state visit to the Netherlands with Prince Philip in March 1958, Queen Elizabeth II disclosed that Cullinan III and IV are known in her family as “Granny’s Chips.” They went to the Asscher Diamond Company, which had cut Cullinan 50 years before. The Queen was wearing the brooch for the first time in public. During her visit, she unpinned the brooch and handed it over to Louis Asscher, Joseph Asscher’s nephew, who examined it and split the rough diamond. He was extremely affected that the Queen had brought the jewels with her, knowing how much seeing them again after so many years would mean to him.
Crown of Queen Mary (the consort crown) made for Mary of Teck in 1911.
Cullinan V : It’s an 18.8-carat (3.76-gram) heart-shaped diamond placed in the centre of a platinum brooch that was part of Queen Mary’s stomacher for the 1911 Delhi Durbar. The brooch is pavé-set with a border of lesser diamonds and was created to highlight Cullinan V. It may be used to suspend the VII pendant and can be suspended from the VIII brooch. Mary wore it like way all the time.
The Delhi Durbar of 1911, with King George V and Queen Mary seated upon the dais.
Cullinan VI : It is marquise-cut and weighs 11.5 carats (2.30 g).[33] It hangs from the brooch containing Cullinan VIII and forming part of the stomacher of the Delhi Durbar parure. Cullinan VI along with VIII can also be fitted together to make yet another brooch, surrounded by some 96 smaller diamonds. The design was created around the same time that the Cullinan V heart-shaped brooch was designed, both having a similar shape.
Delhi Durbar parure
Cullinan VII : It’s likewise marquise-cut and 8.8 carats in weight (1.76 g). It was initially awarded to Queen Alexandra, Edward VII’s wife and consort. She handed the stone to Queen Mary after his death, who had it placed as a pendant on the parure’s diamond-and-emerald Delhi Durbar necklace.Cullinan VIII.
Queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions; Empress consort of India
Cullinan VIII : It’s a 6.8-carat diamond with an oblong cut (1.36 g). [33] It is placed in the centre of a brooch that is part of the Delhi Durbar parure’s stomacher. It creates a brooch when combined with C.
Cullinan IX : It is the smallest of the major diamonds extracted from the Cullinan rough. It’s a pendeloque or stepped pear-cut stone that weighs 4.39 carats (0.878 g) and is placed in the Cullinan IX Ring, which is made of platinum.
- Sewelo Diamond: One of the largest Diamond
The name of this 1758 carat diamond is ‘Sewelo Diamond’, which means ‘rare find’. Famous fashion brand Louis Vuitton has started rubbing the world’s second largest uncut diamond (Sewelo Diamond) on the table. The diamond was discovered by Lucara Diamond Corp (diamond exploration and mining company) in Botswana. The diamond is 100 percent owned by the Karoye Mining Company. It is still the second largest uncut diamond in the world and the largest outside Botswana. Diamond exploration company Lucara Diamond Corporation found the world’s 1756-carat solo diamond at their mine in Botswana last year. According to the company, they have signed an agreement with Louis Vuitton and HB, the company working in the process of making Antwerp diamonds.
Sewelo Diamond
The diamond will be polished as per the agreement. However, it is unknown at this time what will be value after polishing the Diamond. The world’s second largest diamond is being added to the jewelry of Louis Vuitton, a French fashion house and luxury goods company.
Louis Vuitton at Champs-Elysées
However, it will still take the next few months to get complete information about the quality, structure, etc. of ‘Seylo Diamond’. It is not only for its large size, but also for its different colors and textures. Above this diamond is a thin layer of carbon that contains two billion years of ancient history.
In the last few years, huge diamonds have been found in various mines around the world. New instruments and technologies are being used in diamond mining. As a result, it is possible to collect these diamonds in perfect condition before they are broken.
- B.: However, this piece of diamond is not considered as it has not improved in terms of quality. This was why it was not enlisted in the rank of largest Diamond.
- Another two largest Diamond found in the month of June, 2021 within 12 days’ interval, Amazing rescuing
On Wednesday June 12, 2021, Canadian mining company Lucara reported that they rescued another diamonds from a mine in Botswana. The weight of the Diamond is 1174 carat which is the third largest diamond in the world till now. The diamond is being kept in the country’s cabinet in Gaborone, the country’s capital.
Nasim Lahri, managing director of Lucar’s company, said it was the third largest diamond in the world in terms of shape. Being able to extract the diamond is history for Botswana and their organization. The President of Africa welcomed the event. Botswana ranks 7th in the world out of 10 countries for large diamonds.
Two very large and bright diamonds were found in a mine in Botswana, an African country, last June. One of them is 1, 164 and the other is 1,098 carat diamond. At the interval of 12 days, two dazzling bright and large diamonds were collected from the same mine.
Several companies are looking for diamonds at the Karway mine in Botswana. The latest 1,174 carat diamond was collected by a company called Diamond in Lucerne, Canada. This diamond piece is claimed to be the second largest in the world in terms of size. The diamond, measuring 77x55x33mm, is described as a cleavage gem of variable quality with significant domains of high-quality white gem material, and was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the EM/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe.
The diamond was collected from the mine on June 12. Lukare Diamond, a Canadian company, handed over the diamond to the Botswana government at a ceremony on Wednesday. President of Botswana Mokguiesi Masisi was present at the handover ceremony.
The 1,096-carat diamond is seeing by the Bosnian president and first lady
- Lesedi La Rona :
The Lesedi La Rona is a colourless/white, type IIa diamond. It weighs 1,111 carats (222.2 g; 7.84 oz) and measures 65 mm × 56 mm × 40 mm (2.6 in × 2.2 in × 1.6 inThe Lesedi La Rona was mined using Large Diamond Recovery (“LDR”) XRT machines,[4] and is the biggest diamond ever recovered using diamond sorting equipment. They are thought that it is 2,5 billion years old.
About 200 m (660 ft) below the surface, it was discovered on 16 November 2015 in the South Lobe of the Karowe Mine and publicised on 18 November. Two additional diamonds weighing 813 and 374 carats (162.6 and 74.8 g) were discovered in the mine a day following the finding. The AK6 pipe has generated approximately 1,000,000 carats (200 kg) of diamonds since it was first opened 18 months ago.
The stone was too big for the company’s scanners.
The Lesedi La Rona in 2015
After the mine (Karowe) and pipe (AK6) where it was discovered, the diamond was given a generic name. On January 18, 2016, Lucara Diamond’s Chief Executive Officer William Lamb launched a competition to name the stone, which was available to all Botswana nationals. The winner would earn P25,000 (about $2,170) in addition to naming the diamond.
The stone was given the name Lesedi La Rona by Lucara Diamond on February 9, 2016, which means “Our Light” in Tswana. Thembani Moitlhobogi of Mmadikola was the winner of the competition to name the diamond. He explained that the name was chosen because “the diamond represents Botswana’s pride, brightness, and hope.” Lucara Diamond Corporation received 11,000 emails and 1,000 SMSs with name proposals throughout the competition.
- The Star of Sierra Leone
On February 14, 1972, the Diminco Mine in the Koidu region unearthed the Star of Sierra Leone, a beautiful 969-carat diamond. It is the world’s third-biggest gem-quality diamond and the world’s largest alluvial diamond. The Star of Sierra Leone is the most well-known diamond discovered in this region. The 620-carat “Sefadu” diamond, discovered in 1970, was the biggest gem-quality diamond ever unearthed in Sierra Leone not in the world.
The diamond is a colourless, glossy, and pellucid crystal, all of which are characteristics of the country’s excellent colourless diamonds. The dazzling quality of this huge crystal believed to have inspired the moniker Star of Sierra Leone. The rough diamond was an enormous colorless and transparent crystal, which was subsequently cut into 17 stones, 13 of which were flawless and “top-color”.
The diamond’s biggest stone was originally cut into an emerald-shaped stone measuring 143.2 carats, but it was defective. The stone had to be re-cut with a dramatic reduction in weight to eradicate the defects, resulting in a pear-shaped, colourless, and flawless 53.96 carat diamond.
Sierra Leone’s diamonds are known across the world for being among the best gem grade diamonds available. Diamonds are so clean and devoid of imperfections that some are referred to be “glasses,” meaning they are clear, translucent, and colourless. The Star of Sierra Leone diamonds are Type IIa diamonds, which are chemically pure (due to the absence of impurities such as nitrogen, boron, hydrogen, and other elements that can cause colour in diamonds) and structurally perfect (due to the absence of plastic distortions in the crystal, which can also impart rare fancy colours to the diamond) and structurally perfect (due to the absence of plastic distortions in the crystal, which can also impart rare fancy colours to the diamond).
On October 3, 1972, Sierra Leone’s then-President, Siaka Stevens, revealed that the Star of Sierra Leone had been acquired for under $2.5 million by Harry Winston, a New York City jeweller.