Weight: 3106ct rough
Origin: Transvaal, South Africa
The Cullinan, the largest gem-quality diamond ever found, was discovered on January 26, 1905, at South Africa’s Premier Mine and named after Sir Thomas Cullinan, the mine’s founder. Nearly flawless, the diamond weighed 3,106 carats. Transvaal’s Premier Louis Botha arranged for its purchase by the government for around $1 million and gifted it to King Edward VII as thanks for granting Transvaal a constitution.
Sent to the House of Asscher in Amsterdam, the Cullinan Diamond was cut into 9 major stones, 96 smaller ones, and about 19.5 carats of unpolished fragments. The two largest gems were kept for the British Crown Jewels, one of which was given to Queen Alexandra. In 1910, Queen Mary received six more major stones, while Louis Botha gifted one of the smaller stones to his daughter.
Today, the Cullinan I and Cullinan II form part of the British crown jewels, displayed in the Tower of London. To see an exact replica of the Cullinan Diamond, the world’s largest diamond, visit the Cape Town Diamond Museum.
Weight: 10.73ct polished, one of two diamonds cut from 21.25ct of rough
Shape: Oval Brilliant
Colour: Yellow
Clarity: Unknown
Origin: Northern Cape, South Africa
The Eureka was discovered per chance by a 15-year-old boy, Erasmus Jacobs, on the south bank of the Orange River near Hopetown, Kimberley in 1867 and later handed it to his neighbour, farmer Schalk van Niekerk, who was a collector of unusual stones.
Van Niekerk entrusted the stone to John O’Reilly, a travelling peddler, who sent it in an unsealed envelope to Dr. W.G. Atherstone of Grahamstown, one of the few people who knew anything about minerals and gems. Dr. Atherstone identified the stone as a 21.25ct brownish-yellow diamond and was sold to Sir Phillip Wodehouse for GBP 1,500.
Weight: 47.75ct polished, 83.50ct rough
Shape: Pear Shape Brilliant
Colour: Unrecorded
Clarity: Unrecorded
Origin: Zandfontein Farm, South Africa
The Cullinan I, or Star of Africa, is the largest cut diamond in the world at 530.20 carats. Pear-shaped with 74 facets, it is set in the Royal Sceptre, housed with the British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. It was cut from the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, the largest rough diamond ever found, discovered in 1895 by Frederick Wells in South Africa’s Premier Mine.
The stone was cut by Joseph Asscher & Co. in Amsterdam, yielding nine major and 96 smaller stones. Though signs suggested it may have been part of a larger crystal, no missing half has ever been found.
Today, the Cullinan I forms part of the British crown jewels, displayed in the Tower of London. To see an exact replica of the Cullinan I Diamond, visit the Cape Town Diamond Museum.
Weight: 45.52ct
Shape: Oval Brilliant
Colour: Dark Blue
Clarity: Reported Flawless
Origin: Unknown but believed to originate from India
The Hope Diamond, famed for its rare deep blue color, was discovered centuries ago in southern India and named after Henry Thomas Hope. Once believed to hold mystical powers, it was rumored to have adorned a Hindu idol and to bring misfortune to its owners.
Originally known as the Blue Tavernier Diamond, it was owned by King Louis XIV in 1642 but was stolen during the French Revolution and disappeared for decades. In 1911, American heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean bought it from Cartier for $185,000 and kept it until her death in 1947.
Jeweler Harry Winston acquired the diamond in 1949 and donated it to the Washington D.C. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1958. An exact replica of the Hope Diamond is also on display at the Cape Town Diamond Museum, where visitors can admire its iconic blue colour and learn about its mysterious history.
Weight: 995.2ct rough
Origin: Jagersfontein Mine, South Africa
Probably the second largest stone ever found. A high clarity, blue-white stone, found in 1893 by a South African mine worker who picked it out of a shovel full of gravel. Due to its irregular shape, it was cut into 21 polished stones, of which the largest is a marquise of 69.80 carats. A smaller, 18 carat marquise stone cut from the Excelsior was displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair by De Beers.
The shape of the stone was out of the ordinary: flat on one side and rose to a peak on the other, somewhat like a loaf of rye bread. It is believed that this is what inspired the diamond to be named ‘Excelsior’, meaning higher.
Weight: 968.90ct rough
Origin: Yengema, Sierra Leone
Discovered on 14th February 1972, the Star of Sierra Leone is the third largest rough diamond discovered, and the largest alluvial gen diamond ever found. Harry Winston purchased the rough diamond in October 1972, but it was not cut until August 1973. The diamond was originally cut into a 143.02ct Emerald cut, but upon close examination it revealed inclusions. The diamond was recut into seven smaller stones, the largest of which weighs 32.52ct.
Weight: 545.67ct polished
Colour: Yellow
The Golden Jubilee is the largest faceted diamond in the world, weighing 545.67 carats. Gabi Tolkowsky, who also designed the 273.85 carat Centenary Diamond, designed the stone. The Golden Jubilee was purchased from De Beers by a syndicate of Thai business men, and presented to the King of Thailand in 1997 for his Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of his coronation.
Weight: 407,48ct rough
Origin: Mbuji Mayi District, Democratic Republic of Congo
Weighing 407.48 carats, the Incomparable is the third largest diamond ever cut, surpassed only by the Cullinan 1 and the Golden Jubilee. The stone is remarkable for its internally flawless clarity, its unusual triangular shape, called a ‘triolette’, and its fancy brownish-yellow colour.
The Incomparable was discovered in the Mbuji Mayi district of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire), almost a decade before the Millennium Star was discovered in the same region.
Weight: 273.85ct polished, 599ct rough
Shape: Pear Shape
Colour: D
Clarity: Flawless
Origin: Premier Mine, South Africa
The Centenary Diamond was discovered on July 17, 1986, at the Premier Mine using an electric X-ray recovery system. Initially kept secret, the rough 599-carat stone had a complex shape that posed major cutting challenges.
Unveiled by De Beers on its 100th anniversary in 1988, the finished diamond weighs 273.85 carats and is the world’s largest modern fancy-cut flawless diamond. It features 164 facets plus 83 on the girdle and was crafted using both traditional and advanced cutting techniques.
Weight: 245.35ct polished, 650.80ct rough
Shape: Cushion Cut
Colour: E
Clarity: VVS2
Origin: Free State, South Africa (Originally known as the Orange Free State)
The Jubilee Diamond was discovered by workers in the Jagersfontein Mine in 1895 and weighed 650.80ct rough. Initially named the Reitz Diamond, at the time it was the world’s second largest known diamond. Currently, it is the sixth largest diamond ever discovered. The diamond was cut into two large diamonds of exceptional colour, clarity and brilliance. The larger of the two diamonds was named the Jubilee in honour of the sixteenth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s coronation. A consortium of London diamond merchants comprising the firms of Wernher, Beit & Co., Barnato Bros. and Mosenthal Sons & Co. acquired the Jubilee together with the Excelsior
Weight: 234.65ct
Origin: De Beers Mine, Kimberley South Africa
Not long after the formation of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited in March 1888, a huge light yellow octahedral crystal was found in the De Beers Mine. The gem weighed 428.50 old carats (old carats being the pre-1913 non-metric carat) and measured 47.6 mm through its longest axis and 38.1 mm square. Excluding Victoria, aka the Great White or Jacob, the source of which remains doubtful, the De Beers was the largest diamond found at the four mines at Kimberley during that time period.
Weighing 234.65 carats, the De Beers is the seventh largest faceted diamond in the world, not including the Nizam, a now-lost stone which is said to have been only partially cut. It isn’t known where the De Beers was cut, but because of its pre-eminence as a cutting centre at the time it is very likely that the work was carried out in Amsterdam.
After its display in Paris, the Maharaja of Patiala bought the De Beers. In 1928 Cartier of Paris set it as the centrepiece of a ceremonial necklace that came to be known as the Patiala Necklace. Sometime during the 1930′s the diamond was acquired by its present owners who loaned it in 1973 for an exhibition in Israel.
Weight: 203.04ct polished, 777ct rough
A near perfect diamond, weighing a magical 777 carats in the rough, falls into the hands of an alluvial digger from a small village. He approaches a De Beers diamond buyer stationed nearby and sells the magical stone. After several years of deliberation, the cut is decided, yielding 203.04 carats of stunning, internally and externally flawless pear-shaped stone. It is the second largest faceted D-Flawless diamond in the world; the 273.15 carat Centenary Diamond is the first. The Millennium Star is arguably the most beautiful diamond in the world, and one which experts have declared priceless.
The Millennium Star is the centrepiece of the company’s Limited Edition Millennium Diamonds collection, which further consists of 11 highly unusual blue diamond’s cut into a variety of shapes, having a total weight of 118 carats.
Weight: 142.90ct polished, 726ct rough
Origin: Elandsfontein, Pretoria South Africa
Discovered on 16th January 1934 by Mr. Jonker, this diamond was sold to Sir Ernest Oppenheimer for the equivalent of US $700,000. The rough diamond yielded 12 beautiful stones, the largest of which is name the Jonker and weighs 142.90ct.
Weight: 137.02ct polished, 353.9ct rough
Shape: Pear Shape
Colour: D
Clarity: Flawless
Origin: Premier Mine, South Africa
Weighing 137.02 carats, the Premier Rose is one of the largest D-colour flawless diamonds in the world. In March 1978 the Premier Mine in South Africa, the mine that produced the 1,306 carat Cullinan Diamond, yielded yet another remarkable diamond, triangular-shaped cleavage of the finest colour, weighing 353.9 carats. Like an earlier gem found at the Premier, the Niarchos, this one too travelled right through the various stages of mining recovery only to emerge at the final one, the grease table in the recovery plant.
Weight: 128.54ct polished, 287.42ct rough
Shape: Cushion Cut
Colour: Yellow
Origin: Kimberley, South Africa
The Tiffany Yellow Diamond, one of the largest fancy yellow diamonds ever discovered. It weighed 287.42ct in the rough when discovered in 1878 in the Kimberley mine in South Africa, and was cut into a cushion shape of 128.54cts with 90 facets – 32 more than a traditional round brilliant – to maximize its brilliance. It appears in the ‘Bird on a Rock’, a setting designed in the early 1960s by Jean Schlumberger, loaned by Tiffany & Co., New York.
Originally a 426.5-carat rough diamond, slightly chipped but internally flawless, it was considered by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer to possess the most perfect color he’d ever seen. The stone was sold in 1956 by the Diamond Trading Company to Harry Winston Inc. for GBP 3,000,000—the largest single diamond sale at the time.
The gem was cut into a 128.25-carat pear-shaped diamond with 144 facets and unveiled as the “Ice Queen” in 1957. In 1958, National Geographic documented its cutting process. Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos purchased the diamond for $2 million for his wife, Charlotte Ford. Despite being dubbed “the Skating Rink” by her family, Niarchos also acquired two other gems cut from the same rough and later lent the diamond to various exhibitions. It returned to South Africa in 1966 for the ‘Jewel Box’ exhibition. Since Niarchos’ death in 1996, the diamond’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Weight: 108.93ct rough
Shape: Brilliant Cut
Colour: Unrecorded
Clarity: Unrecorded
Origin: India
This diamond was discovered around the 13th Century, but only received the name Koh-I-Noor in 1739 when a Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, took Delhi and acquired the diamond. He named it Koh-I-Noor meaning ‘Mountain of Light’. The diamond was given to Queen Victoria in 1850 and weighed 186ct. In 1852 it was cut into a Round Brilliant weighing 108.93ct. The diamond has been used in the crowns of various Kings and Queens, and is currently on display in the Tower of London.
Weight: approx. 793ct rough
The Great Mogul Diamond, discovered in 17th-century India and weighing approximately 793 carats in rough form, was named after Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, builder of the Taj Mahal. Gifted to him in 1650, it was later cut by Venetian lapidary Ortensio Borgio into a 280-carat gem—though the cut was widely criticized. Taken by Persian ruler Nader Shah during his 1739 invasion of Delhi, the diamond disappeared after his assassination. Its fate remains unknown, though some believe it may have been recut into the Orlov Diamond, now in the Russian crown jewels.
Weight: 69.42ct polished, 240.80ct rough
Origin: Premier Mine
The most famous of Richard Burton’s purchases was the 69.42-carat pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond, cut from a 240.80-carat rough stone discovered in the Premier Mine in 1966. Acquired by Harry Winston, the diamond was studied for six months before being cleaved by Pastor Colon Jr. under the glare of television lights. The dramatic cleaving produced a 78-carat piece expected to yield 24 carats and a 162-carat section from which the now-famous pear-shaped diamond was cut.
Weight: 55.09ct polished (previously 70ct polished)
Cut: Step Cut
Origin: Kimberley, South Africa
A flawless, 70-carat, step cut, champagne-coloured diamond that was found in the Kimberley Mine, South Africa. It was recut into this modern shape in 1921 from a large, flat stone that was once in the Russian Crown Jewels. In 1958, the stone was again recut by its owners, Baumgold Bros., New York City, to improve the proportions and increase brilliancy. It now weighs 55.09carats and is valued by the firm at US $500,000, but is probably worth considerably more. Baumgold Bros. sold the stone in 1971 to an undisclosed collector.
Weight: 27.64ct polished
The Heart of Eternity is a 27.64-carat heart-shaped diamond celebrated for its exceptional and intensely saturated “vivid blue” color, a classification reserved for only the rarest natural blue diamonds. It was unveiled to the public in January 2000 as one of 11 extraordinary blue diamonds featured in the De Beers Millennium Jewels collection. The collection, which also included the renowned Millennium Star, was curated by the De Beers Group over many years in anticipation of the year 2000, showcasing some of the most remarkable diamonds ever discovered. The Heart of Eternity was sourced from the Premier Mine in South Africa, the world’s most significant source of blue diamonds, and remains one of the most iconic colored diamonds ever displayed.
