Famous Diamonds

The Cullinan

The Cullinan is the largest diamond ever discovered. It weighed 3,106 carats in the rough (about 1½lbs) and was found in the Premier Mine in South Africa in 1905. It was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan, Chairman of the Premier Diamond Mining Company, who had discovered the mine after persistent prospecting in the area.

The Cullinan diamond was purchased by the Transvaal Government for £150,000 and presented to King Edward VII on his sixty-sixth birthday, 9 November 1907.

Cut by Asscher’s of Amsterdam, it yielded nine major stones and 96 smaller brilliants. The largest stone, the magnificent Cullinan I, also known as "The Star of Africa", weighs 530.20 carats and is the largest cut diamond in the World. You can see it in the Royal Sceptre among the British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

The Cullinan II, which weighs 317.40 carats, is the second largest cut stone in the world. All nine principal gems remain either in the Crown Jewels or in the personal possession of the Royal Family.

 

The Koh-I-Noor

The known facts of this famous Indian diamond date from 1304 when it was in the family of the Rajah of Malwa, one of the ancient Royal families.

Koh-I-Noor means "Mountain of Light" from the gem’s original cut state.

It was presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 by Lord Dalhousie at a levee to mark the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the East India Company by Queen Elizabeth I.

When the Koh-I-Noor was displayed at the Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park in 1851 people were disappointed by its lack of brilliance and the Queen decided to have it recut. It is said to have weighed 800 carats in the rough, but when it was recut into a shallow brilliant in 1862 its weight was reduced to 108.93 carats. The cutting took 38 days and was carried out in London by Voorsanger, a diamond cutter from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Queen Victoria wore this diamond as a brooch but after her death it was transferred to the Regalia and was set in the State Crown, first of Queen Alexandra and then of Queen Mary. Finally it was transferred, in 1937, to the crown made for the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and is one of the chief treasures of the British Crown Jewels.

 

The Hope Diamond

The history of this famous diamond is linked with that of another, the "Blue Tavernier", which weighed 112.5 carats in the rough. It is likely that both names refer to the same famous gem- a diamond of a rare blue colour.

The "Blue Tavernier" was found in the Kollur Mine, Golconda, India, and was bought by a French gem expert in 1642. On its arrival in France, it was sold to Louis XIV in 1668. After cutting and polishing the stone weighed 67.5 carats and it became the showpiece of the French Crown Jewels.

In 1792 it was stolen and never recovered but in 1830 an extraordinary 44½ carat blue diamond, presumably cut from the missing gem, came on to the London marker. It was purchased by Henry Thomas Hope, a banker and a keen collector of gems, for $18,000 and became known by its present name.

In 1908 the Hope was acquired by Abdul Hamid, Sultan of Turkey, who is reputed to have paid £80,000 for it. Three years later it was sold at Cartier’s in Paris to the late Mrs. Edward B. McLean of Washington. At the sale of her jewel collection in 1949 it was bought by Mr. Harry Winston, the New York diamond merchant. In 1958, Mr. Winston presented the gem to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and it was then stated to be worth $1,000,000.

 

The Williamson

This rose coloured diamond was found in October 1947 in the Williamson mine at Mwadui in Tanzania. It was presented to Her Majesty the Queen on the occasion of her wedding on 26 November 1947 by the late Dr. John T. Williamson, the discoverer and the first owner of the mine.

The stone was cut in London into a brilliant, and is among the finest diamonds in the world because of its quality and its unusual colouring. It is set in a floral brooch and surrounded by petals, set with a pattern of other diamonds from Mwadui.

 

 

Fancies

Diamonds are graded for colour on a scale ranging from colourless to pale yellow/brown, but there are some diamonds which have an unusual body colour and cannot be graded in this way. These rare and exceptional colours are known as FANCY COLOURED DIAMONDS or FANCIES and they are the most highly valued of all gemstones.

Occasionally diamonds are found with a definite, strong, bright colour the most common being canary yellow. Others are green, cinnamon, brown and even black. But red, pink and blue coloured diamonds are the rarest of all.

The colour of diamonds is caused by the crystalline structure and chemical impurities e.g. small amounts of nitrogen are present in yellow diamonds and larger amounts of nitrogen in green diamonds.

Aluminium is present in blue diamonds which are known to conduct electricity whereas other diamonds or not.

 

 

The Millennium Star Diamond.

This "D" colour, internally and externally flawless diamond weighs 203.04 carats and is the second largest faceted "D" flawless diamond in the world.

In its original rough crystal state, this stone weighed a whopping 777 carats.

The most revered experts in the world carefully studied the stone for six months before commencing the cutting process, which took a further two years!

The Millennium Star Diamond is reputed to be worth around £200 million and took pride of place on display in London’s Millennium Dome with eleven exceptionally rare blue diamonds.

This display didn’t escape the attention of master criminals who attempted a less than subtle robbery. The thieves used a JCB to crash through external barriers and into the Dome before attacking the protective glass display cabinet with a nail gun and sledge hammers.

They were unsuccessful as police had been tipped off and more than one hundred armed officers, some of whom were disguised as cleaners, swooped on the gang arresting them.

The irreplaceable diamonds were never in any danger as they had been replaced by glass imitations, the real ones locked away in a safe.

 

Famous Natural Coloured Diamonds

Conde

A rose pink, pear shaped diamond, weighing 50 carats. It is named after Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé and is on display in the Condé Museum in Chantilly near Paris.

Dresden Green.

Weighs 41 carats and is a pear shaped apple green stone whose colour makes it one of the rarest gems in the world.

 

 

 

 

Tiffany

The largest known yellow diamond weighing 128.51 carats. It is cut as a cushion shaped brilliant and it is on display at Tiffany’s, New York.

 

The De Beers Coloured Diamond Collection

This is a collection of 150 naturally coloured diamonds and has been shown in the major capitals of the world. They are priceless and it would take decades to replace them.

Clive Ranger is proud and honoured to have exhibited these diamonds in two of his stores, much to the delight of the general public.