What Is the Largest Diamond Ever Discovered?
Frederick Wells, superintendent of Premier Mine in the Transvaal (a South African province), found the Cullinan diamond in 1905. He had been inspecting the mine when he glimpsed what looked like a chunk of glass jutting out of a wall. Pried out and appraised, the stone turned out to be the largest rough, gem-quality diamond ever seen. It weighed over 3,000 carats, or about 1 1/2 pounds. Does this Spark an idea?
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Cutting the Rough Diamond
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The government of the Transvaal Colony bought the diamond, named the Cullinan after Sir Thomas Cullinan, Premier Mine's chairman, and gave it to England's King Edward VII in 1907, as a birthday gift and good will gesture following the Boer War. Edward presented it to his queen, Alexandra. The royal couple then sent the stone to the Dutch firm of Asschers to be cut. Mr. Asscher "cleaved" the stone in February 1908, first into two main pieces and ultimately into nine major stones, identified by Roman numerals, plus many smaller stones or "clippings."
Two Crown Jewels
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King Edward ordered the largest piece, the Great Star of Africa (over 500 carats) put into England's State Sceptre, and the second largest, Cullinan II (over 300 carats) put into the Imperial State Crown. Since the remaining fragments of the Cullinan were contracted to the cutter as his fee, they were his to sell. The king immediately bought a third jewel, Cullinan VI (11 carats) and gave this also to Alexandra.
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Fit for a Queen
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The recently united government of South Africa, of which the Transvaal was a founding province, then bought the six remaining major gems of the Cullinan, numbered III through IX, plus all its small "brilliants" and fragments. After King Edward died and his son and daughter-in-law succeeded him as King George V and Queen Mary, South Africa gave these stones to Mary as her personal possessions. In time, she bequeathed them, along with Alexandra's Cullinan VI, to her granddaughter, the present Queen Elizabeth.
How the Cullinan Diamonds are Worn
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The two most famous of Queen Mary's Cullinan gems, Cullinan III and IV (92 and 62 carats respectively), make up a plain but spectacular brooch that the royal family calls "Granny's chips." The Cullinan's four last major stones, Cullinan V, VII, VIII and IX, range from 18 to 4 carats each and have been worn by the queen most often as pendants or brooches. In Queen Mary's time, the larger stones were set in stomachers, elaborate pieces of jewelry that a lady wore on the bodice of her dress on grand occasions. Cullinan IX (4 carats) is set in a ring.
The Cullinan Dwarfs All Others
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The Cullinan still dwarfs all other famous diamonds, including the Excelsior (almost 1,000 carats), the Koh-i-noor (108 carats), the Hope (44 carats), and even more recent discoveries like Premier Mine's Golden Jubilee (775 carats), and the Lesotho Promise (over 600 carats). The 7,000 carat green "diamond" discovered in South Africa in 2007 proved to be a plastic hoax.
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