Extraordinary Diamonds Part 1

Welcome back to the Stewart Kuper news page! This month on the blog we want to look at some of the most storied stones to ever exist. The largest diamonds, with the wildest stories, the worst curses. The kind of stones that movies are made of. Let’s get into it!

Golden Jubilee Diamond

The largest cut and faceted diamond in the world. Weighing at a hefty 545.67 carats or 109.13g. Found in the Premier Mine of South Africa in 1985, it was originally 755.5 carats and known as the ‘Unnamed Brown.”  It received a Papal blessing by Pope John Paul II, as well as the Islamic Chulatratchaontri and Buddhist Supreme Patriarch of Thailand. Originally it was going to be mounted in a royal scepter.

Cullinan Diamond

At 3106.75 carats, the Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem quality diamond ever found. Dug out of the Premier No. 2 mine in 1905, the diamond was sent to England under a ruse. A fake diamond was placed in a safe onboard a steamboat with London detectives covering it. The real stone was mailed in a plain box via post. It was eventually cut into several stones of which the English royal family own many. The largest, Cullinan I, is in the Head of the Sovereign’s Scepter with Cross which had to be redesigned to fit the stone.

Daria-i-Noor

The exact weight of this diamond is unknown, but estimated at 182 carats. It is the largest pink diamond in the world. The name translates from Persian to ‘Sea of Light.’ It was originally mined in India but was looted and found its way to the Mughal emperors. It eventually found its way into the National Jewels of Iran where it currently resides.  Fun note: In 1965, a Canadian team dong research on the Iranian Crown Jewels found that the Daria-i-Noor may in fact have been a part of a larger stone from the throne of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan that was described in the journal of a French jeweler in 1642.

These have just been a few of the storied, massive diamonds in the world. Come back next time for even more!