7 largest diamonds in the world

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

June 30, 1893 in South Africa found the purest bluish-white diamond "Excelsior" weighing 995 carats. This "cobblestone" weighed almost two hundred grams! Such a giant stone would look too bulky even in the royal scepter, so it had to be divided into 11 parts, each of which, in turn, cost fabulous money. We've collected stories and photographs of the seven largest diamonds in history.

Cullinan

The Cullinan diamond is recognized as the largest in the world. The mass of the crystal found in South Africa back in 1905 was 3106, 75 carats. It was impossible to cut the mineral in this form, since cracks were revealed inside it. The best grinder of those times, Josef Assker, was entrusted to "open" the stone along the already existing thinnest lines. The jeweler studied the Cullinan for several months. And then he put a chisel to the chosen place on the diamond, hit and lost consciousness from nervous tension. Fortunately, the excitement did not affect Assker's skill: the place of impact was chosen perfectly, and the stones turned out to be beautiful: 2 large, 7 medium and 96 small diamonds. The weight of all cut stones was 1063.65 carats.

Today, the two largest of them adorn the scepter and crown of the Queen of Great Britain.

Excelsior

An African aborigine was lucky to find a crystal weighing 995.2 carats.

This diamond was discovered in what is now South Africa in 1893. An African aborigine who worked in a mine in search of a diamond-bearing rock was lucky to find a crystal of an excellent bluish hue weighing 995.2 carats. The worker noticed the bright shine of the mineral and secretly, bypassing the overseers, took the treasure directly to the manager of the company. He turned out to be a generous man - he rewarded the prospector with a horse and harness and five hundred pounds sterling. It was the manager who gave the stone the name "Excelsior". Subsequently, the crystal came to the disposal of the Asher firm, where in 1904 it was divided into several parts. A total of 11 diamonds were obtained, which accounted for 37.5% of the original weight of the mineral. They were sold out one at a time.

Star of Sierra Leone

The crystal weighing 968, 96 carats was found in Sierra Leone in 1972. Research has shown that the "find" belongs to the category of the most valuable and rare colorless diamonds. Almost immediately, the crystal was sold to Harry Winston (New York, USA) for $ 2.5 million. The stone was cut by the third generation jeweler Lazar Kaplan, who had been preparing for this work for a whole year. The process of cutting the crystal was broadcast on the national channels of America. As a result, 17 stones of "pure water" were born, the largest of which weighs 153, 96 carats.

Six diamonds were inlaid in a brooch called the Star of Sierra Leone.

Great Mogul

The stone was supposed to take the shape of a "rose" in the skillful hands of the Venetian Hortensio Borgis.

According to legend, a crystal weighing almost 800 carats was discovered in India back in 1650. The stone was supposed to get the shape of a "rose" in the skillful hands of the Venetian Hortensio Borgis, but he coped with the task far from brilliantly. The polished diamond lost a lot of weight (279 versus 787 carats), the cut itself also had flaws. For his mistakes, the jeweler was fined by the ruler of India for a significant amount at that time - 10,000 florins. After the invasion of India in 1737 by the king of Persia, Nadir Shah, the story of the "Great Mogul" ends. There are several versions about what the future fate of the stone could be. One of the most probable ones suggests that after a slight re-cutting, the crystal has changed and is now known to mankind as the Orlov diamond.

River Uye

The fifth largest diamond in the world was found in 1945 in West Africa (Sierra Leone). Its weight was 770 carats. Because the crystal was found in the year of the end of the war with Nazi Germany, the find was given a second name - "Victory Diamond". The stone was split, as a result 30 diamonds of very high gem quality were formed. The largest diamond weighed 31.35 carats. It was named after the crystal - Wye River, but traces of it have been lost.

Unfortunately, there are no images of the diamond itself, as well as the diamonds obtained from it, even in the specialized literature.

President Vargas

Legend has it that the President Vargas diamond was discovered in Brazil by accident.

Legend has it that the President Vargas diamond was discovered in Brazil by accident. It was found on August 13, 1938 by two local experts who worked near the Santo Antonio River and noticed a bright shine in the sedimentary rocks. When irradiated with ultraviolet light, the crystal exhibited an excellent bluish-violet glow. The diamond was named after Brazilian President Getulio Vargas and managed to change more than one owner until it ended up in the hands of jewelry businessman Harry Winston. In 1941, the crystal was split into 29 pieces with a total weight of over 411 carats. All stones were excellent, but 19 of them were especially large. The name "President Vargas" was retained by a diamond weighing 44, 17 carats.

Jonker

The diamond, found in 1934 in South Africa by Johan Jacob Jonker, was 726 carats before cutting. The find, named after a successful prospector, had perfect transparency and a delicate bluish tint. Very soon the wonderful crystal fell into the hands of Harry Winston. The American paid $ 700,000 for the diamond, although the insurance companies did not approve the deal. The fact is that the diamond had a very difficult shape for processing. The jeweler Lazar Kaplan, who was entrusted with cutting the stone, after much thought, cut the crystal into 12 pieces.

The total weight of the diamonds obtained after processing was 370.87 carats.